Church Attendance

During the time from late 1946 until 1953 when I married Jean, I attended rather irregularly the Bethany Lutheran Church in Berkeley. When I left southern California I had transferred my church membership back to the church in Gowrie but I later transferred it to Bethany. I also participated in the young persons group though also somewhat irregularly. It was when I was at an evening meeting of the group at the church that my car was the victim of the hit/run accident. During this period my attitude toward Christianity and the Lutheran church was sort of hit or miss, up and down but one way or another I generally didn’t consider it too seriously until there was a conflict between Jean and me between Christian Science and the more conventional churches.

In retrospect I think the conflict served to weaken further my already declining regard for conventional Christianity, and for church personnel. This would apply both to such groups as Christian Science but even more so eventually to the older parts of the Christian establishment.

After our marriage Jean and I sort of went our separate ways as far as church was concerned until after Muriel was old enough to start Sunday School. In the interest of some kind of family commitment in common for her background Jean and I agreed to start attending the Methodist church in north Berkeley. As I recall we looked at various churches, including Presbyterian, Unitarian as well as other but finally settled on Epworth. I transferred my membership from Bethany but Jean has never joined after letting her membership as a Christian Scientist lapse. In a way I suppose she had a stronger allegiance to Christian Science than I had to any organized religion, so she made a more significant adjustment than I did.

Actually, Jean’s family on her mother’s side had a historical connection to the Methodist church, some of them being as I recall founding members of one of the churches there. One of the reasons for selecting Epworth was the minister then in charge there. His name was Paul Getty and he was a philosopher as well as a minister. Unfortunately he left after a couple of years later at the conclusion of a building program.

Amongst his successors was Max Brown, who though not a philosopher, was an individual I recall with real affection. He was a most warm and likable individual and his sermons were such that I would listen to them — something I seldom do any more. There was another feature of Epworth that was highly in its favor. Located as it was in north Berkeley, it had as members several of the faculty of the Pacific School of Religion. they were certainly a leavening influence on the quality of the religious scene at Epworth and of the classes which were held on Sunday mornings.

The association that Jean and I had with Epworth and later on in Houston at Memorial Drive Methodist Church, delayed I think my retreat from involvement with religion and the church. I’m quite sure that had it not have been for this compromise in the interest of our daughters that my status now would be much less than it actually is — rather low though it may be. Currently we attend the Methodist church here once a month on the day I act as an usher. That attendance, plus the contribution we make, and the occasional attendance at some other event is about the sum of activity for me.

When we first arrived in Ashland we used the church as a basis for establishing various social contacts and we were quite active in attendance and in participation in such groups as the “Merry-mates” — a dinner group for married couple. This participation has gradually declined, partly as a result of a pastor who came to serve the congregation whose ritualistic tendency and lack of interesting discourse was not to the liking of either Jean or me.

Jean has continued her participation in such “old ladies” groups as UMW — I guess partly because of her liking for such persons. For awhile I attended the monthly suppers of the men’s group but haven’t now for several years. Several factor caused this decision. First I was “hooked” into being a caller to find out who was going to attend the meetings and I resented being asked to do something that I was not interested in doing. Further I have gradually become averse to after-dark activities, particularly in the winter months, preferring instead a quiet evening of reading or watching TV at home. But what really caused my decline of interest was the gradual feeling of lack of stimulation from the persons attending, despite their general friendliness and the usually tasty quality of the church-cooked suppers. During the time we have lived here in Ashland, only Laurel has spent much time actually living here and her lack of interest in any church activities probably contributed to our diminution of interest in the church.

In later life it is only Laurel, however, who has shown much inclination to establish an attendance relationship with a church. We have actually attended, with her, Mike and Lillian, the church in Seattle that she had chosen. It was the Easter service and we also participated in the Easter breakfast.

Palma and Dave have mentioned the possibility of some affiliation with such a group as the Unitarian church, but nothing has come of it and the arrival of our grandson may have delayed any plan they may have considered. Muriel has no contacts generally, though over the year she has gone back occasionally to either Epworth or the Christian Science church in Berkeley.

We have visited Epworth a few times over the years — its tenor is quite different now ans I suspect that we would not fit in as well as we did in the ’50s and ’60s. It seems to be still a well-functioning organization. I think this is partly because of its location with is well away from downtown Berkeley. The Christian Science church which Jean attended for many years has been less fortunate. It’s in an area that no longer provides the potential membership it once had. Either there has been a move to the suburbs of its previous members and this has caused a decline in its membership or the character of the Berkeley population has changed. It still functions but what the future holds for it remains to be seen The structure is an architectural gem and it is sad to see its deterioration. Recently (about 2004) Jean was contacted by a group that was trying to get funds to fix up the structure and I believe that Jean made a contribution.