Tag: 52 Churches

Reflecting on Church #44: Welcoming Visitors as You Would Embrace Longtime Friends

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 11, 2021

Attending Church with Friends

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #44.

We revisited this church, which we attended some fifteen years ago. Though many of the people we knew then had scattered to other churches or just dropped out, a good number remained.

52 Churches: A Yearlong Journey Encountering God, His Church, and Our Common Faith

I anticipated a time to reconnect with long-ago friends. Also, the congregation had grown, and there was a different minister. I wondered how much has changed.

Before and after the service, we didn’t put forth any effort to talk with anyone. We didn’t have to.

People came to us in droves. They came to embrace us as longtime friends. We enjoyed their celebration of our presence, even though they came close to overwhelming us.

Although some churches embraced us well as visitors, none came close to the welcome this church gave us as longtime friends. This gives me pause.

Do I give visitors the same attention and enthusiasm as I give to my friends? I don’t, but I should.

May we welcome visitors to our church as we would embrace longtime friends.

[See my reflections about Church #43 and Church #45 or start at the beginning of our journey.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church, friendly church, friends, reflecting on church

Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #43: Is Your Pastor on a Pedestal?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 4, 2021

Celebrate Your Minister

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #43.

This congregation received us warmly and embraced our presence. They exuded a sense of family, just as true church should be. I felt a peace. I felt at home. As a community, they drew me in.

Although their service style was not what I’m comfortable with, these are good folks and part of me wants to join them.

However, my key observation was their excitement over their new leader, who will officially arrive in two weeks. The church’s enthusiasm was palpable. It was contagious and soon I joined in their anticipation.

I wanted to come back in a few weeks to meet her.

However, I’m concerned over the height of their anticipation. Surely, no person can live up to that and meet everyone’s wishes. When we put a pastor on a pedestal, we form unrealistic expectations for our spiritual leader.

As with all people, inevitably our ministers will one day disappoint us. And the higher the pedestal, the greater the disappointment.

I pray that the potential leadership before them will successfully emerge and not be thwarted as the newness of their minister’s arrival wears off.

[See my reflections about Church #42 and Church #44 or start with Church #1.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church services, minister, reflecting on church

Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #42: A Disappointing Day

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 28, 2021

Have High Expectations

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #42.

I carried high expectations for this church, but I experienced a disappointing day when we visited. What they delivered fell far short of what I anticipated I would encounter.

My unwarranted anticipation built them into something they were not, something few churches could ever achieve—or maintain. In truth, no church could be that good.

From such a lofty perch that I placed them on, it was much further to fall.

The service was tightly orchestrated, but felt disjointed, the songs were dated and tired, the people were self-absorbed, and the sermon was critical and divisive.

This church exemplified many of the traits the unchurched levy against it. Now I understand why.

However, even if I had no expectations for my experience with them, I’m sure I’d still have been disappointed. Perhaps I should have arrived, expecting the worst. Would that have allowed me to better see the good?

What I can say is this is a larger church with a passionate following. Certainly, they are connecting with some people, just not me.

[See my reflections about Church #41 and Church #43 or start at the beginning of our journey.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church services, reflecting on church

Visiting Churches

My Next Book is about Online Church

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 25, 2021

Virtual Church

I’m doing research about online church for my next book about Online Church. I’ve also started writing, too, and am excited with what I have so far.

Update:

I’ve written and published the book. It is called Visiting Online Church and is now available everywhere from all major bookstores and outlets.

Read Peter’s book, Visiting Online Church: A Journey Exploring Effective Digital Christian Community, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church, church attendance, online church

Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #41: Reach Out to Visitors vs Hang Out With Friends

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 21, 2021

Consider Who You Interact with at Church

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #41.

Aside from the usher, we had limited significant contact with the people at this church. (Shaking hands and saying “welcome” is not a significant contact; it’s a trivial one.)

The one woman we connect with is not a member of this church and usually attends another one, but she does go here from time to time.

This is not the first instance when our prime connection at a church is through a nonmember or another visitor.

Too often, visitors are ignored by most church members. They are either unaware of those who are visiting or assume someone else will make the effort.

Reach Out

While it’s correct to note that visitors know fewer people and therefore have more incentive to reach out, the sad opposite is that members know more people and therefore have little incentive to reach out to those they don’t know.

Hanging Out

Hanging out with our friends is the easy thing to do and the most natural. It’s also the most limiting. If we only spend time with people we know, how will we ever meet more people?

If a church truly wants to grow, connecting with visitors is the easiest place to start. Why then do so many churches fail to do this?

[See my reflections about Church #40 and Church #42 or start with Church #1.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church attendance, community, reflecting on church

Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #40: Would You Like to Sit With Us?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 14, 2021

Invite Church Visitors to Sit with You

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #40.

“Would you like to sit with us?” asks the young couple we meet as we head into the church facility. We’re excited for the offer and most appreciative of their thoughtful gesture.

Yet, in only three of the 52 churches did someone ask us to sit with them. That’s less than 6 percent of the churches. It’s such an easy thing to do, requiring little effort, which left us feeling embraced each time it happened.

Most churches say they want to grow, and they make varying degrees of effort to welcome visitors. Though not everyone can be an amazing greeter, anyone can say, “Would you like to sit with us.”

This church is a friendly one. We would have felt at home even without the couple who asked us to sit with them, but their embrace heightened our experience.

Their extra effort makes so much sense, but why does it happen so infrequently? Do regular attenders not think to ask? Or have they never considered this visitor-friendly outreach?

[See my reflections about Church #39 and Church #41 or start with Church #1.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, friendly church, reflecting on church

Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #39: A Different Twist on Sharing a Meal

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 7, 2021

The Value of Eating Together

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #39.

Many churches share a meal or food after their service, but this one put a new twist on it: we head off to a restaurant, en masse. Though not everyone goes, a significant number do, including my wife and me.

As we form a line at a nearby fast food joint, one of the church members passes out coupons to everyone.

Though it’s great to spend time together outside of church, I wonder what kind of impact we make on the restaurant staff, with a bunch of church folk descending upon them, all bearing coupons and looking for a deal.

Once we have our food and sit down, the people from church sit at tables all around us, but no one joins us or invites us to sit with them.

Though they are all having a great time moving from one table to another and bantering back and forth, Candy and I are left out.

We are all alone in a group of people. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.

However, midway through the meal, one woman gets up from her table and slides into ours. We have a great conversation and feel cared for.

Again, one person made all the difference between us feeling included and being ignored. Isn’t inclusion the purpose of sharing a meal?

Building community within a church family can take on many forms. Often this involves food, such as when sharing a meal.

Eating together, however, is only one way to connect with those you worship with. Working together on service projects or community initiatives is another.

[See my reflections about Church #38 and Church #40 or start with Church #1.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church, community, food, reflecting on church

Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #38: Reimagining Church for the Next Generation

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 31, 2020

Reaching Future Generations

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #38.

So many elements of this church excite me: a message with substance, elements in the service that pointed me to the worship of God, significant community before and after the service, meeting in a school (and not owning a building), and a group of people that shun status quo religion.

I felt so at home. This church could easily become my new faith community. I want to say this is the future of the church, reimagining it for the next generation.

Yet for all its appeal and innovation, the key elements of the modern church still exist: gathering for a Sunday service, having a worship team lead us in singing, and hearing a message from a trained minister.

This isn’t a new way of doing church but merely a fresh iteration within established norms. This isn’t the overhaul the modern church needs but merely a fresh coat of paint.

Although it looks nice and feels inviting, I yearn for more.

If reimagining church falls short, perhaps we need to go back to the beginning and reinterpret what true church should be.

[See my reflections about Church #37 and Church #39 or start with Church #1.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church services, reflecting on church

Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #37: It’s Time for a Serious Church Cleaning

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 24, 2020

Make Sure Your Church is Clean and Looks Nice

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #37.

This small church likes to sing, and they’ve built a strong community that cares for one another. However, this church stands out for two other reasons.

First, as exemplified by the ragtime vibe of the music, it felt as though we were transported to another time. Candy called it a hoedown. This experience was one of our more unusual ones in all fifty-two churches.

The other issue was the appearance and condition of the building. From the road it looked abandoned. The inside showed signs of neglect and disrepair; the facility felt dirty.

Despite wearing blue jeans, I was reluctant to sit down on the grimy, stained padding of the pews. I didn’t even want to touch anything, and the first thing I did when I returned home was to wash my hands.

I’m sure the regulars overlook the filthy conditions, but dirt was the main thing I saw. And if formed my chief memory of my visit. There are so many ways that a church can scare off a visitor. Don’t let a dirty building be one of them.

Give your facility a serious church cleaning. Your visitors will appreciate it.

[See my reflections about Church #36 and Church #38 or start with Church #1.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church services, community, reflecting on church

Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #36: Don’t Expect a Minister to Do What You’re Supposed to Do

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 17, 2020

We are All Priests Through Jesus

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #36.

We arrived at church only to learn they cancelled the service because their pastor had an emergency.

Despite this, we hung around and talked for a long time, having brief conversations with most of the people who had gathered for Sunday School, which wasn’t cancelled.

During this time we had a deep spiritual discussion with a long ago friend. In doing so, we were able to minister to one another in a most satisfying way.

Though we didn’t experience a church service, we did experience deep spiritual community. From my perspective, I had a meaningful church encounter even though there was no official service.

It was one of my more noteworthy memories at the churches we visited.

The time was memorable for my wife, too, although it hit her a bit differently. “If they’re so full of the Holy Spirit,” she said, “you’d think he would have prompted someone to lead their service.”

Yes, indeed.

Though they held a successful Sunday School on their own without pastoral support, they didn’t even attempt to do so for church. I’m not sure if this was the minister’s decision or theirs, but they should have tried.

Even if no one felt capable of teaching a lesson, they could have still done the worship portion of the service and handled all the other elements too.

The idea that a church needs to have a pastor present to hold a service is ridiculous. As followers of Jesus, he expects every one of us to minister to one another. This is what we should always do, whether a minister is there or not.

[See my reflections about Church #35 and Church #37 or start with Church #1.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, church services, minister, reflecting on church, worship