What if you could plan a worship service that would address the tension between science and religion by allowing a member to share her faith as well as her gifts as a self-proclaimed “science nerd” along with something NASA considers a priceless national treasure?
That is just what Rev. Mitch Henson, pastor of Richland United Methodist Church, did on a recent Sunday in November as part of his Formed series. And the excitement was electric.
Rev. Henson invited the whole community to attend the service in which 
he interviewed NASA certified MAVEN
Educational Ambassador Marteen Nolan, a former chemist and corporate administrator turned science teacher (Crocker High School). But the real excitement was generated by what she brought with her–Moon Rocks.
When the interview ended, the rocks (sealed in Lucite to protect them from our atmosphere) came out of a bag and everyone prepared to go up and touch a part of God’s creation that few humans have experienced.
One local physician 
who had read about the Moon Rocks service on Facebook brought her son to hear Nolan speak. Thirteen-year-old James could hardly contain himself as the time came to actually see and touch the rocks. He was first in line and hovered close by while others came up to take their turn.
“This is just a lifelong dream of mine, to see the Moon Rocks,” he said, and explained he just wanted to stay close so that he could hear more of what Nolan was saying about the space program, the Moon rocks, and her faith.
“We live in an immensely complex world, yet at its most fundamental level where there is only simplicity, harmony and symmetry when there should be chaos, I see the hand of God,” she said. “When I look up at the night sky in all its splendor, I see the shining face of our Lord.”
Nolan really likes the way Einstein explains it:
The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books—a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.
-–Albert Einstein
“This captures beautifully how I feel about this amazing “library” we inhabit,” she said.
Rev. Henson, a certified space geek himself, has a degree in science and often finds clever ways to sneak breath-taking Hubble telescope images into his sermon visuals. He shares Nolan’s ability to see God’s hand in the vast universe.
Quoting Stephen Hawking, Rev. Henson pointed out the improbability of our existence without a divine plan to make it all work. “The mathematical equations involved in the creation of life… seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life. …if the electric charge of the electron had been only slightly different, stars either would have been unable to burn hydrogen and helium (necessary for life) or they would not have exploded (in which case the stuff of life would not have been thrown forward). It seems clear that there are relatively few ranges of values for the numbers that would allow the development of any form of intelligent life. Most sets of values would give rise to universes that, although very beautiful, would contain no one able to wonder at their beauty.”
And closer to home, Rev. Henson quoted Bob Groat, a member of his Sermon 2.0 small group as well as the Men’s Tuesday Coffee discussion that he leads.
“No matter how far out your imagination goes, it can be a reality.”
That’s a little like faith. Right? It takes faith to believe in something you cannot see. It takes imagination to see possibilities where before they did not exist. Connecting the dots between what scientists have discovered about the moon and space and what we know to be true of God is what this worship service was all about. Pastor Henson began and ended the service by asking if we are more like the sun or the moon. Both seem to provide light. But there is an important difference for us as Christians, he said.
“Like the Moon, we are not the source of the light; we are reflectors of that light. We are conduits of the light. If we are not willing to place ourselves in the right place at the right time, if we are not willing to reflect the light of Christ…who will?”
The Moon ROCKS!
- There are fewer than 100 sets of moon rock samples available for use in schools across the U.S. These samples are considered national treasures and may not be privately owned.
- During the 60s and 70s a few samples were given to various heads of state, and a very few of those have made their way to auction, where they sell for millions of dollars.
- The anorthosite sample we viewed (the Genesis Rock) was brought back by Apollo 15, the orange soil came back on Apollo 17 (the last mission to the Moon). Several other samples in Nolan’s presentation were Mares soil from flat volcanic plains made of basalt, Highlands soil–a mixture of basalt and other minerals, basalt–a black volcanic rock, and breccia–a rock formed when a large impact by an asteroid or meteorite actually melts the existing rock and mixes fragments of others rocks into it.
- When Nolan checks out the rocks, she can keep them for two weeks at a time, but must keep them on her person or in very specific secure locations for the duration.