Church Cartoons for February

Lent has come again, and as it has, I've had a chance to reflect on something that I've been grappling for the past several years. What do I still believe about God and Jesus and the church?

My religious walk has taken me to several different places. When I was a kid, my parents took me to a Catholic Church and I was a fairly devout Catholic until my early twenties. That experience made me appreciate the beauty of ritual. Before Easter, my parents used to take the family to the stations of the cross, and I was always moved by the solemnity of that particular ceremony. I also gained a love for the saints, especially St. Francis of Assisi. The greatest gift that the Catholic Church has given me is a strong sense of economic justice from Catholic Social Thinking and the Papal Encyclicals. Though I disagreed with Pope John Paul II on many things when I was young, I admired his compassion for the poor and his work for peaceful alternatives to war. In the 1980s I also admired the nuns and priests who were fighting for the poor in Central and South America. Dorothy Day, the radical Catholic anarchist who founded the Catholic Worker newspaper and worked for civil rights, pacifism, and help for the poor, became a lifelong hero and influence on me.

After I drifted from the Catholic Church, I attended an evangelical church for 8 years. Though the last few years in an evangelical church were not happy for me, I did take out of the evangelical experience some positive things. One of the things that I learned was to have a greater appreciation of the Bible. I was in several Bible studies during that time, and I learned a lot from listening to the insights of many of the participants and how they tried to apply what they learned in their own lives. Through these groups, I learned a lot about Genesis, Job, Habukak, the 4 Gospels, and Romans.

The other positive thing that I got out of that evangelical experience is their strong emphasis on getting a personal relationship with God. Evangelicals strongly believed that a personal experience was the most important thing in being a Christian, and that is what initially attracted me to the church. Good works, church attendence, and all the other religious trappings did not mean a thing for evangelicals if a person did not have that personal experience with God.

With these good things, though, their emphasis on the Bible and on personal experience can be a double edged sword. Since they believed a personal experience with God depended on living a literal interpretation of the Bible, the evangelicals in that church tended to be intolerant of different views and they were very susceptible to groupthink. Often a group would use peer pressure to try to get an individual to conform, and I've witnessed enough individuals get hurt by that to really be against that type of manipulation.

These experiences gave me some sense of what I want and what I don't want in a church. After leaving the evangelical church, I visited different denominations and eventually wound up in an Episcopal Church. I've attended this church now for 3 years, and it feels like home. I'm slowly learning more about the Anglican church and I especially like the Episcopal idea of via media. This sort of midway between Catholicism and Protestantism seems to have the best qualities the two branches of Christianity. It just seems to a safe place for me to figure out what I still believe at my own pace and without any hassles or pressure.

So in this Lenten season, what are my reflections on God and Jesus? I don't believe in reading the Bible literally, and I haven't yet figured out how much of the creeds I still believe in. I believe in evolution, I don't think homosexuality or abortion is a sin, and I think nonChristians have as much chance to get to heaven as I do. Some people may think I'm not a true Christian, and they may be right. In spite of that, I do believe in a God, and I do believe Jesus is the son of God. I'm not sure why. I guess growing up and attending church with my parents, I grew to like this Jesus who was patient with his bumbling disciples and caring and loving towards the poor and the marginalized. This Jesus told us to love our enemies, to forgive when it's difficult to forgive. If there really is a God, this is how I want God to be like. When I was a kid, I was always sad as the Easter week came, because this kind and brave man was going to be abandoned and tortured and mocked.

I'm not that brave. I don't forgive easily some things, and I really don't love my enemies. In these 40 days of Lent, I hope that God makes me more brave, more forgiving, more loving towards my enemies, as Jesus was a thousand years ago.

One of the things that most attracts me to my church is its strong social justice component. My church has a program called Our Daily Bread that serves lunches to the poor and the homeless in the area every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Every year, Our Daily Bread serves more than 30,000 people, of all ages and backgrounds. Over 100 people volunteer, from people in the Roman Catholic, Protestant and other Episcopalian churches, as well as college students and high school students, and people who have recently become unemployed. Here is a link to photos of the volunteers of Our Daily Bread here.

Once a month, I get a Friday off of work. On those mornings, I usually drop by Our Daily Bread and help chop up fruits and sometimes serve food to the patrons. Sometimes I contribute some artwork to their Our Daily Bread Newsletter, as in the last issue when they thanked Trader Joe's food store for their generous donations. Last week, however, I found out that I didn't have to help out. Students from the International Culinary School of the Arts Institutes had volunteered to prepare the food for that day. It felt sort of like that television show Top Chef, so I went home, grabbed my camera, then went back to take some photos of the group. They were thrilled, although they were a bit embarassed to be compared to Top Chef.

Here in Silicon Valley, several churches have joined with other groups to help feed the poor and hungry and to help shelter the homeless. Especially in these hard economic times, they provide a needed service, as the state government has been cutting social service programs in an effort to resolve severe budget deficits. Here are a list of churches and other groups in the Santa Clara Valley who are helping the poor.

IN GILROY
BETH-EL BAPTIST CHURCH
Tennant Avenue/ Highway 101 Morgan Hill, CA 95037
408/779-2300 email: drotero@cs.com
Provides meal with a voucher, call first for an appointment

SALVATION ARMY
200 W 5th Street (Church Street) Gilroy, CA 95020
408/842-5373
Provides lunch Monday thru Friday from 12 to 12:30 pm

ST. JOSEPH'S FAMILY CENTER
7950A Church Street (First) Gilroy, CA 95020
408/842-6662
Provides brown bag lunches Monday thu Friday 9am-12 pm

IN MENLO PARK
ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA DINING ROOM
3500 Middlefield Road (9th) Menlo Park, CA 94025
650/365-9664
Provides lunch Monday thru Saturday 11am-1pm

IN MOUNTAIN VIEW
BREAKFAST WITH FRIENDS- MOUNTAIN VIEW SDA CHURCH
1425 Springer Road (Cuesta) Mountain View, Ca 94040
650/967-2189
Provides brunch on Sunday 8:30am-10am

ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH
582 Hope Street (Church) Mountain View CA 94041
650/967-3831
Provides lunch bags as long as they last Monday thru Friday 1:15pm-7:15pm

IN PALO ALTO
INNVISION URBAN MINISTRY OF PALO ALTO
650/853-8697
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH (Ravenswood/Laurel) Sunday dinner 2:30pm-3:30pm
GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH (Loma Verde/Waverly) Tuesday dinner 5pm-6pm
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (Lincoln) Wednesday dinner 5pm-6pm
FIRST UMC (Hamilton/Webster) Monday dinner 5pm-6pm
ALL SAINTS CHURCH (Hamilton/Waverly) Thursday lunch 11:30pm-12:30pm
CONVENANT PRESBYTERIAN (Middlefield) Saturday lunch 11:30pm-12:30pm

IN SAN JOSE
ACT FOR MENTAL HEALTH
441 Park Avenue (Delmas) San Jose CA 95110
408/287-2640
$1 lunch on Wednesdays at 12pm

AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER
304 N 6th Street (Julian) San Jose CA 95112
408/292-3157
Serves breakfast 1st and 2nd Sundays 7am-8am

BILL WILSON DROP-IN CENTER
693 S Second Street (2nd/Margaret) San Jose CA 95112
408/925-0231
Meals for homeless youths ages 12 to 22 Monday thru Saturday 12pm-6pm

CITYTEAM RESCUE MISSION
1174 Old Bayshore (Commercial) San Jose CA 95112
408/288-2153
Breakfast 8am, Required Chapel service 11am, Lunch 12pm, Dinner 5:30pm

CHURCH OF CHRIST FEEDING PROGRAM
81 North 8th Street (Santa Clara/St. John) San Jose CA 95112
408/286-0348
Lunch on the 1st and 3rd Saturday 12pm

DORCAS KITCHEN
920 S. Capitol Avenue San Jose CA 95112
Lunches for children 11am, adults 12pm (serves no single males 18-59)

EHC OUR HOUSE
31-39 N 5th Street San Jose CA 95112
408/298-2660
Dinner for youth ages 11-21 Monday thru Saturday 6pm

COMMUNITY HOMELESS ALLIANCE MINISTRY FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF SAN JOSE
80 S Fifth Street (San Fernando) San Jose CA 95112
408/295-4463
Breakfast Monday thru Saturday 8am, lunch Suncay 11:30am

LOAVES AND FISHES ST PATRICK'S CHURCH
389 E Santa Clara Street (9th) San Jose CA 95113
Dinner for Seniors/Couples/Singles Monday and Thursday 4pm
Dinner for Families Monday and Thursday 4:30pm
Dinner for everyone Saturday 4:30pm

LOAVES AND FISHES ST. MARIA GORETTI
2980 Senter Road (Capitol) San Jose CA 95113
Dinner for Seniors/Couples/Singles Wednesday and Friday 4pm
Dinner for Families Wednesday and Friday 4:30pm

SACRED HEART COMMUNITY SERVICE
3181 S First Street (Alma) San Jose CA 95110
408/278-2160
Lunch bags as long as they last Monday thru Friday 11am

SALVATION ARMY
405 N. 4th Street (Julian) San Jose CA 95112
408/282/1175
Lunches Monday thru Saturday 12:15pm-1pm Dinner 5:15pm-6pm

ST ISABEL KITCHEN FIVE WOUNDS CHURCH
1375 E Santa Clara Street San Jose CA 95116
408/292-2123
All week 11am-12pm

SHELTER
SHELTER BED HOTLINE
1-800-774-3583

COLD WEATHER SHELTER PROGRAM
SUNNYVALE NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY
611 E. Maude Avenue (near Fair Oaks) Sunnyvale CA 94086
408/739-6980
Open the first Monday after Thanksgiving

BATHING FACILITIES
CECIL WHITE CENTER
35 North Montgomery Street San Jose CA 95112
408/271-5160
Men: Everyday 9am-12pm
Women: Everyday 2pm-4:30pm

CUBBERLY COMMUNITY CENTER
4000 Middlefield Road Palo Alto CA 94303
Monday thru Thursday 9am-10am
Must bring own towel and soap

GEORGIA TRAVIC CENTER
297 Commercial Street San Jose CA 95112
408/453-3124
Showers for homeless women and children Monday thru Friday 9am-3pm

If you like these church cartoons you could find more on Everyday Citizen here:

A Year Back In Church
Church Cartoon December 2008
Lenten Cartoons for 2008