A friend put this picture up on Google+ (so I guess that answers the question of whether people still use Google+!). Around the same time, a reader submitted this story from Fox News, headlined:
Church devastated by super storm Sandy looks forward to Christmas mass
At first I thought the reader submitted it because of the redundancy of calling worship on Christ's Mass a "mass." But that's not why it was submitted, although it's related to that issue.
For years The Oasis Christian Center had been a gathering place for the residents of Midland Beach, on the Eastern shore of Staten Island, New York.
"We've done our best," Pastor Tim McIntyre said, "to reach our community with God's love through food pantry and children's programs, youth programs as well as our Sunday service." ...
McIntyre saw his church the day after the super storm. He says he didn’t think it would ever open its doors again, much less in time for Christmas mass.
Oasis Christian Center? Pastor Tim McIntyre? Mass?
The Mass is "the celebration of the Eucharist." It is a term most commonly used by Roman Catholics, although other sacramental church bodies also use the term. Is Oasis Christian Center one of those?
I reviewed the quotes in the article and the church's web site and I never found any mention of a Mass, Divine Service, Eucharist, Holy Communion, Communion, sacrament or the like.
Instead, there is information such as this:
What kind of church are we?
Oasis is a nondenominational church that is Biblical in practice and charismatic in expression. We are a Christ-centered community of faith that believes we have a mandate from heaven to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in our community.
We choose not be contentious about the non-essentials of the Christian faith, which version of the Bible we read, spiritual gifts, predestination, etc. There are a number of secondary beliefs that the leadership of Oasis is passionate about. Complete agreement is not required for those who choose to worship with us, but it should be known that we will preach, teach, and counsel in accordance with these theological convictions. It is important that we are all striving to diligently preserve unity and peace concerning these secondary beliefs.
It's pretty clear that this is just a straight up error by the reporting. But it is somewhat funny, at least.