Be Accessible but Not Accommodating The idea of having seeker sensitive services at church has been around for a few decades. The vision is retooling church services to make them more attractive—that is, less intimidating—to the unchurched. While this was an admirable goal and did achieve results, it also created other problems, which may be […]
An Outdoor Service It’s July 2020, and it’s been four months since I’ve been to church on Sunday morning. It isn’t that I’ve lost my faith, have backslidden, or am pursuing a rebellious protest. It’s because of Covid restrictions. With government mandates to avoid large gatherings, most churches responded by moving their services online and […]
A Similar Experienced but Different Our area’s megachurch (Church #51) holds two services in their mega-building, one at 9:30 a.m. and the other at 11:30. Also at 9:30 is a concurrent service in the original building on their campus, a modern cathedral built by the original owners. Multiple Service Options When we visited earlier, we […]
Another Change in Service Times After striking out at two churches who changed their starting times and dismissing three more, I remember Church #4. Next door to Church #5, I think they have a 10:30 service, and my notes confirm that. We agree to go there, more as a default option than anything else. With […]
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, […]
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 […]