CedarCreek Church

OK. I retract my previous words on contemporary worship at Christ Presbyterian Church. Though it sounded like one, it was not a real Rock concert.

What I saw at CedarCreek Church was actually a Rock concert with complete stage, dancing/flashing lights, stage fog and stuff. They even provide earplugs to people who enter the auditorium (the volume is too high indeed). In the entrance area of this huge church (that doesn't look like a church at all), you can find hot chocolate, different blends of coffee and tea (sorry, no cookies) with welcome team members every few meters extending their hands to greet you.

Then, you'll enter the auditorium with your coffee. While seated you can place your coffee-cup inside your cup-holder and sip it whenever your hands are not busy with clapping to the beat. Sounds too non-spiritual? Wrong! The lyrics (which are projected upon huge screens in a complete multimedia setting) are actually nice Christian praise type. However, I had a hard time concentrating on those nice words with all that loud Rock music.

After the Prejam (music played before the start of the service), Worship (choruses sung by all) and Special Music (solo song by CedarCreek vocalist before the message), you'll watch a mini Drama (or a movie clip) before listening to the message.

And don't let all these modern settings mislead you into assuming that you are going to hear a liberal message.

This week's drama was about a stereotypic happy family (apparently, as conceived by outsiders). It began with a photo shown on the screens with a caption about a happy family, the type you see on TV series. Then, members of the family would come out of the statue-mode and would tell us how unhappy they felt with their life and family. The only one believing to have the best family in the world was the cute little girl who was earnestly happy with her life, her family and everything.

Then the speaker (who was not a pastor BTW) talked about "how today's distorted cultural view of Christianity, truth and reality has changed the way our nation's young people define faith and what means to be Christian". (Clear enough?)

Then she embellished her speech with some alarming symptoms and facts (stated in stats and percentages) of how young people think nowadays. And among them: their defining tolerance as "anybody has some share of truth" instead of "respecting other's beliefs (without accepting them) and holding to ours firmly"; or their definition of pluralism as "all faiths equally lead to God" versus our view of pluralism as "the only way to God is through Jesus Christ while respecting others".

To make her point, she had a big gum-dispenser by her side on stage. She asked us how many gums were inside. And she had the answer: 843. And then she concluded: the number of gums inside this gum-dispenser is a fact, an absolute truth that doesn't change regardless of what people think about it.

Clear enough? No.

Well, I've never liked over-simplification of religious and divine issues so that any kid could understand what we hold to be absolute truth. Sometimes it would cause more harm to the cause.

First, religious facts (which indeed are absolute and unique) are not as measurable/enumerable/experimentable as the number of gums in a gum-dispenser. Second, who is in a position to tell others the absolute truth about the number of gums in a gum-dispenser (that is on the stage by your side)? You? Somebody else who has another gum-dispenser in a different place on a different stage? And assuming there should be only one gum-dispenser for all world to think about the absolute number of gums it holds, who's in the position to take possession of it and let people know about the absolute fact?

OK. Enough with gums and gum-dispensers. Excerpts of weekly messages could be viewed here.

After the Offering Music (solo song by CedarCreek vocalist after the message, during the offering), service ends with advertisements about church activities on those huge screens above the stage while praise team plays the dismissal music. They ask for your feedback about everything including stage design and lighting. As a former engineer who has been into Computer Programming and Development, I have to admit that their website is impressive.

Upon leaving the auditorium, you can tour around the building accompanied by a pastor. There, you can discover about their modern childcare (appropriated to different age groups), get familiar with how this corporate-style church works, the big role volunteers play in running day-to-day activities of a big church (with a 6000+ membership) and what facilities would be available to students, families and other groups seeking God.

I had a very interesting talk with their Senior Executive Pastor (doesn't it sound like CEO?) and he explained to me how a small circle of people who were concerned about "reaching the lost" (people who leave church and God) grew into such a big community over the course of 11 years. He found himself so passionate about such a mission that he abandoned his promising career after 25 years at a Fortune-500 Corporate America to serve here.

And although their Mission Statement is about helping "uncurched and spiritually restless people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ" and they spend any surplus budget on advertising about themselves, they deny allegations that they're converting regular church-goers to theirs. Their Vision states that they "want to come along side other churches to equip them in their mission" and they claim to discourage anybody from leaving their church for CedarCreek. (But how could you be sure you're attracting only lost kids while you openly wield delicious chocolates for anybody to see?)

He confirmed my observation that not all people coming here are teenagers or youth; nearly 30% of their members are on the aged side. They have Ministries and Home Groups (equivalent to support groups in other contemporary churches) to support different ages and cultures. Just think of "4:23" as the name of College-age ministry (after John 4:23) or "Heart" ministry for women inviting members to "Death by Chocolate" (an evening that includes a chocolate buffet with a specialty coffee bar) or "G-Force" ministry for men and you can figure out how things go.

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P.S. I visited CedarCreek the next week and was greeted at the door by this Senior Executive Pastor with "Great to meet you again Mehrad". A striking sharp memory to remember and pronounce a foreign name correctly after meeting once out of thousands of regulars and visitors!

Cherry Street Mission

"I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops".
--- Stephen Jay Gould

Over one of my visits to Grace Lutheran Church, I'd found that they volunteer to serve food to the poor and homeless (which are more than abundant in this over-wealthy Kingdom of God). They do this at Cherry Street Mission every 3^rd Friday of each month.

Although watching the poor always makes me sad, I've always enjoyed helping others. In this case, it could serve me in both a personal and professional way. This could be an opportunity to observe how a charity food service (with people queuing) would look like here.

In my country and my culture, dignity of the needy is more important than merely stuffing their stomach. That's what we've been taught by our ultimate exemplar, Imam Ali, when he fed the poor at the pitch of the dark (veiled while doing so). Maybe those times (and of course people of those times) are long passed. And to be realistic, it's difficult to do it that way in big cities of our time. Anyway.

I signed up for Jan 19 (the earliest available slot). I more or less had a feeling that such food service (without actually cooking and taking the food to the poor) is mostly a ritual for people who'd like to do some sort of volunteering. And as the saying goes, there's no such thing as free lunch; such food servings would almost always be accompanied by preaching (spreading the word of God by way of food). Yet, as a Sociologist, I preferred to participate and have an observation.

When we arrived in the kitchen (through the backdoor), food had been already cooked and we were supposed to just fill the dishes and hand them out through the window. I felt very uneasy about merely acting as food-distributor while everything else had been already done by others. I had a quick look at the lounge before beginning with the job. People were leaning back, watching TV and waiting for the kitchen window blind to go up.

We wore gloves and hair mesh (both are sanitary must in every kitchen here). Then we prayed hand in hand and asked God to bless us with what we were going to do. The job seemed fairly easy; each of us would assume part of the assembly line, filling the slots in the tray (first bread, then meal, then baked corn, then cookie) and putting the tray on the counter with smiles and a "God Bless You". I asked God to help me perform less showy and more practical.

The window blind went up and we were welcomed by those hungry guys' applause (God knows how uneasy I felt with that) and we waved back as part of the ritual.

I'd chosen the last part in the assembly line, not only because I love anything involved with cookies (what's better than being the person delivering those cookies to people), but also that position (last part) made me the person to hand out the tray and hence enabling to interact directly with the recipient of the food. Because of space limitation, I had to assume the role of filling-in the baked corn also, before placing the cookies and raising the tray to the counter. So, I had to be quick doing all that (preventing the queue to jam) and yet be efficient not to make a mess on the tray (pouring baked corn over other slots). Poor people are entitled to their dignity and they usually feel sensitive about a messy hand-out thrown at them as the poor.

Focusing on efficiency and swiftness of my food-handling job at the same time, wouldn't let me analyze the people too closely or make an accurate demography. Yet, I could make some observations: not all (or even majority of them) were black, they were almost even in terms of race; I could see old, middle aged and young lads almost evenly distributed; almost all of them were male; a lot wore beards (so, I was not a black sheep there). Actually, one of them pointed at my face and said: looks like Jesus is serving me (well, Jesus did not wear glasses). This was the best thing I could've heard on that day.

Some smiled genuinely, some just appeared to be smiling and some were clearly unhappy with being fed this way. And there was something I expected to observe: I could see many interesting faces that definitely didn't belong to streets (hence, the quote at the beginning of this post). I just wish I could have a talk with them.

This is another controversial issue. Contrary to what right-wing critics tend to envision, not all misfortunate homeless people are necessarily despicable misfits; they are just less-endowed people in a highly stratified society. And here's the irony, neo-liberals who politically side with neo-cons (and so-called right-wing Christians) believe that social welfare is waste of money and resources. And they succeeded greatly to implement their view of welfare reform over the tenure of Ronald Reagan (a Christian President) and those policies are going to be firmly established in American public policy during George W. Bush term (another Christian President).

Such debates have found their way into religious circles also. Despite all the emphasis in Christian beliefs and teachings of Jesus Christ to help the poor, some people argue that feeding the poor on a regular basis would make them accustomed to their status quo as a routine and would drive them into laziness and lead them evade working. Sounds reasonable, but one still wonders.

Grace Lutheran Church

Two weeks ago, I'd briefly written about the traditional service at Grace Lutheran Church in a previous post where I'd mostly focused on traditional vs contemporary worship. One of the reasons usually mentioned to explain the emergence of this phenomenon is generation gap. It's supposed that teenagers and young people generally find the traditional service boring and prefer cutting edge ways of worship. While this may be true, it's not the case all the time.

I saw many Generations X and Y guys enjoying the traditional service here. And I can attest that the service (was more or less) free of modern flavors. Yet, it was very appealing to the extent that I had difficulty doing my job as a neutral observer and was carried away with the words and prayers.

One of the interesting points I'd not seen in any traditional service was the way Eucharist was given. Usually, people stand in a queue and the minister (or sometimes depending on the church doctrine, the person himself/herself) dips the bread into the chalice of the consecrated wine and then the bread is consumed as a remembrance of the Last Supper and as a Communion with Jesus Christ in his body and blood (and more so his path).

Here, people would kneel in front of the altar in a line and the pastor and his assistant respectively passed by serving bread and mini-chalices of wine on separate trays and anybody would take his share off each tray and after everybody in the line had been served, the pastor would say the prayers and blessing words collectively. Here, people were treated as flocks not as groups of disunited individuals. As people had to leave pews in groups in an organized (yet quick) way to form a line facing the altar, ushers had much more than a symbolic ritual role and they had to actually usher people in an efficient way. Well, as a former engineer, I cannot ignore such details concerning coordination, order and efficiency. :)

And as people would walk in batches to the altar and back to their pew while the next batch stood in the opposing aisle waiting for their turn, I had ample time to scrutinize people. I could see many teenagers and youth apparently (if appearance could ever be a criterion to judge people) unlikely to attend such a traditional Sunday service. Yet, they did. Instead of looking for modern attractions (which were virtually non-existent), I'd attribute it to the pastor and his assistant and the passion and dedication they had with their job.

To my surprise, I found the contemporary worship on Wednesday night very low-populated (in sharp contrast to the traditional service on Sunday) and people mainly consisted of elderly and middle-aged people. It was really fun to see grandpas and grandmas swaying to the pop music. This is what's called feeling young at heart.

Here, the pastor who was very venerable (yet very friendly) with a soft warm voice (exactly the stereotype you see in movies) was not in clerical robes, yet he'd not gone too far as to appear too casual. I was keen to know how would the assistant pastor appear for this contemporary service, but she was absent.

And all that post-911 propaganda has not been impenetrable to the minds of American people, even in this spiritual church. Over the closing prayer, there were some fears mentioned that people would confess to and ask God for help about; one of these was the threat of a terrorist.

In the end, there was something funny that really made our night. A very cute toddler struggled all over the worship to walk (toddle to be accurate) to the altar. Her mother more or less managed to restrain her. But by the end of the worship, while the praise team were singing a very jubilant song about the God's light that nobody could ever extinguish (and I couldn't help think about the verses mentioned in Quran to that effect), our little lovely fairy eventually managed to break free, running to the altar. Everybody was amazed and overjoyed. Well, she wanted to have a personal first-hand experience of the God's light and she had every right to that end.

And there was something odd that made me believe this was an extremely contemporary service (though it was free of any extravaganza); somebody had brought her dog (yes, a dog and a rather big one) to the worship. It appeared to be a spiritual polite dog as it didn't make any noise whatsoever during the worship and I had not noticed it before people got up to leave the chapel.

After the worship, there was a Bible Study and I didn't hesitate to attend it. It was book of Job, chapter 2. It mentioned how frustrated he felt after all the calamities pouring over him one after the other. People were expected to rephrase the verses assigned to them in a contemporary understandable language. I'd been assigned the verses 11-15. Well, instead of rephrasing the verses, I preferred to say what was my take of it all.

And trivially, as a Muslim, I expressed it in an Islamic way: whether we feel overwhelmed with calamities or indulged in luxuries, we'll be buried under the same earth; it doesn't matter how we feel about our life here; what makes the whole difference is how we live in this world before leaving for the next; when we meet our Lord, all it matters is whether we feel ashamed or proud in His presence on that day.

Traditional vs Contemporary Worship (3)

Last night, I attended contemporary worship at Grace Lutheran Church. It debunked one of the major myths surrounding traditional vs contemporary worship; i.e. old people prefer traditional service while contemporary worship is for teenagers and youth; and that contemporary service has been invented to draw Generations X and Y (who are normally supposed to be unwilling to attend church service just becasue they find it boring). What I observed, proved quite the other way around. Most of the people I saw last night where on the aged side while I had seen many young people at their traditional service described in a previous post.

There were other interesting things to be observed in a church boasting the most traditional service among Lutheran churches here. I'll write in my next post about this contemporary worship and the Bible Study that followed after the worship.

Christ Presbyterian Church

First thing I had noticed about Christ Presbyterian Church when I discovered it was its spire; instead of simply putting a cross atop (as is the case with most churches), there was an Arc icon with the cross on its big sail. This made me curious to visit the church. Another incentive was their sermon topic which was about sexuality.

I arrived there a little before 8 am. Trying to find my way around, I was called by somebody (who entered the church just after me) as how she could help me. I explained and she introduced herself as associate-pastor of the church. A female associate-pastor (especially an amicable one) in a conservative church? No way. But there was more surprise in place for me as things went on during the day.

She took me to the reception desk in front of the chapel and showed me the brochures all along the hallway and then told me to take a coffee-mug (with some goodies stuffed inside and elegantly wrapped with a blue ribbon) as a gift to first-timers and asked me to fill out a welcome form. Walking along the hallway, I noticed many photos of military members of the church serving in Iraq. This gave me an impression of some right-wing affiliation. It was confirmed later on by prayers for the President and his advisors making tough decisions about war in Middle East (a reference to the recent controversial 20,000 draft).

The audience of the first traditional service consisited mainly of elderly people who had frequented there for many many years. The service went on more or less in a traditional way. Then, the pastor (whom I found later to hold a Doctorate degree in Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary) started his sermon. He spoke of X and Y chromosomes, testosterone and a bit of psychology and then concluded why men (unlike women) usually don't tend to ask for directions (even in Godly matters). He made a big effort to make those grandpas and grandmas laugh at his jokes over sermon. Interesting? There was more.

I had a small talk with the pastor and explained a little about my research. He suggested staying for their contemporary worship that would begin shortly after. And this was to be held in their Hanson hall. Upon entering this hall which was actually their gym, I found myself in a Rock concert setting with a refreshment table at the entrance.

The Rock concert (well, contemporary worship) began with people still enjoying their coffee and cookies and talking. As I was helping myself with those delicious cookies (I admit that's my weakness), and the setting was quite casual I preferred to stay in the back and sit after finishing with my cookies. Then, a church member approached me and took me to the front row where his family were sitting. I felt somehow awkward with the cookie plate still in my hand during a worship. He said it's OK and I noticed people (including him) were still holding to their coffee-mugs and sipping from time to time.

After the prelude (it sounds irrelevant for a Rock concert, but anyway), the pastor and his associate appeared (or I noticed them then to be accurate). I couldn't believe my eyes and had difficulty for a few seconds recognizing them. Half an hour ago, they were dressed in full robe and cleric stuff. Now, the pastor was in a casual purple shirt and black pants (I had noticed his necktie beneath his robe half an hour ago). And the associate-pastor wore a tight bloose and a not-so-long skirt and somehow dancing to the music.

I admit I'm somehow old-fashioned, but this sounds too much even by American religious norms. Maybe not. One cannot easily speak of norms in an ever-changing society like America. There are ordained ministers in some churches who are openly proud to be gay or lesbian.

That's a long story. I have to write in detail about homosexuality and Churches in America in my future posts. That's another big (and very controversial) example of how Social Change could cause the Religion to transmutate (change wouldn't be the proper word here). I just hope merely mentioning words like gay or homosexuality doesn't make my blog be blocked by dumb idiotic filtering. I had much difficulty researching this topic when I was in Iran, although the articles I sought to read had nothing to do with obscenity whatsoever. Anyway.

Looking at the full half of the glass however, I have to admit that the lyrics of this Rock concert (aka contemporary worship) were completely religious, biblical, spiritual and moving. They call them Praise Songs in a contemporary worship (compare it to hymns and carols in a traditional service) and the playing/singing band is referred to as Praise Team (compare it to Choir in a traditional setting). I couldn't hold back my tears over some praise songs as I found the wordings closely matching that of the eloquent prayers by Imam Ali and Imam Sajjad I've been used to say for years.

Then, the pastor gave his sermon. Almost the same words as in the traditional one an hour before, though he gave his words in a more casual animated way (his previous sermon wasn't stiff or dry either).

And then it came to ordination/installation of newly elected Elders and Deacons. In a Presbyterian Church, Elders are analogous to Senators in American Congress and Deacons are like Administration in American Government. Elders do the policy-making for the church activities while Deacons are mostly involved with executive day-to day chores of the church and sometimes give recommendations about policies. Both groups are elected in almost similar fashion as public elections in America.

And just like Congress and Administration, they took the oath read aloud by the associate-pastor. She would read the oath and the elected would answer with "I do" or "I will". There were confirmation words by church members in the same way. Then, they knelt in front of the stage (read altar) while their incumbent peers gathered around them, putting their hands on their shoulders reciting ordination prayers as was read by the pastor. Then, incumbents and the newly elected hugged each other.

After the contemporary worship finished, I had an insightful talk with the pastor's wife (who was an ordained pastor herself). She explained about Elders/Deacons and organization of a Presbyterian church. Then I broached the topic of homosexuality. She said Presbyterian Church is split (like many other Churches) about the issue. There have been instances of ministers ordained who happened to be gay, but the Church is still reluctant to ordain openly gay pastors. It's still undergoing debate.

Then, I attended the next traditional service which was for families. Again, the pastors had worn their robes and the setting was more or less traditional. Here, hymns were song by the choir. At the end, there was another Elders/Deacons ordination/installation procession almost in the same manner as the one during the contemporary worship. Upon dismissal, the pastor was amazed as to how I (as a non-Christian) could stand three services in succession without feeling bored. I told him I was doing my job, enjoying it personally and professionally. Actually, observing those different services in a single church gave me a good understanding.

In the end, there was a refreshment celebrating ordination of newly installed Elders/Deacons. Well, it was more than a refreshment and I took my time talking to people around me while enjoying those cookies and cakes. I had a very interesting lengthy talk with the church organist. She was a very lively woman (despite her age). She's been in this job for nearly 50 years (although switching workplace).

Another interesting point to me. She was a faithful Methodist and before coming here, she used to play organ at her Methodist church and now she played at a Presbyterian Church! I wondered how she could do it. She simply said it was just a job to her and she (along with all her family) still visit their old church. She recommended me to attend their church to have a taste of their traditional service (she was very unhappy about all the modernization at churches). And I recommended her to put aside her anti-modernity bias and attend the contemporary worship at her workplace at least once. She was amazed when I explained to her how moving/spiritual were the words of those praise songs (although in a Rock concert setting).

All in all, a very fruitful day helping me learn a lot. I'd like to quote Sohrab Sepehri: "Let's wash our eyes and see in a different way".

Traditional vs Contemporary Worship (2)

Doing individual study and especially field-research is very essential to a Sociologist. One shouldn't rely merely on speculations and hearsay by poorly-informed and probably biased people.

I'd been told that Presbyterians are somehow old-fashioned and conservative. I once had a bad experience at Hanmi Presbyterian Church that would reaffirm such a view.

One day, I was late for my afternoon prayer and fearing I wouldn't make it in-time, ringed their door-bell and asked for permission to say my prayer there. Just after making my Vozu (ablution), when I was about to start my prayer at their office lounge, their pastor (who was Korean) appeared and told me I couldn't say my prayers in their church; and his reasoning: mutual respect! In what appeared to him as reasoning, he tried to make me understand that just as he wouldn't worship his God in my place of prayer, I shouldn't worship my God in their church and this meant mutual-respect. If he had mentioned any other excuse, even saying he wouldn't simply like it, I would had found it acceptable. But this respect thing was really offending.

In a futile effort, while struggling with myself to keep calm and although I had no intention to say my prayer there anymore, I tried (Khatami-style) to make it clear for him that it's not my God or their God; rather there's only one God worshipped by everybody; and that Jesus Christ does not belong just to them and we Muslims too believe in him as Prophet and Savior; and that Church is the House of God and He would welcome anybody coming there to worship Him; and that God wouldn't regard worshipping Him at His own House as disrespect; and that if he'd come to my place of worship and pray to God, I’d be more than happy and mutual-respect means he should be happy with my praying God in their church likewise.

But he still kept repeating his line of mutual-respect without grasping a single word of what I told him. I realized that I was banging my head against a stone wall (as Captain Haddock puts it) and gave up debating and told him it had nothing to do with respect or lack thereof; it was simply a matter of intolerance on his side.

Fortunately, I could make it to Hope Lutheran Church before sunset and said my prayer there. Here, their discipleship pastor (Pastor Tom, who’s very fond of learning how to pronounce my name correctly) showed me to their family lounge and was quite happy with it. After I finished with my prayers and returned to the sanctuary, he asked me whether I enjoyed my prayer there. Surely, I did.

Anyway, curious to observe a traditional (and presumably mundane) service, I attended Christ Presbyterian Church. I had no intention to stay there for long and had arranged for a crammed schedule attending two more services at Hope United Methodist Church and maybe Christ the King Catholic Church (both nearby on Sylvania Ave).

I ended up staying at Christ Presbyterian Church past 2 pm, attending all of their services. It was quite an experience, a surprising yet enjoyable one. And it somehow broadened my view. Here, the contrast between their traditional and contemporary services was rather sharp.

I'll write about it in my next post.

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P.S. I admit that the title of this post doesn't reflect well on what I've written. I wanted to make it a prelude to my observation on traditional vs contemporary worship at Christ Presbyterian Church. But the result is ... well, not completely relevant.

To Be a Resident of Ohio

Today, I got my Ohio State ID.

It appears that being a resident of Ohio matters, even temporarily. It works in Ohio exactly the same way "National ID card" does in Iran. And even more so; with Ohio State ID you can enjoy some things for free like visiting Toledo Zoo (which is among the best nationwide), or attending some events at a discount fare. Even for Americans, Ohio residents are treated preferentially at school. They pay lower tuition fees compared to other Americans.

BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles, serving under Ohio Department of Public Safety) is the office that issues driver license and state ID, doing registrar jobs and a couple of other things. I could've applied for Ohio driver license but I didn't feel like memorizing those speed limits and stuff (that maybe applicable only in OH) just to get a useless driver license, while I don't intend to buy or drive a car anytime soon. I already have an international driving permit. And riding my bicycle is just fine to me.

And speaking of BMV, I love something about Ohio license plates; there's this inscription on the top: "Ohio, Birthplace of Aviation".

Spring 2007 Semester

I missed Fall 2006 semester as a result of stalemate bureaucracy at DoS. If I want to make it for PhD by Fall 2008, I have to make up for this loss somehow. Today, I added one more course to make it 12 credits this semester. God save me! All are intensive courses:

Social Research Methods
Political Sociology
Urban Anthropology
Religion in Post-Modern Culture

We have to read SIX(!) books just for this Religion course and volunteer to give lectures twice (or maybe more). The Professor did his best today to scare people away. Apparently, he's not happy with too many undergrad students taking this course. He made it clear that it's a grad course and not gonna be a piece of cake.

In God we trust.

Ghadir - Spring Semester begins at U Toledo

Today, I celebrated Ghadir in the US for the first time (after doing so for several years in Iran). In the meantime, I began with my classes as a graduate student of Sociology here at the University of Toledo. What a blessing coincidence!

Ghadir is the most important religious celebration among Shi'a Muslims. It was the day when our Prophet Mohammad announced his last (yet most important) message: Ali, his cousin, the first man to believe in Islam and his prophecy and his most ardent supporter all over his 23 years of prophecy was to succeed him as Imam (leader) and Vali (ruler/friend) of the believers. And whoever followed Mohammad as a Vali had to follow Ali as Vali. Ghadir was the name of the place (a couple of miles from Mecca) where this announcement was made.

To be honest, more than feeling elated about my classes beginning, I was mostly excited about celebrating Ghadir thousands of miles away from Iran. Although I felt so sad in the meantime to be so far away from holy places I used to visit on such occasions. Hope this nice coincidence works out for me to remain blessed by God keeping with His straight path. Now, I've officially started my career as a Sociologist (after working for so many years as an engineer).

Thanks be to God who made us steadfast to the rule/friendship of Ali (son of Abi-Taleb) peace be upon him.

Traditional vs Contemporary Worship (1)

I attended Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church for Sunday Service. I was keen to know how their traditional service looks like. I met somebody there who visits different Lutheran churches on behalf of ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) as a kind of inspector. He told me this church has the most traditional worship (among Lutheran churches) in Toledo. I enjoyed their service indeed.

This traditional vs contemporary thing has become quite a topic of debate among worshipers (or even non-worshipers) in the US. Actually, this is another example of how social and cultural change have impacted religion over recent decades.

Once, Sunday worship meant (more or less) what you'd see on old movies; some choir singing (usually accompanied by organ), sermon by the pastor (or priest or minister or whatever the title, depending on the Church), prayers and (again, depending on the Church) Communion in the end. And all that without much fanfare, entertainment or modern blending.

Nowadays, you can attend prayers accompanied by electric guitars, drums and stuff. And this is called contemporary worship. Even if they don't side with Rock music (and they increasingly do so), a music ensemble performance is a must with most contemporary services as a minimum (and sometimes even with traditional worships at some churches). In the past, music ensemble was for special occasions, not part of the regular Sunday Service. And the trend is on the rise.

One of the churches I attended on Christmas Eve was a small church called Hampton Park Christian Church (a Disciples of Christ Church). After finishing his sermon (which was very lively), the pastor joined the ensemble to play French horn. After the service, I had a short talk with him and mentioned this (with some surprise) and he simply answered: "I'm just a member of this congregation".

After coming back home late at night, I was watching a Christian TV channel. It showed a Megachurch (very very big church with a capacity for thousands of people). If you couldn't understand the lyrics, you'd had assumed it was a typical Hard Rock band performing while fans cheering in ecstasy.

Very large churches have existed for long, but the increasing inclination to build Megachurches (with not-so-spiritual music as part of the performance) is a symptom of modernization or (as critics coin it) commodification of religion. Churches compete to attract more and more worshippers (read customers). And as folks are changing their taste, attitude and everything, Churches feel compelled to adapt themselves to the change. Sometimes, when you watch such services, you feel like watching a big entertainment event instead of a spiritual one. Megachurch-building has its critics among conservative worshippers as well as anti-religious folks alike (needless to say for very different reasons on each side of the spectrum).

And adding flavors of modernity is not the case just with Lutheran or other mainstream Protestant churches. Even Roman Catholic churches who are historically known for conservatism have resorted to such attractions, although they're more moderate in modernization compared to other churches.

Still, this Grace Lutheran Church boasting traditional service has not stayed away from modernization theologically speaking: there was a female assistant-pastor (who was very dedicated and passionate in doing her job BTW). And this assistant-pastor was not merely an assistant: she did give the sermon indeed (this was a big taboo a few decades ago). That seems to be the case with some other ELCA churches also. And here, they have a contemporary service (although on Wednesday evening).

At Hope Lutheran Church, just after the traditional service on Sunday, they have their contemporary worship followed by another traditional service. And even in their traditional service, the pastor incorporates modern features like multimedia, showing movie clips and even singing (yes, he once sang part of a song to make his point). And during their contemporary service, the guitarist plays and sings with such ultimate devotion to Jesus Christ.

This traditional vs contemporary thing is a very interesting issue. I have to do more research on it. There are many churches in Toledo. Toledoans brag about having highest concentration of churches per capita nationwide. Maybe, maybe not. Nevertheless, I have a vast variety of churches to visit.

Happy New Year 2007

A year has passed and people are happy about starting another year in their life and making resolves as to what to do over this New Year. And well, one would think what s/he's done over the previous year.

I started 2006 with my endeavor to become a graduate student of Sociology. Actually, I had taken TOEFL and my first GRE back in 2005, but the real tough business began in early 2006: I started going through crusades of paperwork in Iran and elsewhere to proceed. It took me a whole year to eventually make it here.

First, I had to release my official transcripts to apply to graduate programs. Needless to say, I faced various unexpected hurdles. Then, I had to send those hard acquired (yet senseless papers) to graduate schools and departments. After getting admissions with full TA in two schools in the US, I had to go through next batch of paperwork; i.e. changing my old passport (which I discovered was not valid enough according to INS regulations per my I-20 timings) . Again, I faced unexpected delays with a job that could had been finished within a day or so. Next batch of paperwork had to be pursued outside Iran.

I went to Dubai, UAE and applied for visa and got rejected there as a result of inefficient way of handling would-be students. I was asked a few general basic questions that by no means would constitute my unwillingness to come back to my homeland. I was rejected merely for being single. And in the opinion of the Visa Officer who didn't even feel like explaining the ground for my rejection (what he was supposed to do according to DoS regulations) I lacked social/economic ties to Iran. Rejecting students under flimsy excuses like marital status or such is in sheer violation of directives and telegrams issued by Secretary of State (incumbent and the former one).

And I am not a person easily giving up to defeat (especially under unfair conditions). I applied again nearly 1 month later in Nicosia, Cyprus at the worst time (early days of Lebanon war) with (apparently) all the negative points in my case. I went through a lengthy tough interview and finally succeeded to convince the Visa Officer that I had been unfairly rejected in Dubai and that I rightfully deserve a student visa as a genuine student.

Then, I had to wait for clearance by FBI, DoS, DHS and God knows what other entities. I already knew that paperwork in this country goes almost the same as in my own country. Yet, complications of Lebanon war made it even worse. The US embassy in Cyprus was busy with evacuation of American citizens stranded in Lebanon as a result of Israeli all-out offensive. It took me 73(!) days (instead of normal 2-3 week) to receive my clearance and hence I missed my Fall 2006 semester as a result of this unexpected delay.

While waiting for the clearance, I enrolled in MA program of American Studies at the University of Tehran (the oldest and most prestigious university in Iran). Upon receiving my overdue clearance, I picked up my visa and despite my unwillingness to abandon UT, I had to head for the US for another UT (University of Toledo). I hate leaving any business whatsoever unfinished for whatever reason. And my study at U Tehran was no exception. However, my endeavor to land here had cost me so much hassle and stress (and yes, money) that I had no other choice, rationally thinking.

And now I'm here, done with all sort of paperwork, ready to start my graduate study of Sociology at the University of Toledo at the beginning of 2007 after passing a tough year. Or maybe, I've started it already? Attending church services since my first week here could count toward my Sociological research (some kind of field work). I've enjoyed attending those services not only professionally (as a Sociologist studying the role of religion here) but also personally, although I'm a practicing devout Muslim.

And there was something important over the closing days of 2006: Saddam got executed. It was a great day for 70 million Iranians and 27 million Iraqis. That bloodthirsty maniac criminal eventually got what he deserved. Or did he?

A criminal who staged an all-out offensive of 8 years on my country, killing best of best of my people defending their homeland, abusing his own people over more than 20 years of brutal dictatorship, and slaughtering hordes of innocent civilians on both sides of the border. Was a swift (almost) painless execution all he deserved?

Upon receiving his final verdict, this frail coward (who was not even brave enough to take his life with a ready loaded pistol in his hand before being dragged out of his fox-hole) issued an open-letter falsely bragging that he would give his soul as a sacrifice to great Iraqi people. Hearing this more than enraged me. And I was watching TV for coverage of the last moments of this self-acclaimed hero of Arab world. He'd declined to be hooded as a last show of his non-existent courage. Yet, he couldn't hide how afraid he was treading on the wooden platform toward gallows meeting his ultimate abyss.

And when the masked executioners wrapped a black piece of cloth around his neck before placing the noose, I couldn't help but think how far the influence of American judicial procedures could go in a country completely unaccustomed to such minute details (although the whole trial and how it proceeded was an American play). Painless death, avoiding cruel punishment and stuff. And that for a criminal to whom death by gallows was a kiss of mercy compared to what he'd done.

Nevertheless, even this was long overdue for people who are still living through haunting nightmares of his brutal rule, veterans on both sides of the border who struggle with physical/mental/chemical casualties he's left for them, families in both countries who've lost loved ones or worse, still waiting to hear about loved ones missing.

Let's hope that the year 2007 be a more peaceful one for all people living all around the planet.