Winnie-the-Poohcharist: The sequel

This is the follow-up to the remarkable Winnie-the-Poohcharist worship experience I had at Amazing Grace UMC in Rockville, VA, not long ago. If you haven't read part one, you can scroll down to yesterday's blog post or just click here. And if you've never taken part in a Winnie-the-Poohcharist service, you're not going to believe this...

What I encountered after Associate Pastor Karen Teasely led me into the sanctuary almost defies explanation. The packed worship space had been decorated to look like the Hundred Acre Wood (think Vacation Bible School set on steroids). The "hymns" consisted of A.A. Milne's sing-song poetry straight out of the Pooh books, only set to music by a high school praise band. And let's just say that Rev. Teasely wasn't the only one wearing a costume.

The senior pastor (who would not go on record for this review) looked confused through most of the service, but he did get up and preach at the appropriate time. I noted that this seemed to be the least meaningful part of the service for the congregation, and many of the younger couples - "formerly unchurched" Karen later told me with a knowing expression - got up during the sermon to refresh their donuts and coffee with a quick trip to the Holy Grounds coffee bar.

The real celebration started when Karen herself went to the altar and uncovered piles of cinnamon rolls and little clay pots with "Hunny" written on the side. She sort of skimmed over the Prayer of Confession and went straight to a tailored Great Thanksgiving. It looked like this:

Celebrant: We don't much mind if it rains or snows,
'Cos we're gonna have some honey on our nice new nose!

People: Sing Ho! For the life of a Bear!
Sing Ho! For the life of a Bear!

Celebrant: We don't much care if it snows or thaws,
'Cos we're gonna have some honey on our nice clean paws!

People: Sing Ho! For a Bear!
Sing Ho! For a Pooh!

The lyrics seemed vaguely familiar, and I had to admit that the praise band played a nice tune to go with them. All the words were helpfully projected using PowerPoint, with scenes of Winnie and his friends juxtaposed against images of Jesus and the Twelve.

Jesus himself did make a brief appearance in the liturgy when the words of institution were said, and then Karen went on at length to talk about the sweetened elements in front of her: "Some churches use unleavened bread, and others use leavened," she said with a shrug. "Some use wine, and others use grape juice."

"When you come forward today, you'll receive a cinnamon roll and your own little pot of honey-sweetened juice. Here at Amazing Grace, we think the Spirit is what is important."

As I sat in my pew munching on my Poohcharist, I thought about how meaningful and relevant the whole service had seemed. Stodgy old traditionalists might quibble with some of the things Karen's church is doing, but the service had been packed with young people. And Amazing Grace is obviously not going to let outdated concepts like "tradition" or "orthodoxy" or "the Bible" stand in the way of a postmodern feast for the senses.

And besides, maybe we all need to sweeten up the sacrament a little bit. With hunny. Just think about it: Who can't relate to Winnie and the gang down at Pooh Corner? If other churches follow Amazing Grace's lead, all the poignant lessons we learned as children from philosophic Winnie and his ragtag group of friends can finally be put to use for the Grand Pooh-bah himself: Jesus Christ.

And maybe, just maybe, we also need somebody a little less cosmic than the Second Person of the Trinity for the sacrament to make sense in this day and age. Someone who can really help people think about what God's grace looks like in the world. A rock star? Perhaps. A Pooh Bear? Even better.