This morning, I was cleaning my room out in preparation for my little move on Friday. I'm moving from the biggest bedroom in our apartment to the smallest one because of some weirdness in my sublet agreement, so I've been needing to get rid of a lot of things or move them over into storage. I've been pondering what to do with my Christian books and CDs for a long while. Do I try to sell them? Do people buy things like DC Talk's Free At Last album anymore? Pick It Up by Hokus Pick? Has anyone in the used bookstores heard of Steve Bell? Keith Green? Steve Taylor? All Star United? The Insyderz? Rich Mullins? LaRue? I would guess not.

But then it came to me. I live a few doors down from a Baptist church. Churches have libraries. Churches take donations. Churches will take my religious clutter free of charge!

It was a bit of an adventure. I haven't set foot in a church in a few years. The sign said that the service started at 10, so I wandered down around noon hoping that things would be wrapping up. As I drew near to the building, I could hear hymns being sung. This was a good sign, since I assumed (rightly) that this was the post-sermon song to close the service.

When I stepped into the stairwell adjunct to the main sanctuary, an Usher came over and asked me what I needed, told me they didn't have a library, and went back to the Head Usher to inform him of my purpose. The Head Usher told me that they were in the midst of making a library but it wasn't done yet, and I should talk to one of the deacons or the pastor. All the while, the service is going on and we're talking quietly through the closing prayers. After the service, the pastor came to the door to shake hands with people as they left, and I told him I would wait until a more convenient time. People shook my hand and greeted me as they walked by, assuming that I was another congregant, and I played along.

Eventually, the pastor went and got the woman who is in charge of the library, and she took me downstairs, admired all of my books and CDs and thanked me profusely, taking my name and address so she can send me a thank-you card. She even hugged me before I left!

So, there you go. I've shaken more hands today than in the last few years, I got a hug from a stranger, I'm getting a thank-you card from a church, my collection of un-used stuff is a lot smaller, and my "how long has it been since I last set foot in a church" counter has been set back to zero.

Next step: donate clothes and random things to the Scott Mission. It's so much closer than the Goodwill donation centre.