Aglow International

[Kelya]

Does anyone know anything about them or have any personal experience with them? They're listed in the local religion section and its a day off for me, so I might head over. The advertisement in the paper talks about the of some Messanic Jews who are going to speaking. Their website is sort of difficult to navigate.

 

I'll report in with details in a few days, but if anyone's been or knows of them, please do tell!

[Sweetpea1]

Back in my fundie lite days, I knew people who went to Aglow and who spoke at it. In my town, it wasn't a church so much as a parachurch organization. Leans toward the charismatic kind of thing.

[Brainsample]

Definitely charismatic/pentecostal. Most people who go to them probably classify as egalitarian, but since it's all women, that issue probably doesn't come up at all. My experiences with them have been very positive and empowering. I've been to meetings in both North and Deep South and a couple of conferences in Maryland, and I've actually felt very comfortable. Very Yankee, I even felt fine down south.

If your skin doesn't crawl from the whole holy roller thing, I find them to be very lazaise faire and not very high on the cultic scale. --- But every group is different.

[Kelya]

Definitely charismatic/pentecostal. Most people who go to them probably classify as egalitarian, but since it's all women, that issue probably doesn't come up at all. My experiences with them have been very positive and empowering. I've been to meetings in both North and Deep South and a couple of conferences in Maryland, and I've actually felt very comfortable. Very Yankee, I even felt fine down south.

If your skin doesn't crawl from the whole holy roller thing, I find them to be very lazaise faire and not very high on the cultic scale. --- But every group is different.

Thanks for sharing! I'm excited to go see these Torah Observant Christians in the wild...they're "Messanic Jews" who go teach around at Baptist churches throughout the midwest. oh dear.

[Brainsample]

Thanks for sharing! I'm excited to go see these Torah Observant Christians in the wild...they're "Messanic Jews" who go teach around at Baptist churches throughout the midwest. oh dear.

I actually like to visit Messianic churches from time to time, and I always feel very welcome. The ones I've frequented do a great deal of expository teaching right from Scripture, and many offer free Hebrew classes. They run into the same kinds of isolationist problems as the "affinity group" churches (like Family Integrated for homeschoolers only). You can look at that as ministry to a focused group, but the pitfalls of becoming "culturally irrelevant" can be hard to avoid, long term.

[Sweetpea1]

Give us a good report after you've been to the meeting.

[Soldier of the One]

What are 'Messianic' services like and how do they compare to regular Jewish services? The latter being my frame of reference of course.

Also, how strong is the 'egalitarian' camp in the fundie-lite or fundie world?

[defrauding]

Soldier, if you want to see some examples of Messianic services, I've posted a number of videos on my Tumblr.

And Kelya, the reason you'll see some of them at Baptist churches is because the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has poured millions of dollars into the Messianic movement. Some Messianic congregations are simply Southern Baptist churches with a bit of Jewish window dressing, in fact. The SBC really, really wants Jews to become Christians, even if their efforts are largely a waste of money: most of the people joining Messianic congregations are actually Gentiles.

[Brainsample]

In most services I've attended different places, the first part of the service is a bit different. Each place followed a tradition that I understand is a part of schul, but it may have some variation.

I especially liked the symbolism of taking the scroll Torah out of the case, and it is carried around the congregation (much like the Episcopal tradition of carrying incense through the congregation to symbolize that God has made the Word accessible to all of the people, not just limiting it to a few). People will take their Bibles and will touch it to the scroll as it is brought near them, symbolizing that transfer of God's authority and divine inspiration to them personally. (I don't know that they actually do this in Jewish schul or not, however!)

What was weird was having been further North with a familiarity with a particular accent when Hebrew is read, when I went to the gathering in San Antonio, it was wild to hear Hebrew read with an Hispanic type of accent! (I knew what kind of accent it was because it was always re-read in English. Sometimes, some repeated it in Spanish, too, depending on the service.)

And the Feast of Purim is always fun because whenever the name of Haman is spoken, you're supposed to yell and kids bring noise-makers. (Haman was the guy who plotted to have the Jews executed, but Slave-Queen Esther exposed Haman's plot to King Ahasuerus. Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had built for Esther's uncle, Mordecai.) I don't go that regularly, but I've ended up at more Purim services than I think is reasonable. Maybe I subconsciously remember how irreverent it seems and go then? :dance:

[freehannie]

There is an ethnography on Aglow. I read it awhile ago. It's pretty interesting and covers how they interpret gender roles over time. Here's the link.http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Daughters-Evangelical-Women-Submission/dp/0520226828/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308767458&sr=8-1

[defrauding]

Brainsample, I suspect you'd enjoy attending a Reform service and experiencing authentic Judaism. Reform synagogues welcome visitors, for the most part, and their services are easier to follow because they use relatively little Hebrew.

(I don't know that they actually do this in Jewish schul or not, however!)

People will touch the Sefer Torah with a tallit (prayer shawl) or a siddur (prayer book), but not another copy of the Torah. After that, they'll kiss their tallit or siddur.

[Brainsample]

Brainsample, I suspect you'd enjoy attending a Reform service and experiencing authentic Judaism. Reform synagogues welcome visitors, for the most part, and their services are easier to follow because they use relatively little Hebrew.

People will touch the Sefer Torah with a tallit (prayer shawl) or a siddur (prayer book), but not another copy of the Torah. After that, they'll kiss their tallit or siddur.

I worked with a female trauma surgeon named Tamar (gasp!), and at the time, she was working light hours while she studied to become a Reconstructionist Rabbi (gasp!). (She's now back working as an MD again... She gets bored, I think.) On the last couple of occasions that I had to talk with her, I'd ask her about her studies. She was fascinated with my then holy roller weirdness and I was fascinated with her journey. And we'd both get teary eyed, and I don't know why, save that I loved her and how she was with patients and nurses and what she was doing because her faith meant so much to her. I suppose I wanted her to become a Christian and couldn't quite make the equation work in my head (I loved her as she was but was concerned about her eternal fate, too). Maybe she got teary eyed for me because she loved me as a person and didn't care about the trappings. It was always odd/wonderful.

I so regret not asking her if I could go with her to a worship service sometime. She likely would have loved to see me come along with her.

I bet I would love it. I'm in Jewish heaven here outside of Detroit, so I have no excuses to not visit. I was on a snooty fundie kick for many years that only Orthodox Jews were deserving -- and were the only real Jews. ??? Was I messed up! Now, I'm just less messed up. (I can tell ultra fundie friends about the visit, and they can ask me if my husband is worried or if he gave me permission to go.) 8-)