For our final project of the retreat, we had to complete what was called a Religious Immersion Project. We were instructed to visit a religious service/celebration that is unfamiliar to our own and participate/observe/interact. Some places people visited included the Baha'i temple, a meditation and relaxation gathering, African Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist church, Hindu commission, the Salvation Army, the Quaker house... everything sounded so interesting. Unfortunately, many of the [cool] places were far away and required a car. So, I was unable to get to any of those. Also, there was a cap of 2 people allowed per location. All excited for my possibilities, I found my top choices were taken and my plan B was shot down because the buildings were off campus. So... I went to the First Baptist Church. It wasn't exactly the exotic experience I was hoping for, especially since I grew up with a Catholic upbringing - I was hoping to experience something different than Christianity. But it was okay.
The service was early, and with day light savings time, I felt like I was getting up even earlier. Not to mention it was POURING rain outside and I had to walk a mile away. What a nightmare. I made it in time for the service but was completely soaked and freezing. I found the service to be quite similar, actually, to a Catholic service (although the Catholics would probably disagree with me. So might the Baptists.) But I could definitely pick out similarities between the two. Again, I was rather disappointed that I could not attend something like the Zen Buddhist Temple or the Baha'i center but the one woman who introduced herself to me at the Baptist Church was very nice. I had expected a service in a mega-church, complete with lights, a rock band, and movie theatre screens (we all have stereotypes and generalizations) but I was pleasantly surprised to find the perish/congregation to be no more than 50 people and rather quiet. No tv's, loud music (except the organ was pretty loud), in-your-face preaching... it was completely different than I had envisioned. The woman I spoke to encouraged me to come back and join the church for 'college night' (somehow I don't think their idea of college night involves $3.00 pitchers and $1.00 jello shots), and she said she hopes to see me every week. I think next weekend I will try to visit a different service to see what kind of celebrations are offered in the Ann Arbor area.
Our retreat officially didn't start until about 1pm yesterday, so I had some time from the end of the service to the start of the retreat. We had to make posters of our experience to share with the group and briefly discuss similarities and differences between the service we attended and any service we were familiar with. All very fascinating.
After the presentations, the retreat started to come to a close. We went over some last-minute details about what's to come of GIEU between now and the end of April, journaling, essays, requirements, etc. And then we were dismissed early!
Overall, the retreat was an interesting experience. It was not at all what I had expected and some parts turned out to be even more fun and interesting than I had thought! I met some fun people (one girl I went to Interlochen with!) and learned more about the different field sites and projects.
Next month, on April 30 we have our GIEU convocation. It's the official send-off for our field sites as it will be the last time we all meet before we go on our trips and reconvene in the fall. We have to give presentations on our projects, discuss who we'll be working with, what we'll be doing, etc. Parents, family, friends are invited to come! So if you're interested or in the area (and want to celebrate my 22nd birthday a day late) you're more than welcome to come!!
Much love,
Morgan
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