Spring Lake Church Does it Again

A big church in the West Michigan village of Spring Lake seems bent (I resist saying hell-bent) on making news. Christ Community Church, once a member of the Reformed Church in America, is no more. They took down their 65 foot cross and changed their name to 3C Exchange. They are thinking of putting a heart, a globe and the word “exchange” on the wall where the cross used to be. It would be a symbol of one love for all people. The church, loved by religious Liberals and condemned to hell by Evangelicals, is on Exchange Street and it's promoted as a haven for the exchange of diverse ideas. Back in 1996, when they split from the parent denomination over theological and social issues and had a big fuss about who owns the church property, they made national headlines. The then pastor was censured as a heretic. The story was covered by the New York Times, quoting a denominational official as saying "the meeting ran amok" and order collapsed as other ministers charged into the debate.
If anybody cares, I'm not in either camp, Liberal or Evangelical, but someplace between those poles and always a fascinated observer of church goofiness wherever it appears. Liberals believe the whole religion thing is a man made fairy tale but they go to church anyway just for the hell of it. Evangelicals believe the Bible is literally true except for the parts they don't agree with.
This latest goofiness appears to be Spring Lake, Michgan's claim to fame. It looks like the Spring Lakers need something to get excited about. They had to cancel their July village council meeting because there were not enough items on the agenda to meet about.

Hugging in Church

I guess hugging in church can be a heavenly, spiritual experience.
Or it can get you in a whole lot of hellish earthly trouble.