Retired and Welcoming This church has an innocuous name, giving no clue about who they are. But this is precisely why I didn’t dismiss it or the people who go there. Besides judging churches by their affiliation—or more precisely applauding their lack of a denominational connection—I realize I’ve also begun judging churches by their websites. […]
An Easy No As Sunday approaches, I want to return to last week’s church. Instead, I refer to our list. The second closest church to our house is another from traditional denominational church, a short 1.4 miles away. I attended a church in this denomination for the first decade of my life. Later, early in […]
Stating generalities is risky, but it is a way of processing information. Here are two areas to discuss: 1. In our experiences, churches with older congregations and traditional services tended to be friendlier than contemporary services with younger people. Does your church match this observation or break from it? What must change? 2. I’m dismayed […]
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, […]
Experiencing a Traditional Service and a Contemporary One Today we’ll enjoy two services, another doubleheader: a traditional service followed by a contemporary one. Consider these four discussion questions about Church #45: 1. As we wander inside, several people acknowledge our presence, thanking us for visiting. But beyond that no one says anything more, so we […]
Discussing Church 17 This church has a contemporary service followed by a traditional one. It’s a church doubleheader. We’ll go to both. Consider these four discussion questions about Church #17: 1. Their idea of contemporary is vastly different from mine, with this service being one of the more reserved ones we’ve attended. If you state […]
Don’t Misrepresent Your Church Service 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 #52. This church offers two services. They call the first one blended, combining traditional and contemporary elements, whereas the second one is promoted as contemporary. Both […]
Today is a doubleheader: a traditional service followed by a contemporary one. Aside from an older crowd, there’s little to suggest a traditional service is about to occur. Everything gives off a progressive vibe, from the informal space, to the padded chairs, to round tables in the back and large screen up front, to the […]
The church is a traditional-looking building, constructed of brick and stately in appearance. In checking out the sanctuary, I anticipate the service will be just as Facebook promised. It said “a blending of traditional and contemporary.” Will they have the right mix of music? The service begins with several familiar choruses. A few people lift […]
There is an amazing little booklet, sporting a tongue-twister of a title. It is The Threefold Art of Experiencing God: The Liberating Power of a Trinitarian Faith by Christian A. Schwarz. In a stellar example of “less is more,” this diminutive book carries a profound punch. Facets of Faith The central theme is that Christianity […]