My pastor called last night. Funny, I called her my pastor; I never joined her church. My wife and I attended that church off an on for quite a number of months, worship services only. No Sunday school, no church dinners or Bible studies. The timing of her call couldn’t have been better because we had decided almost that very day that we wouldn’t be going back.

That sure made for a somewhat uncomfortable conversation. She was pleasant and gracious; I made small talk. She countered with small talk. Even though I wasn’t prompted, I readily confessed that we had missed last Sunday because of a family reunion, which was true. Then I thought, “What do I say next — see you tomorrow?” What came out of my mouth, however, was the fact that I had to be perfectly honest with her.

I told her that we were unsure as to where we were going with respect to church attendance, regardless of which church it might be. I explained that for at least 40 years I had filled each and every position of the church, with the exception of full time pastor and church secretary. I wasn’t retired from church, nor was I tired of church. I honestly couldn’t say what I expected to get from church, or what I felt that the Lord would have me give to the church.

I don’t know why she called. Was she really concerned about us, or was she just checking us off her to-do list? For some church is a career. For others it is a business. I told her that what drew us to that church was her. For a number of Sundays we observed someone leading the congregation who had a genuinely sweet spirit. Someone who preached and lived love. Someone who could be caught with a lump in her throat or a tear on her cheek when she encountered sadness or inexpressible joy.

Beyond that we had no church experience that kept us there. Sunday after Sunday we encountered friendly but distant folks who didn’t want to know anything about us. We sang hymns and spiritual songs with messages that we no longer fully concurred with. With my reasonably tolerable voice, the only comment other than “Good to see you today!” was (pointing to the choir) “You need to be up there!.”

Perhaps we didn’t give it a fair shake. Maybe we should have attended a few functions, gotten to know people better. But that would lead to the next challenge. If you have read other articles in this blog, you would readily see that our thinking is spiritually outside the box. Serious conversations of a heavenly nature would likely make traditional believers feel, at best, uncomfortable, at worst, offended.

So here we are. Alone again. But not really. I told the pastor that our walk with the Lord was solid, whether in church or out. I honestly reported that not a day goes by that my wife and I don’t discuss some spiritual point. We were doing just that at the moment she called. Earlier that day we had discussed with a friend how sad it is that so many denominations can’t put aside their differences and join together in love. Why they can’t persist in searching for the true truth and insist on relentlessly seeking a common bond, whose inner core is the incredible love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It’s something to hope for.