An eventful church service:
Life Christian Center pastor Rick Shelton told St. Louis’ KSDK-TV that a man walked into the church during the morning service and claimed he was Jesus before being led out by ushers. As ushers waited for police, Shelton said, the man got into his car and drove into the church’s front doors.
In an unrelated incident, last night I was at my church gymnasium for our weekly volleyball affair. We were taking a short break between games when in comes a 50ish-looking stranger. He walked across the front of the gym and stood along the sideline, talking to himself in low tones. There was an awkward silence among us regulars as we exchanged do-you-have-any-idea-who-this-is glances at one another. Then a couple of us approached him and determined he wanted help purchasing a bus ticket.
This isn’t the first time we’ve had solicitors come in; we’ve had two or three so far this winter. That doesn’t sound like much. But given that we meet at night without any public advertising, it’s notable that any non-members have come by.
These kind of stories make me wonder–do churches get a disproportionate number of curious visitors because many of them seek to minister to the needy, downtrodden, and disillusioned? Or does this simply reflect the reality that there’s quite a few unconventional people roaming about?
I would imagine churches are seen as a last refuge of hope for many..
–Chris