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Pastor David helped Mary carry her things to one of the residences. He had warned her that she'd find it quite small after having an apartment to herself, but she was glad to find out that she'd be sharing a room with Rachel and Charity rather than people she didn't know. Rachel looked relieved to see her. She squeezed her hand in greeting and offered to show her around the building and help her become acquainted with the rules.
There were a lot of rules.
There was a phone on the main floor. Noise was a problem so they were encouraged to keep their conversations relatively short. And there was no way to track who made each call so it was set up for local calls only. Though you could call collect. Well, Mary thought, at least she wouldn't have to worry about her phone bill adding up. People could phone in, but it wasn't encouraged. Usually no one was around to take messages. "It was really just luck that I was here when you called today. You can give out the church number for emergencies, though."
No radio or TV either. "Most radio stations in the area play that awful rap music with its misogynistic themes, and even the best television shows have such awful values. Its really not appropriate in a church environment." Mary recalled the last 'family-values' oriented show she'd watched. The show's family members seemed to always be stalking one another. On reflection she thought she'd just as soon see nothing at all.
They looked at the kitchen next. It was on the ground floor of their building. "Not too far to go in the winter, at least." Rachel said. "We have to do volunteer work every week, either in the kitchen or the gardens or around the church. You shouldn't find it too hard, you've already been doing a fair bit anyway." She smiled mischievously. "Just the same, sign up for kitchen duty if you can, it's the easiest."
"We have study sessions most evening- I guess you usually leave before they start." Mary nodded. "Every building has its own group. I think you'll really like ours. Peter - you remember Peter?" Mary nodded. " - is the discipler for our group." Mary gave her a quizzical look "That just means leader." Mary nodded again. "Oh . you'll need a reflection journal." Mary looked at her quizzically again. "It's to aid in personal growth. We write about where we've fallen short each day and then talk about it with everyone else in our disciple session. It helps us grow spiritually."
"After study sessions everything basically shuts down. Everybody goes straight to bed - unless they're doing something at the church, that is." Rachel hesitated and looked at Mary as though she was trying to say something but couldn't find the words. Then her smile switched back on and she said, "but that's the exception. You probably don't have to worry about it."
Don't be late for meals. We pray before hand and it's kind of embarrassing to miss it. But if you have to be late, it's better late than never. Oh, I forgot to tell you, we're not allowed to have food in our rooms. Nothing except herbal tea." She saw Mary's questioning look. "Regular tea and coffee have caffeine in them. It's a drug, you know, so it's not allowed."
They went back to their room and began to set out Mary's things. The room was quite crowded with three people in it, and it had a rather uninspiring view of the church parking lot. Still, as she unpacked her bags Mary reflected that things could be much, much worse.
Pastor David helped Mary carry her things to one of the residences. He had warned her that she'd find it quite small after having an apartment to herself, but she was glad to find out that she'd be sharing a room with Rachel and Charity rather than people she didn't know. Rachel looked relieved to see her. She squeezed her hand in greeting and offered to show her around the building and help her become acquainted with the rules.
There were a lot of rules.
There was a phone on the main floor. Noise was a problem so they were encouraged to keep their conversations relatively short. And there was no way to track who made each call so it was set up for local calls only. Though you could call collect. Well, Mary thought, at least she wouldn't have to worry about her phone bill adding up. People could phone in, but it wasn't encouraged. Usually no one was around to take messages. "It was really just luck that I was here when you called today. You can give out the church number for emergencies, though."
No radio or TV either. "Most radio stations in the area play that awful rap music with its misogynistic themes, and even the best television shows have such awful values. Its really not appropriate in a church environment." Mary recalled the last 'family-values' oriented show she'd watched. The show's family members seemed to always be stalking one another. On reflection she thought she'd just as soon see nothing at all.
They looked at the kitchen next. It was on the ground floor of their building. "Not too far to go in the winter, at least." Rachel said. "We have to do volunteer work every week, either in the kitchen or the gardens or around the church. You shouldn't find it too hard, you've already been doing a fair bit anyway." She smiled mischievously. "Just the same, sign up for kitchen duty if you can, it's the easiest."
"We have study sessions most evening- I guess you usually leave before they start." Mary nodded. "Every building has its own group. I think you'll really like ours. Peter - you remember Peter?" Mary nodded. " - is the discipler for our group." Mary gave her a quizzical look "That just means leader." Mary nodded again. "Oh . you'll need a reflection journal." Mary looked at her quizzically again. "It's to aid in personal growth. We write about where we've fallen short each day and then talk about it with everyone else in our disciple session. It helps us grow spiritually."
"After study sessions everything basically shuts down. Everybody goes straight to bed - unless they're doing something at the church, that is." Rachel hesitated and looked at Mary as though she was trying to say something but couldn't find the words. Then her smile switched back on and she said, "but that's the exception. You probably don't have to worry about it."
Don't be late for meals. We pray before hand and it's kind of embarrassing to miss it. But if you have to be late, it's better late than never. Oh, I forgot to tell you, we're not allowed to have food in our rooms. Nothing except herbal tea." She saw Mary's questioning look. "Regular tea and coffee have caffeine in them. It's a drug, you know, so it's not allowed."
They went back to their room and began to set out Mary's things. The room was quite crowded with three people in it, and it had a rather uninspiring view of the church parking lot. Still, as she unpacked her bags Mary reflected that things could be much, much worse.