One Goal --> half-check

Remember? I was going to check out the Unitarian Universalist Church? It was one of my goals for this year? Remember? It's actually a 2-part goal; I am also going to join the choir.

So, this weekend, I got up on Sunday and came up with 2 Really Good Reasons* not to go and then... I went anyway. Just to irritate Husbandguy (if you ask him). It was the experience I was expecting and that's a good thing. The service was MLK-themed, which was especially appropriate considering the big change coming on Tuesday (and MLK's birthday and all). The lay leader, who was black, and the minister both talked a lot about slavery and race and Obama. There were some poignant moments (the woman sitting next to me, who happened to be a friend of mine, got kind of choked up at one point). The minister talked about the fact that the White House was built by slaves and wondered if those men ever imagined a president living there with the same skin color they had. And there was laughter - the lay leader told a story about the time his father, who was a "Ford man," was given a Chevy. I'm not going to try to retell it, but trust me, it was funny. And there was music, an African drumming group who didn't look particularly authentic but who did a great job, and the choir director led the whole congregation during the hymns. He let us get through the first verse and then praised how well we'd done and told us to put down our hymnals. That made me kind of uncomfortable because I like to read the music, not just the words, when I sing, but I tried anyway.

After the service, I grabbed a cup of coffee and gathered with a bunch of other newbies in the minister's office for a little conversation. He does this monthly, apparently, and this Sunday just happened to be the day. Lucky me! Then, since the choir didn't sing at the early service, I thought I'd try to sit in for the first part of the second service and sneak out after I'd heard the choir. The minister suggested I sit at the back of the hall, which was the opposite of what I was thinking but turned out to be the best place to sneak out (it's where the late people sneak in). I was moderately impressed with the choir. They are skilled enough that the song I heard was 4-part harmony sung a cappella, a challenging task for a small church choir. I think I'll go to a couple more services before I jump into the choir, though, just because that's how I am.

Next week, when their early service is a family service led by the older youth, I'm going to take Pete with me. I think she'd like it. Usually she would go to Religious Education class with the other kids during the service. I mean, she could come to the service, but I think she'd enjoy the RE class more, especially since she's friends with my friend's daughter who goes. You know what I mean. But next Sunday the service is designed for everyone. So hopefully she'll come. I'm going. Either way.


*One was bad weather (it was sleeting and raining and snowing a littlelittlelittle bit); the other was that if I didn't hurry I wouldn't have time to take a shower (but I actually did).