Blaine to Lynden Washington road trip (unitarian to christian reform)

Last Friday May 27th, 2011,  I headed south of the border for a unitarian wedding and roaming god shop. Outstanding features of this adventure begin with the drive there...during which, our car broke down 5 car lengths from the border crossing. Huge respect to the BCAA man that helped us out.

Length of ceremony: 3 days

Theme: North Western bible belt

Promise of Heaven/Salvation: All christian faith's encountered hold beliefs about heaven

Space: The layout of the camp where the wedding was held was very "Jonestown," and I later learned that it is often the site for religious group retreats.  

                                                      

My accommodations were fairly "inner city youth summer camp," but I spent most of my time out helping with the wedding, exploring or drunk by a bonfire.

Free Food: A chef made us 3 meals a day for 3 days. Beef jerky was purchased for driving portion.

$$$$$(cost): Did a bit of childcare for guests of the wedding to pay for my stay (showed a group of kids a dead snake).

Participants (looks, conversation, etc.): Loads of 30-something married couples with kids, young lesbians, aged hippies and of course the actual locals of Blaine/Lynden (Small town white people). 

Equity Policy, Community Involvement: Lots of talk at the wedding, not sure otherwise

Entertainment Factor/Ceremony: We arrived at camp Horizon (an old military barrack) after making a stop at the Beer Cave for celebratory "we made it" tall cans. On Saturday morning, a friend and I started out in search of an authentic Blaine god shop. 

We drove down a winding road alongside the pacific for about an hour before seeing a yard sale sign. 

The sale was pretty junky, consisting of romance novels, a box labeled "western wear," retarded VHS' (most of which, including "White Chicks", I already own) and some other trinket crap. Amongst the junk, we discovered the BIBLE ADVENTURE BOX and a US border patrol beer cozy (both purchased for 5 American cents).                                                                                                                                        

       

                                      

Den of Lions coloring sheet

It was decided that the seller of these goods would be a potentially explosive resource for god shopping. SHE WAS. Remember the scene in Wayne's World in which Chris Farley's character gives Wayne and Garth an overly detailed description of Mr. Biggs route? That was her, but about church.

                                               

We took her advice and headed east to Lynden, an old dutch colony with the most churches per capita in the region. 

On the edge of Blaine, we stopped in at Christ The King and interrupted a men's meeting. I introduced myself with 2 different names and awkwardly commented on the beauty of their congregation. We were told that the building was over a hundred years old, it had great acoustics and the stage was set for their 3 regular bands to play at service that evening. They certainly don't mess around at Christ the King. The stage had a full drum kit surrounded in plexiglass and a ton of instruments. 

This Christ the King church is a Catholic denomination, but the name has been applied to many christian churches with a nod to the liturgical feast of Christ to the King and emphasis on loving and serving others. Although it seemed like the 6:30 mass would be a ton of fun, the wedding was set for three and we had shopping to do. 

Back on the road, it wasn't looking good for making a Saturday service, until I spotted a "PRAISE 106.5" billboard at the side of the road. On the drive we heard testimonials, tears in praise of god and songs about forgiveness, nails in hands, and meeting the saviour face to face. These slow ballads sounded better than Nickelback and were pretty easy to sing along to. 

Lynden has many churches. And windmills. Its kind of a charming place with its Dutch golden age architecture (patrician houses, windmills, etc.), American nationalism ("United we stand" signs erewhere) and religious fervour (jesus fish bumper stickers). 

Here is a breakdown of Lynden's religious adherents:

Nothing too exciting happened from here on out so we raced back to Jonestown for the wedding. As Unitarian's, there was little mention of god as a man or anything but there was a lot of talk about community and at one point, everyone held their hands an inch away from their neighbours to feel each other's energy. Then we all got drunk and had a bonfire. 

Blind Faith Factor (BFF/WOW factor): Still not eating any of this shit