My wife and I visited 52 churches in a year. Then we attended a bunch more. Here is what we learned.
The Summer Church Schedule Just down the road from the congregation that cancelled their service because of their summer church schedule is Church #8. We enjoyed our visit there but later realized it was solely because of one significant interaction we had after the service. The rest of the congregation ignored us, and little else […]
A Failure to Communicate I enjoyed the worship at Church #27 and appreciated their charismatic demeanor. Yet I was also critical of most other aspects of their service. My wife said I had a bad attitude, with my perceptions tainted by a former member who had a painful experience there. He left scarred and disillusioned, […]
Experiencing a Holy Awe of God I awake both excited and unsettled. I’m excited at the prospect of returning to Church #28 (“Intriguing and Liturgical”). There’s much for me to learn from their mystical worship of God, from their rituals steeped in meaning that I don’t yet comprehend. However, I’m also unsettled having awakened with […]
The Third Time is the Charm It’s Memorial Day weekend. Holidays are a bad time to visit a church. Seldom is it a representative experience. The wise decision would be to attend our own church, but I know we usually have the B team on holiday weekends. We’ve already visited this church twice and know […]
A Second Atypical Service We first visited this small Presbyterian Church several months ago. Now they have a new minister. Our first visit was on a cold winter day. Today, spring permeates the air. But I don’t need warm sunshine, blue sky, or the life-promise of burgeoning buds to bolster my expectations. I’m excited to […]
A Delayed Experience and Worth the Wait We visited this church as one of our original fifty-two, though I almost didn’t count it. On the Sunday we showed up, they cancelled their service because their minister had an emergency. With a start time of 11:30, it was too late to head anywhere else. Instead, we […]
A Holiday Weekend, Light Attendance, and a Great Time I volunteer twice a month at our local food pantry. Staffed with people from area churches and service organizations, we serve those in need in our community. One Saturday, between clients, I have an opportunity to talk with a man who attends Church #2. I ask […]
Where Two or Three are Gathered A church that popped up during our initial online search for nearby houses of worship was Church #21. We’d never heard of them, and no one we talked to knew anything about them. We vacillated whether we should visit, and when we had trouble finding their location on Sunday […]
Expecting the Unexpected and Still Being Surprised When we visited Church #14, I expected more. I anticipated experiencing the movement of the Holy Spirit, prophetic words, and the possibility of people being slain in the spirit. I expected the full Pentecostal experience. I braced to hear holy laughter and the tumult of the masses simultaneously […]
Return Every Sunday for a Month to Get a More Comprehensive Understanding The goal of 52 Churches was to visit a different Christian church every Sunday for a year. As people learned about our journey, they became universally excited. Many wished they could go on their own church visiting sojourn. Some followed my blog posts […]