MISC -- Working on a Building -- From Bus Stop to Candle Ministry

[catherineyronwode]

On May 31st we broke ground for the litle candle shrine we are going to
place outside the shop. Some of you students have heard about this
building, and some have not. Some have actually contributed money to
the Building Fund, for which we are most grateful.

Here's the story:

In 1961 a man named Mr. Burgess, who was a commercial advertising
artist and a graphic designer, built a little private bus stop for his
daughter Debbie. He made it out of used lumber from his old farm house
which had been built in the 1880s. He designed it to look just like the
Victorian farm house, with a four-square gable, clapboard siding, and
neat rim. It stood there for years, on Laughlin Road, which was way the
heck in the middle of no where in Sonoma County, next to a grove of
Eucalyptus trees.

In the 1980s a small county airport was put in right near the Burgess
property. Debbie had grown up and married. she lived nearby. Her dad
died and her mom lived on the old place, but no one used the beautiful
bus stop anymore.

Fed-Ex started flying out of the little loal airport in the 1990s and
because we work in the comcs buisness, which runs on tight magazin
deadlines, we'd drive to the Fed-Ex drop off at the airport twice a
month or more, taking the back road, down Laughlin, past the little bus
stop and the big Eucalptus trees.

I loved that little building. I wanted to copy it on my own land. I
wanted to photograph it. But for some reason we were alsways in a
hurry, and i don't own a camera, and so we never did anything but say,
"Isn't that a great little building?" whenever we passed it by.

Then, about a month ago, siva stopped the car and said, "It's all
smashd!" -- and it was -- Debbie's husband was trimming up Eucalyptus
trees and he had felled a limb right on top of the little building and
crushed it! I was heartsore. I could tell that the people were not
intending to save it.

I decided that all i could do was to make measured drawings, hoping
that i could some day reconstruct the idea from my sketches. I was
sitting inside, drawing away, when Debbie and her mother, Mrs. Burgess,
drove up in their truck. They asked me what i was doing, and i said i
loved the little bus stop and wanted to make drawings before it was
chainsawed up and burned as trash. Debbie was sad that it had been
crushed, and so was her mother. They told me about Mr. Burgess, and how
he had built lovely porch gliders, and swings, and a big Victorian
playhouse for Debbie (which she still has), and how talented he had
been as an artist. So i asked them if i could buy the wreck of the bus
stiop and they said i could have it for free.

Next week a team of men will load it onto a flatbed truck and drive it
here and a team of carpenters will rebuild it.

It will be restored and turned into a tiny temple. It just fits exactly
between two beds of roses and naked ladies my property, right outside
my office door where there was nothing but a ptch of blackberry bushes.

I am going to paint it red and green, like the Mendocino joss house and
other old Chinese vernacular joss houses in California. I am going to
inter my mother's ashes under the floor, since it is her money that is
paying for the thing.

It will have four candle altars and lots of gaudy, wonderful, colourful
altar stuff, all packed into a tiny space about 7 feet by 7 feet and
about 12 feet tall.

Photos of the ruined Burgess bus stop are here:

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/hrcour ... 47?b=1&m=l

And i will post pictures of the beautiful tiny temple it will become as
the work proceeds.

Don Roach, whom some of you know, has dug the blackberries out and
established the new site perimeter. He will pour concrete for the pad
by the middle of next week. He will lay a flagstone path edged with
brick and will be in charge of painting the building as well. Greg
Sanford (who looks exactly like our statue of Dusty in the shop) will
lead the moving crew and his team member Robert will lead the
reconstriuction crew.

And here is a song that goes along with this project:

If I was a preaching man, I tell you what I'd do:
I'd preach the truth throughout the land
and work on a building, too.

I'm working on a building, I'm working on a building,
I'm working on a building for my Lord, for my Lord!
It's a Holy Ghost building, it's a Holy Ghost building,
It's a Holy Ghost building, for my Lord, for my Lord!

If I was a carpenter I tell you what I'd do:
I'd work all day and work all night
just to work on the building, too.

I'm working on a building, I'm working on a building,
I'm working on a building for my Lord, for my Lord!
It's a Holy Ghost building, it's a Holy Ghost building,
It's a Holy Ghost building, for my Lord, for my Lord!

If I was a ramblin' man, I tell you what I'd do:
I'd stop my rambling, stop my gambling,
and work on a building, too.

I'm working on a building, I'm working on a building,
I'm working on a building for my Lord, for my Lord!
It's a Holy Ghost building, it's a Holy Ghost building,
It's a Holy Ghost building, for my Lord, for my Lord!

If I was gambling man, I tell you what I'd do:
I'd throw away the Queen of Spades
and work on a building, too.

I'm working on a building, I'm working on a building,
I'm working on a building for my Lord, for my Lord!
It's a Holy Ghost building, it's a Holy Ghost building,
It's a Holy Ghost building, for my Lord, for my Lord!

If I was a sinner man, I tell you what I'd do:
I'd stop my sinning, start my praying,
and work on a building, too.

I'm working on a building, I'm working on a building,
I'm working on a building for my Lord, for my Lord!
It's a Holy Ghost building, it's a Holy Ghost building,
It's a Holy Ghost building, for my Lord, for my Lord!

cat yronwode

[catherineyronwode]

Sorry for the mistake -- a bunch of folks have told me that the photos
of the Burgess Bus Stop were only viewable by moderators. I've fixed
that. The URL is

https://missionaryindependent.org/bus-stop-church.html

Also, by now all of you who allow yahoo group invitations into your
mail will have received an invitation to join the Missionary
Independent Spiritual Church newsletter Yahoo goup. This newsletter
will contain messages from us about the progress on our church building
and about faith-based works in general. MISC is a non-denominational,
pantheistic, all-inclusive, full-gospel spiritual church where all are
welcome.

cat yronwode

[Sister Jacqueline]

couldn't access the smashed photos

jackie

(Please try again -- i think i fixed the permisions problem. --cat)

[MissMichaele]

(Sigh) now all we need is an agnostic, preferably queer, poet in the
pulpit* and a kick-ass gospel choir.

(Agnostic, not really, as we are pantheistic. Queer? If spirit-led, yes, of course. Gospel choir? Well, there we can satisfy right off the bat. The Missionary Independent gospel choir had its first preliminary meeting tonight. We have a recording engineer on board. We are ready to roll, Michaele. --cat)

Seriously, I'm looking for a church home that won't look at me funny
when I speak my mind.

I've been reading about Father Divine this week. I don't "get"
celibacy /:), but he had some other good stuff going on.

Michaele / Mother Pyrite

*Fond memories of the preaching of Rev. Mark Belletini, now pastor of
the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH. One of many
out gay non-theist UU ministers. Google his name - you're in for a treat.

(I deleted some comments you made on church memberships of specific denominations. Let's not frown on those who have not met our ideals, okay? Thanks. --cat)

[ocsana13]

When trying to view the photos on the link you listed under the title
"Working on a Building", I get this message:

You are not a moderator of the group hrcourse.

I tried to reply to that message, but the new Yahoo! e-mail message format
would not let me. It just deleted completely, instead of allowing me to
snip the portion I wanted to keep. Oh, improvements.

Christina Mayle, #365

(I hope i fixed it. Please try again. In the meantime, a slightly different selection of images of the Burgess Bus Stop (future home of the Missionary Independent Spiritual Church) is now online at the missionary-independent Yahoo group -- which already has 58 members, much to my humble delight and surprise. We're buying a domain name for the church tonight and the web site will be up a.s.a.p. --cat)

[Auntie Sindy Todo]

Hey Cat, when I go to the link, it asks you to sign in and after I do that, it says "you are not a moderator" so I can't see the photos. Please Advise how to get there. Thanks, -Sindy

(I tried to fix it to set the permissions to "group" and that CHANGED the URL so that now it is

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/hrcour ... e/c747?m=l

i hope someone lets me know if it works now.
--cat)

[ocsana13]

i tried to see the photos of the bus stop by going to the link you supplied but it says i am not a moderator of the group so i couldnt see them

(I have re-set the permissions to "group" and this changed the URL so now it is
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/hrcour ... e/c747?m=l
Please et me know if this works. Thanks. --cat)

[Auntie Sindy Todo]

BINGO. What a precious little shelter. I can feel wonderful prayers coming out of it already! x-sindy

(Thanks, Sindy, for the tech feedback. I am stunned that less than four hours after being created, the new church Yahoo group already has 76 members. I am feeling very blessed in the love and affection of my students. The church newsletter will go out at a minimum of one and a maximum of three per week, with extra bulletins as events develop. I just finished designing the Yahoo home page for the group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/missionary-independent/
After today, i will not be cross-promoting the church here too much, and i am sure it will also attract interest from people who are not students, so there will be a natural amount of overlap, but not a 100% congruity.--cat)

[MissMichaele]

--- In hrcourse@yahoogroups.com, "catherine yronwode" <cat@> wrote:

> >Gospel choir? Well, there we can
>satisfy right off the bat. The
>Missionary Independent gospel
>choir had its first preliminary
>meeting tonight. We have a
>recording engineer on board. We
>are ready to roll, Michaele. --cat)

I sing alto.

> >(I deleted some comments you made
>on church memberships of specific
>denominations. Let's not frown on
>those who have not met our ideals,
>okay? Thanks. --cat)

Wasn't frowning, just feelin' homeless. Didn't even know I was
looking for a home. Mostly just wishing my church experiences were
more like this list. My beau ideal of community worship combines
conjure, gospel music, scholarship, historical criticism, and
relishing the Spirit.

Michaele / Mother Pyrite

[Sister Jacqueline]

> >(The
> >Missionary Independent gospel
> >choir had its first preliminary
> >meeting tonight. We have a
> >recording engineer on board. We
> >are ready to roll. --cat)

I am a second soprano and have performed with the Sacramento Light
Opera Associations 2005 production of Gilbert and
Sullivan's "Mikado". Something for the kidsto watch ( a video) when I
am old and creaky.

Jackie

P.S. Will the choir director allow for "mojo workin'" songs?

Giggling,

jackie

(The gospel choir will be a real gospel choir. This is not a parody. --cat)

[Lee Canipe]

Lord, I almost fell out of my chair when I opened my email last night and
saw an invitation to join the M.I.S.C. yahoo group. Since moving back to NC
I've had a difficult time finding a church home (I am Christian, albeit a very
liberal one). Fundamentalism and intolerance is the norm here-- I don't
remember it being that way when I lived here as a child. I feel most
uncomfortable with the "Bible said it, I believe it, and that settles it" crowd. I have
visited several churches, but so far nothing feels right.

Now, I don't believe you need to go to church or temple to be a good person,
or a more deeply spiritual person, but for me being a part of a community
and sharing in spiritual work with others is important. So, I placed a glass
of sweet water in front of my statue of Our Lady of Grace, lit a candle and
some incense, and prayed "please Mother help me find a church or place where
I'm accepted and fit in". Less than 5 mins. after doing this I logged onto my
computer and the only thing in my email box was the invitation to join the
M.I.S.C. group! I did just about fall out! I have no idea exactly what the
M.I.S.C. will be like, but I knew it was an awesome sign that I'm on the right
spiritual path and to keep doing what I'm doing... with or without a physical
church home.

Lee

(Thanks, Lee, for telling that. Now, when people ask, "What is a sign?" i can point them to this post. What will Missionary Independent Spiritual Church be like? Pretty much what you describe, a full-gospel Christian church, but welcoming all gospels, all people, all gods, and all cultures, like, for instance, acceptance of Jewish belief that Jesus was a man, not the Son of God side-by-side with belief that Jesus was the Son of God, and not a man. Like reverence to an assortment of deities: Taoist Star Gods, and Hindu luck gods, the Cretan Snake goddess, hammer-wielding Thor, Santisima Muerte, Hotei-Buddha, and the spirits of the dead. Evey day is a sacred holiday in some culture or another. Let every day be sacred. --cat)

[ocsana13]

In a message dated 6/6/2006 11:01:06 PM Eastern Standard Time,
redjasper@comcast.net writes:

Cat said: "Queer? If spirit-led, yes, of course."

This reminded me of something I read in Michael P. Smith's book "Spirit
World". Mr. Smith is describing Bishop Lydia Gilford of the Holy Infant Jesus of
Prague Spiritual Church in New Orleans:

"... Bishop Gilford runs her church as the spirit directs. Recently she had
a call for spiritual advice from a young girl who had 'fallen in love' with
a girlfriend. 'That's none of my business, girl,' she told her. 'You do
what the spirit tells you to do, in this case, and it's all right.' Bishop
Gilford is a strong believer in people coming to their own decisions. 'If it
doesn't come from within, it just doesn't work. There are some matters the
church doesn't have any right to mix in,' she concludes." (pg. 57).

Lee

(My theory exactly. And thanks for the quote. --cat)

[sephirah]

Hate to ask, Cat, but would you shoot the church info to me again? It
was picked up as spam and sent to my gray mail and I deleted it not
having first read your post about it.

Thanks!
Marion

(Find the Missionary Independent Spiritual Church Yahoo group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/missionary-independent
You can go there and ask to join the group and i will approve you. As of this morning we have 109 members. --cat)

[MissMichaele]

--- In hrcourse@yahoogroups.com, Leecanipe@... wrote:

> > This reminded me of something I read in Michael P. Smith's book
> "Spirit World". Mr. Smith is describing Bishop Lydia Gilford of the
> Holy Infant Jesus of Prague Spiritual Church in New Orleans:
>
> "... Bishop Gilford runs her church as the spirit directs. Recently
> she had a call for spiritual advice from a young girl who had 'fallen
> in love' with a girlfriend. 'That's none of my business, girl,' she
> told her. 'You do what the spirit tells you to do, in this case, and
> it's all right.'

<snip>

Spirit world : pattern in the expressive folk culture of
African-American New Orleans

by Michael P Smith

* Type: English : Book Book
* Publisher: Gretna, La. : Pelican Pub. Co., 1992.
* ISBN: 0882898957
* OCLC: 24283792

...That's what turns up at www.worldcatlibraries.org. Thanks, Lee;
this is going straight to the TOP of my reading list.

For those who don't know, the easiest Internet way to find just about
any book in any public library is to google the author or the title,
in quotes, plus:

site:worldcatlibraries.org

Michaele / Mother Pyrite

(By the way, this book, "Spirit World," which i HIGHLY recommend, is available from the documentary film-maker Les Blank, whose films i have recommended here many times as well. (Also, to tie things up neatly, Les' son Harrod Blank is a friend of ours from the Art Car world.) Do yourself a favour and order the book from Les and at the same time pick up any two films from Les (they're all great films). Recommended Les Blank films (depnding on your cultural interests) are: "The World According to Lingtnin' Hopkins" (Texas Blues), "Chulas Fronteras" (Norteno / Conjunto from San Antonio area), and "Always for Pleasure" (New Orleans mardi gras culture). Find Les online at
http://www.lesblank.com -- just click around on "other" items and then "books" and you'll find "Spirit World" there.
--cat)

[conjurebyking]

--- In hrcourse@yahoogroups.com, "catherine yronwode" <cat@...>
wrote:
> >
> Also, by now all of you who allow yahoo group invitations into
your
> > mail will have received an invitation to join the Missionary
> Independent Spiritual Church newsletter Yahoo goup. This
newsletter
> > will contain messages from us about the progress on our church
building
> > and about faith-based works in general. MISC is a non-
denominational,
> > pantheistic, all-inclusive, full-gospel spiritual church where all
are
> > welcome.
>
> cat yronwode
>

Cat,

That sounds like a VERY interesting and exciting mix...a
pantheistic, all-inclusive, full-gospel spiritual church! I used to
play piano for my Holiness church as a teenager and while I am on a
different spiritual path now, sometimes I long for that good ol'
gospel music! I never thought I would join a church again...but this
could possibly be the church for me!!! - Ron

(As a former alto in Johnny Otis' Landmark Community Church choir (who sometimes sang tenor when the men were short-handed), i can say that gospel music is one of the cornerstones of my religious connection to spirituality. I am not a good singer in terms of vocal beauty, but Johnny let me sing bcause i have a better than average memory for lyrics and knew several hundred gospel songs by heart and i also kept the music libary, both the recordings and the sheet music. One of the things i really miss, living up here in the country, is not being able to attend those storefront churches in the East Bay i used to go to in my younger days. Of course nowadays most people go to the mega-churches instead, and the music has evolved to that mass-choir style instead of the small gospel choirs and quartets, so i may be missing something that no longer exists anyway, but i sure do miss it. A piano player is always someone valuable in a church. I wish you lived nearer by -- we could have a good time. --cat)

[Lee Canipe]

In a message dated 6/7/2006 2:29:24 PM Eastern Standard Time,
Leecanipe@aol.com writes:

"What will Missionary Independent Spiritual Church be like? Pretty much what
you describe, a full-gospel Christian church, but welcoming all gospels, all
people, all gods, and all cultures, like, for instance, acceptance of Jewish
belief that Jesus was a man, not the Son of God side-by-side with belief
that Jesus was the Son of God, and not a man. Like reverence to an assortment of
deities: Taoist Star Gods, and Hindu luck gods, the Cretan Snake goddess,
hammer-wielding Thor, Santisima Muerte, Hotei-Buddha, and the spirits of the
dead. Evey day is a sacred holiday in some culture or another. Let every day
be sacred. --cat)"

This sounds wonderful Cat! The world could certainly use a lot more
celebration of diversity and recognition of divinity in it's infinite forms. I have
always believed that no religion is the *one* true religion (not even my
own), and that God-Spirit-Divinity is far greater than any one religion could
contain anyway. Plus, it's great to know that I can still be a Christian and
light some incense to Ganesh and Isis Panthea




Lee



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Quimbisero]

Cat,

I think you have created an omni-denomination.

Eoghan