Horse & Buggy Faith

We spent an unusual amount of time in Banff this summer. Cheryl loves going there because it is a throw back to her university days when she would take her friend there on weekends to get away. I quite like it too. There is definitely a different crowd there. There seem to be about 3 kinds of people. First there were the tourists. They were all over the place, crowding the streets, crammed into restaurants and shops, spending money like it was water. Then there are the local folks; the regular, everyday, "Jack and Jill's" that call Banff their home. Finally, there are the twenty something’s, partied out, exhausted looking, college students, trying to find themselves by working the manual labour jobs in the park and in the town. It truly makes for quite an interesting mix and a fun place to visit for sure. While we're there it seems like we usually make our way to the "Cow Store" and a few doors down the "Candy Shop". In between the two there is usually a Horse and Buggy parked, waiting for you to step a board and go for a quaint ride through town. While I wait outside for the girls to finish I get a chance to watch these horse and buggy rides. Lots of people stop and look, pet the horse, ask a few questions, find out how much it costs, quickly end the conversation and move on. Every once in a while someone will get in and the clip clop sound of the horse moves these folks on down the street with a big smile of enjoyment pasted across their faces for the next 10 min.
Recently, I took Paige and Danae and a couple of other youth who love techno stuff onto the streets of Peachland. The guys helped by being my camera crew while and the girls were just there to look good and hopefully attract a crowd. It worked because we barely got our camera out and we had three volunteers ready to go on camera to answer a couple of questions. The first question was what do you think of the church in general and the second one if they were from Peachland was have you heard of Peachland community church if so what have you heard? We will use these clips in our services during the next month as we talk about the vision and mission of our church. The answers were amazing and quite interesting.
I have been reading about the church a fair bit these days and I came across a quote that I think says it all so well. “I think where I come from there is also a strong sense of apathy. People don’t hate the church, as much as they just see it like a horse and buggy. Nice to take a ride in once in a while, but not something that makes sense to integrate into your everyday life.” If I were to sum up the answers I heard that day on the streets of Peachland that would definitely sum them up. The church seems to have lost its power, its wonder, and its sense of awe! Even among the "faithful" church is usually not considered something that should be integrated into everyday life. I wonder how badly God must want to change this scenario. Lord start with me.