Grace Notes: In unity ... la-la-la

After 45 years, I can still sing it.

How good it is when we dwell together in unity.

A week or so ago, I attended a prayer breakfast at the YMCA.

As I looked around the room at who was there, the community leaders and clergy from various churches, all I saw was unity – Pentecostals and Presbyterians, Baptists and those from non-denominational churches.

I thought about the scripture that says we are all one body made up of many parts, each part with its own specific purpose, no part better than another.

“But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wants them to be.”

The scripture goes on to say that the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are actually indispensable…so there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other” (1 Corinthians 12:12-25).

A common question people ask: If the Christian church is one body, why are there so many denominations?

My answer: I have no idea.

I did a quick Google search asking how many Christian denominations there are in the U.S. One answer said about 200 and another said about 33,000, so I’ll just say there’s a lot.

And they each bring something different to the body as a whole.

I remember interviewing an Episcopalian pastor who collected stuffed toy sheep. He pointed out a group of them in the corner of his office and said they were his Methodist sheep.

“How do you know they’re Methodist?” I asked.

He replied, “Because they’re smiling.”

Methodist churches are known by their motto: “Open hearts, open minds, open doors.” Some of the great hymns came from brothers John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist movement in England – “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”

Baptist churches are big on Sunday school from cradle to grave, also missions.

Worship at Pentecostal churches is lively and exuberant. They experience God, and whenever I feel the need for powerful prayer, I go to one of my go-to Pentecostal preacher friends. They expect God to hear and answer prayer.

A Church of Christ church believes in a no-frills approach to Sunday service. Their sermons are pure Bible, serious expository preaching, which I respect.

Denominations birthed from the Protestant Reformation such as Lutheran, Presbyterian and Anglican, bring an emphasis and embrace of grace – grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

It’s at my Presbyterian church where I learned “Grace, grace, God’s grace … is greater than all my sin.”

Catholic and Orthodox churches bring history, tradition, ceremony and solemnity. I learned basic catechism as a child at a Catholic church: Who is God? Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus die on the Cross?

Here in Citrus County we have about 150 churches. Some are more than 100 years old. New ones start all the time.

There’s even a “cowboy” church.

All are different yet the one thing they all have in common is Jesus.

One body, many parts … la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Nancy Kennedy can be reached at 352-564-2927 or by email at nkennedy @chronicleonline.com.