This past week has been a good one. It started with a church service on Sunday morning.

I was born and raised a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. What that actually designates, I really don’t know, other than we are the more conservative branch of the Lutheran religion as opposed to the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA). I was baptized, confirmed and married in the church (okay, several times–different churches). My children were all baptized in the church and attended through their confirmation in the eighth grade.

Unfortunately, that’s where it stopped with most of my children. Only one of the four has continued to attend church, although he no longer attends a Lutheran church. When I married my first husband, he attended a Southern Baptist church. His parents went to church three times a week (forcing him to go) and his dad was a Deacon. When we were dating, we’d sometimes play hookey on Sunday mornings. I’d tell my mom I was going to his church and he’d tell his parents he was going to mine, and we’d spend the morning just joyriding. I always assumed that after we were married, we would attend church together. It’s just what everyone I knew did. But I couldn’t get him to go. I even told him I would join the Baptist church if that meant he would go to church with me. That didn’t work either. So my son attending another Christian religion doesn’t bother me in the least.

Several months ago, while talking to my police officer son’s wife she said “Did you know we’ve started going to church?” I didn’t. I was tickled to know that this son and his family were attending church because I’ve always thought that as a police officer, he was the one who most needed the loving and protective arms of the Lord around him.

He and his family have chosen a large non-denominational church with a contemporary worship style and state-of-the-art sound systems and videos. and he invited me to go with them.  The music is loud and upbeat and their musicians seem to be of professional quality. People stand for the first half hour or so and sing along with the words being projected on several television screens around the auditorium, When I first saw churches doing this it reminded me of the old television show “Sing Along with Mitch.

The arm waving was another thing I certainly wasn’t accustomed to. We Lutherans don’t do that. Maybe it’s because many of the Lutherans are of German descent and Germans don’t show much emotion; you don’t clap, you don’t speak out, you don’t wave your arms in the air.

The sermon is another thing. The leader speaks for 30-45 minutes. If a Lutheran minister would speak that long, half of the congregation would suddenly need to use the bathroom and leave.  When the Great Hunter and I started dating, he belonged to one of these churches, and the first time I went with him, I felt as if I’d entered another world. No altar, no cross, loud music and long, long sermons. Lutherans are done at twenty minutes…not 45 (but we bring casseroles, lol).

I’ve been a member of my current Lutheran church for 35 years, but I now only attend when the choir sings (and they don’t sing during the summer months.)  So when I go to church during the summer, I go to the Lutheran Church I grew up in. The church was built in 1863 and has a beautiful, ornate altar with Christ on the cross. The Great Hunter has gone to this church with me but he says the altar gives him the creeps.

Labor Day we piled the dogs in the truck and drove to my youngest son’s house. We left the dogs at home while we had lunch at Lake Creek Winery in Marthasville. The music was good, the wine was good, the food was good, the company was great, and we couldn’t have asked for nicer weather, not too hot and just enough breeze.

My choir started back up this week and I’m also going to sing with the choir at Immanuel for their Boar’s Head Festival. My volunteering at the Lutheran school library also started back this week so the school year is now in full swing.

Oh, and the Chiefs won last night.