A Sunday Morning Mission Field

On Sunday morning, the preacher stands behind the pulpit and looks out upon a group of people who think they are Methodists.

 In reality, a lot of them are Shintos, who are worshipping their dead ancestors buried in the adjacent cemetery.

Some are radical Muslims, who believe every interpretation of their favorite preacher is dictated by God Almighty.

Others are Buddhist who have to come to church to escape reality.

Then, there are those who are just plain pagans that believe the purpose of religion is to get the gods to do something nice for them.

(Paraphrasing from Will Willimon;s sermon, "Resident Aliens", in A Peculiar Prophet) .

Photo credit: Juicy Ecumenism, https://juicyecumenism.com/2014/09/24/another-year-of-decline-for-u-s-united-methodists/.