This is the best thread to mention this groundbreaking reinterpretation of Jesus.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbD067D_u_o&feature=related

It's probably just me, but even I did believe in a god, the community thing would stop me from ever going along to an American style church.
I'm struggling to imagine anything that I'd hate more.

I am a shocking misanthropist, mind.

The adults split up into various Sunday School classes after the service, which ran simultaneous to children's Sunday School. Each adult class had its own character, so you sort of winnowed your community experience down to the people you felt most comfortable with.

To be sure, very much not my scene anymore, but my parents managed to pick a class where everyone was pretty likeable and the kids became friends too.

Shit, you mean it wasn't just the service? There was more after?

It was kinda cool actually. The class members themselves took turns teaching/leading the discussion, so my dad used it as an opportunity to do biblical history seminars.

Well unlike Anglican services ours were pretty short and painless. Sunday School was practically the whole point. That's where we fellowshipped.

There's always more, Hobbes. The services are only a small part. Most of that "more" involves drinking coffee and chit-chat or potluck picnics with chit-chat.

I'm not very good at the fellowship part, but I find that I'm getting better at it and that this is a surprisingly positive experience.

I'd like to get more involved with the service work. In addition to the stuff I do with the middle school kids, I'm also part of a crew that makes dinner for the high schoo kids once every six weeks. Always spaghetti. I'm primarily the dishwasher. I enjoy running the Hobart. I wish I had one in my kitchen.

Bruno wrote:


Why, I oughta...

hobbes wrote:


St Peter's Basilica is fucking awful though. It's got one or two nice things in it, but in general it's a bloody horrible piece of architecture and interior design.

There are nice churches around though, so I take your point. (Went to St Stefano's place in Bologna a couple of week's ago. Now that's a great church)

I'm glad we cleared up the trap set thing. like others I imagined some kind of covered pit with spikes in in the middle of the church, ready to impale those who didn't walk up for communion in the right way.

We have those, ad hoc, but we wouldn't be as silly as to warn you about them beforehand. Hence my surprise.



The three teenagers at the service on Sunday (who were the only children apart from a toddler) took themselves off to another room and were talking about the Bible between themselves as far as I could see. I am not sure how structured it was or whose idea it was but it was interesting seeing it happen.

As far as I know the "trap" in trap set is short for contraption. I believe it originally referred to the hi-hat (contraption).

The "hi" in hi-hat is short for high, meaning it was higher off the ground than the low-hat, which was played by the foot. So maybe that was the original contraption.

Instruments for in a church:

1. An organ.

This is the kind of crap, fucking guitars and drums in a church, that arises when we let Christians run the places.

Absolutely, WE.

See also that 90s rave church in Sheffield.

Ha ha, you two have illustrated what we regularly get when atheist, agnostics or the lapsed turn up for the occasional christening, wedding or funeral.

If we haven't kept them as a museum, it is all "What have you done with the place? You put heating in!!"

Well, quite right. What you guys have described sounds horrific.

What? Heated churches? Well, pardon us.

You're supposed to suffer. It's the proddy way.

hobbes wrote:

Don't be so down on yourself, you've actually an excellent misanthropist...

Well I've certainly put the hours in.