My wife and I visited 52 churches in a year. Then we attended a bunch more. Here is what we learned.
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 […]
The Journey Is Over, but the Insights Have Just Begun As we told people about our journey of visiting fifty-two churches in a year, everyone was intrigued. They wanted to hear more and expressed great interest in the book. A few were envious, wishing they could do the same, but most admitted they could never […]
A Quick Start Guide to Key Terms in 52 Churches Some terms in the book 52 Churches may not be familiar to all readers, such as those who don’t go to church, those accustomed to one denomination, or those familiar with only one stream of Christianity. These definitions aren’t comprehensive, as they provide only information […]
Another Perspective of Visiting 52 Different Congregations for a Year By Candy DeHaan What do you do when God prompts your husband to take a one-year break from your home church to visit other congregations, a different one every week? You can’t argue with God, so you go on a fifty-two-week adventure by your husband’s […]