| | I was not looking forward to church-shopping. The Episcopalians out there know exactly what I'm talking about. We "shop around" churches looking for a place where we fit and that fits us. We are also notoriously picky about liturgy, what portions are sung vs. said, choirs, organ, preaching, coffee hour, etc.
Today, I tried Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park. The church is about 1/4 mile from our place and easy to walk to. It began pleasantly enough with a nice voluntary and very outgoing ushers. It wasn't quite up to the Randy Byrd Greeter Standard, but still kind and welcoming. The youth acolytes were appropriately scuffy and sneaker-clad. Extra points for no members of the altar party wearing shoes that light up when you walk.
I had a couple of issues with the rambling procession, the slightly too fast introit, and the odd bowing (they bow to the congregation, but not the reserved sacrament behind the altar -- huh?). Also, the immensely talented parish musician (organist, choirmaster, etc.) is apparently quite a prolific composer. However, his tunes seemed to be inspired by a combination of Phillip Glass (repetitive) and Merzbow (random and eclectic pitch and tone changes), but not really in a good way. Forget trying to keep up if you are a newcomer. Also, no verger. Minus 2 points.
I relaxed my hypercriticism long enough to enjoy the extremely diverse congregation and the lovely choir music. Excellent sermon, short but effective announcements, and an exchange of the Peace the really showed people glad to see each other without devolving into a cocktail party. After the service, two people came over to welcome me and introduce themselves. They then took me to coffeehour (ok, coffee; good coffee cake, etc.) and introduced me to several other folks. When I said I had just moved from Texas, but grown up in NYC, they immediately found a couple of people who had also lived in Texas for a time and some ex-NYC-ers. Again, very friendly, engaging, and welcoming. By the time I left I had already exchanged contact info with another member.
Grace isn't Palmer. No place is Palmer, except for Palmer. Yet I had a great feeling being at Grace. The young children flooded the church when they came back from Sunday School at the Peace. They had their own area at the front of the church, to the right of the chancel crossing. There were rugs and books and toys. And the kids were loud, sometimes, and ran around sometimes, and went to sit and watch at others. But there wasn't a sense that they were interfering or unwelcome. The kids were allowed to be kids, with supervision and with their parents right there. I was very impressed with the number of children and young families. I saw very little in the way of youth (junior and high school). But, they are making an effort, it seems.
Overall, I felt very welcome and at home at Grace. I think it is the place for me. I feel blessed to have found Grace and found it so soon and so close.
 The Nave.
 The front of the church (seen from Lake St.)
 Mother Shawn, the Rector
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| | Posted 9/30/2007 9:55 PM - 61 Views - 6 eProps - 3 comments
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