As for making ritual more accessible having the potential to lose the message: I think you pointed out an answer when you mentioned the ability to connect superficially at the other churned you attended. Having beensteeped in ritual your whole life can make you more attached to the experience and it can make converts have something to grasp onto in a new faith. However, speaking as someone who’s experienced many a ritual service – ritual is also just one more way to hide your lack of faith. People see you doing the act, but there’s no way to tell if the belief is there too. I think that’s one of the reasons Catholicism is a religion with extreme believers and non-believers going through the motions. But ask me again next semester. I’m taking a class all on ritual.
Also, wasn’t it the Episicapalian church that allowed homosexual pastors or was it Presbyterian?
Go Superman and sheep!
Apologies for any bad grammar or mispellings. Typing this on a phone is difficult.

That’s a really interesting point. When people are simply spoon-fed through the lesson, people feel like they got their happy does of church and can leave. Something more ritual base forces people to either never connect, or talk about it and find some other way to be included.

When I went to First Baptist Church of Rochester, I got really frustrated because my youth pastor always dumbed things down. All the lessons were pure fluff and I absolutely HATED it. (HATE.) The few times I tried to address the problem and actually talk to him about it, he always said that there were new people coming into the group and he didn’t want to talk over their heads. I think unless you’re going to talk about dispensationalism or other highly technical theological ideas, people tend to be hungrier than they are given credit for.

“Cranbrook, on first impression, seems to strive for a transparent process in all elements of their operation.”

Transparency! I think you just articulated something that has been missing in the average church for a very long time. If a church isn’t transparent, it can be such a turn off because if anyone knows what actually goes on in the elder meetings or how they are really spending their budget, etc., it’s like going into a church and thinking “This is such a well-built church! This building is amazing!” and the person next to saying “Um, you know the floorboards underneath here are going to collapse any minute, right?”

Cranbrook sounds like an interesting place. I’m excited to go.

I once went to a small Anglican church with a group of evangelical college friends. Being fairly denominationaly mobile I assumed most people understood Eucharistic differences among denominations and didn’t even consider discussing it with them. That was until they followed me up for communion. When we got back to the pew and I explained Anglican Eucharistic theology (39 Articles) to them, two almost passed out and one didn’t believe me.