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 [email protected] or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com .]