Religion at the "Y"

It was immediately obvious when we arrived at the "Y" Center  (called the Estes Park Center or EPC ) that the facility is a very popular venue for religious groups to hold conferences, retreats, seminars, revivals, what have you, and that many of the groups using the EPC come from the evangelical wing of the church; maybe even pretty far right-wing. That made us curious as to what the nature of the Sunday morning worship service would be, which was billed as a "service for people of all denominations." We also wondered if there were any guidelines as to the kind of group that could use the facility. 

It turned out that the EPC has a chaplain, the Rev. Greg Bunton, who I would guess is in his forties (Ellen thinks a very fit fifty), and is a minister of the Disciples of Christ denomination, and a graduate of Philips seminary in Oklahoma. He had been for several years a youth minister in Edmund, OK.  

We had a chance to talk with him a bit before the service, and asked about the kinds of groups that use the EPC. He said the basic policy was to be welcoming to all groups and that in fact a wide spectrum of Christian groups used it, but also, e.g., Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu groups, the Gay Men's Chorus from Denver, etc. If a group's message offended someone, that would be addressed, the goal being that everyone using the facility would feel safe there. Sometimes a group decides not to use the facility when they learn that a particular other group has used it that they do not agree with. He did not elaborate. 

The service that Greg Bunton led was "main-line," casual, but also quite moving. The congregation was modest in size, and it was obvious that the hundreds of people at the EPC that weekend were "doing their own thing" somewhere else. This service, held in a fairly modest-sized chapel, was for folks like us, not there with a group. His sermon was based on the figure of Barnabas, the companion and co-worker of Paul, whose name means "son of encouragement." He developed that theme very effectively, drawing on some powerful personal experiences. We left moved to be one who speaks and gives encouragement to others. It was a good experience and we were glad we went.