To wrap up our adventure, we picked churches to provide the most varied experiences. For this phase my thoughts center on church size, coupled with my desire for community with other believers. We’ve completed the final phase of our adventure. Even though most of these churches in this group are medium to large in size, […]
Located in a building with shared tenant space, this church has an inviting location, easily accessible, with nearby parking. They are a most welcoming church. Consider these four discussion questions about Church #43: 1. With little room to mingle, we sit down. Several people come over to greet us. They give a heartfelt thanks for […]
Discussing Church 15 Their website says we’ll find “a laid-back, coffeehouse atmosphere” with “an unconventional setting where a blend of people, of all ages, from all walks of life, can gather and feel at home.” This is my kind of church. It’s an outlier church in a mainline denomination. Consider these four discussion questions about […]
Discussing Church 4 This church’s Facebook page—they have no website—says their “services are informal with a blend of hymns and contemporary music.” I expect service melding contemporary and traditional aspect of worship. Consider these four discussion questions about Church #4: 1. I suspect the service will match what I see in the facility, a merging […]
A Church Doesn’t Need Their Own Space 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 #25. I praised this congregation for not having a church building. Instead they rented space on Sunday for their services. That meant the money […]
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 #8. My memories of this church are positive, and I want to revisit them. I even recommended it to someone who was looking for a church. However, her experience was disappointing. […]
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 #6. There are many positive aspects of this church, but with an aging congregation, their future is bleak. Caught in time, circa 1960, their service would have been nice then, even […]
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 #4. A few years ago we visited this church when ours closed because of bad weather. At the time, they held two services and were outgrowing their building. They purchased land […]
Sunday we visited our third United Methodist Church. I enjoyed all three, even though this one’s in sharp contrast to the other two. Based on our experience, it’s an anomaly for their denomination. I consider them an “outlier congregation,” a group unlike the norm, one that may be an enigma to their denominational leadership. Their […]
The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church By Diana Butler Bass (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) If you follow the media at all, you have likely heard of the demise of interest and attendance at mainline churches in the United States and abroad. Although there may be some truth in that assessment, it is only […]