Conversations at Ecumenical Bible School

Each year, I direct the local ecumenical bible school. Our town is quite unique in this bible school. Four churches from four separate denominations get together to put on the bible school and we hold it on the property of the largest church, the Catholic church. This affects the dynamics of the school. well, for the adults maybe. The kids seem to have no idea what church the others come from, nor do they care.

One of the greatest things about working this VBS is seeing the interactions of the adults as they come in contact with a denomination for which they are not familiar. Every year, some conversation ensues about differences. They are usually light-hearted and interesting. By far, while the Catholics make up the largest population of the school, they are most often the center of these conversations. The strong tie to ritual and tradition makes them stand out among the Methodists, Congregationalists, and Baptists.

This year, our house sale was the focus of one of those conversations. Some of the staff asked how the house sale was going. Of course, I told them of the almost 3 month struggle in this very tight market and how we were beginning to believe that we would never sell it this year.

One of the Catholic members asked if we had buried St. Joseph. Well of course, I replied. We purchased him, prayed to him and buried him head down near the front entrance of the house. But Joseph wasn't coming through for us.

The Baptists, Congregationalists, and Methodists were just listening with wide eyes. St. Joseph in the yard is not a tradition of their denominations.

One of the staff told us about how when she entered her new house for the first time they found a three foot, dirt covered statue of St. Joseph on her kitchen counter. Many of the Catholic women harrumphed. They were supposed to take him with them and put him in a prominent place in the new home.

My response was, "three foot tall? Ours is only three inches."
To which they all replied "that's your problem!" and "No wonder the house hasn't sold yet."

Even the non-catholics were able to jump in on this one. No matter what your denomination, size does matter.

I wonder how many of these non-Catholics will be burying St. Joseph next time they sell their house.