Oxford United Methodist Church

Oxford United Methodist Church, 9655 Huebner Rd.
The United Methodist Church is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States. It has one central governing body, and it's organized geographically. You can learn a little more from Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge.

My experience
I was greeted warmly upon entering the building, and I felt quite at home in the chapel (it was similar to LDS chapels--they must order carpet and pews from the same distributor). There were hymnals and Bibles in the back of each pew, along with donation slips and prayer request forms. The room angled downward, stadium-style, to a raised stage area at the front. The stage had a table with large two candles, a piano, an organ, a portable podium, and a section boxed off for the choir, who were all wearing matching robes.

The congregation was smallish--maybe 150 people or so--and the age bracket definitely skewed toward the geriatric end. But there were a few families, and everyone seemed to know each other.

The meeting started with welcome and announcements, which included the recognition of greeters, ushers, and acolytes (children who assist with lighting the candles and such). The pastor then invited any visitors to stand and introduce themselves (I wasn't paying close attention, though, and he went so quickly that I missed my chance...oh well...), and we we sang "Praise to the Lord the Almighty"...which included a verse I was unfamiliar with that referenced a Mother in heaven (I think), but I can't find it online anywhere. Hmm.

There was a "Time for Young Disciples," where the 10 or so little kids, age 5 and under, sat up at the front to hear a very brief (like 2 minutes brief) Bible story, then they were dismissed for "Children's Church." We then had a silent prayer of confession, recited a prayer for understanding, listened to some scripture reading, and enjoyed a lovely choir number. Then Bob Buck, the guest pastor (the usual pastor was out of town), stood to give his sermon, "Just Keep Breathing," based (loosely, I might say) on Psalm 23.

We then had some time to reflect, sang "Be Still My Soul" (in 4/4! it was fast!) and recited an affirmation of faith. At this point we were reminded to consider where our priorities lay--financial priorities, specifically--and the bright, golden collection plates were passed around for members to put in their offerings.

We had another moment for silent prayer, then Pastor Buck prayed individually for those whose names had been submitted from the congregation, and sometimes his requests were very specific to the person's troubles (cancer, a death in the family, etc.). We ended by reciting the Lord's Prayer and singing a nice little "choral blessing" (you can't go wrong when it says "Shalom" every line in the song). Then there was free coffee in the foyer on your way out!

What I got out of it
I wasn't terribly moved by Pastor Buck's message--he spent a good portion of his 20 minute sermon introducing it, which included a relatively detailed synopsis of the movie Castaway. The gist of the sermon was that when we reach the absolute lows in our lives -- the valley of the shadow of death -- you have to "just keep breathing." I think it was meant to be a "hang in there when it's rough" message, but I got more of a "survival is possible" vibe.

I did appreciate a few of his more doctrinal points, which were that even though the sheep may lose sight of the Shepherd, the Shepherd never loses sight of the sheep, and that though change -- particularly abrupt, unwelcome change -- is one of the most difficult challenges in life, the most important things in life never change: God's word and the provisions for salvation.

Other thoughts
Oxford United Methodist offers a traditional service (the one I attended) and a contemporary service; I'd be interested to see what the difference is, and if the contemporary crowd is younger than the traditional one.

I liked the congregational participation at this church--when it was time to stand, recite, and sing, everyone did it, and you couldn't really hide in the crowd or the volume of the music. The congregation, and the choir, I might add, struck me as very sincere. People were dressed up (mostly)--many women wore skirts or nice slacks, and the men were dressed nicely too.

It was homey for me...it was reassuring to think that if someone from that congregation were to come visit an LDS sacrament meeting, they wouldn't feel too out of place -- there were announcements, mediocre congregational singing (though this congregation was more warbly than most), and a nice message.

I think my favorite part was the pianist, who managed to direct and accompany the choir at the same time, all the while looking absolutely radiant with the joy of gospel music. He was cool.