By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

Some Canadian worshippers are campaigning for a "scent-free" worship service, according to a report by the Episcopal News Service. No, they aren't advocating that churches hose down the homeless before they allow them through those big red doors. According to a spokesman from the nation to the north, some churches can actually be "life-threatening" to some people.

A representative of Canada's Lung Association has stated that one in five of that country's citizens suffers from a lung problem. So, what is the problem and how does it involve churches? Evidently, the Canadian Lung Association believes that too many parishioners are using too much perfume and too many churches are using too much incense.

Incense, for the unenlightened, has been used throughout biblical and church history in services of worship. In most cases, incense is a natural resin that is sprinkled on hot coals, producing both smoke and a pleasant aroma. In the Old Testament, there are actually very specific instructions for the using of incense and Malachi 1:11 even commands that incense be offered to God in worship in "all places" where his "name will be great."

The Book of Revelation portrays Heaven as a very smoky place where worshippers around the throne hold a golden harp in one hand and a golden censer (the device that holds the incense) in the other. One popular bumper sticker says something like this: "Where will you spend eternity? Smoking or Non-smoking?" Believers who correctly understand the Book of Revelation will choose "smoking." Perfume, the other offending agent according to some sensitive Canadians, is what the French use instead of soap.

The goal, as outlined by advocates for a ban on perfume and incense, is a "scent-free" church zone where the liturgy is not "life-threatening." Chris Ambridge of Toronto told a reporter for the Anglican Church of Canada, "I have a problem with people deliberately choosing to make worship space unfriendly and life-threatening to people with lung problems."

St. Marks Church in St. John's, Newfoundland, has posted signs stating proudly, "St. Mark's strives to be a scent-free church so that services and events may be enjoyed comfortably by everyone." The Canadian Lung Association is offering advice to churches who wish to be scent-free and, apparently, the message is getting out.

The association has reported that, in response to a mailing, several churches have gone scent-free or have established scent-free sections in their sanctuaries. Some churches are posting warnings or advisories that incense may be in use. Wouldn't it just be easier for people who are "scent-sensitive" to attend churches where incense isn't used? Surely Canada has non-liturgical churches somewhere in that vast wilderness.

Chris Ambridge compares the "barriers" presented by the presence of incense and perfume to the obstacles that physically impaired people faced prior to the enactment of wheelchair and handicap access laws. Presumably, there are those in Canada who, if churches do not come into willful compliance, will consider pressing for legislation that would force congregations to create "scent-free" zones where perfume and incense would be outlawed.

Far-fetched? Already, governments are busily enacting laws that impede the free exercise of religion, even in the United States. Zoning laws across the country prohibit churches from being constructed in some areas of the community and some local governments have attempted to outlaw gatherings of Christians in homes where Bible studies may be conducted.

In the United States, every church building built after a certain year is forced to spend significant amounts of money constructing ramps, specialized restrooms, and wider doors to accommodate the handicapped. Opening up churches to the impaired is certainly a good idea, but that's not the point.

It's not that the churches have any say so in the matter the churches are forced to comply as a matter of law. The state can fine or close down churches who are not in compliance. Sounds a bit like ancient Rome. Or Beijing. Or Kabul.

One Baptist church was recently taken over lock, stock, and barrel by the federal government for declining to collect payroll taxes from its membership. The argument of the church was that it was not an agent of the government and could not be forced to withhold taxes on behalf of the government.

The church paid the employees enough to pay the taxes and urged the employees to report their income and file their taxes. Not good enough, said the feds, who, after several years of pressuring the church, raided the facilities and took possession of six million dollars worth of property. The church, ironically, argued for the separation of church and state and lost.

In San Clemente, Calif., the city fathers attempted to stop a church from ringing its bells because some in the community were offended. Similarly, in Peachtree City, a few disgruntled citizens called the police and complained when the United Methodist Church rang its bells. However, it is not against the law for a church in Peachtree City to ring its bells yet.

If laws are passed in Canada, or for that matter the United States, requiring "scent-free" zones, will there be "perfume police" on duty? Will perfume wearers be fined or even jailed? Will churches, such as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, that have used incense for the better part of two thousand years be required, under penalty of law, to cease and desist? Will priests or pastors who refuse be imprisoned? Will their buildings be seized?

Absurd? Ridiculous? Ask the Baptist church that lost its building to the feds. Ask any church building committee struggling to comply with zoning requirements. Ask homeowners who have been advised not to have Bible studies in the own homes. Ask the churches whose ringing bells offended a few intolerant neighbors.

Churches under this kind of pressure in Canada or elsewhere ought to use even more incense in protest. After all, something surely stinks. Maybe the incense will help cover up the smell.

[Father David Epps is rector of Christ the King Church in Peachtree City. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com.]

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