Nobody’s Listening

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FAITH TALK:  Hello, Is Anybody Out There?

“Nobody’s listening to us,” complained the author of the article outlining why Millennials are leaving the church.  He suggested a church deserves to be left, “When [it] forges ahead without ever asking for our input.”  He outlined a solution which included discovering needs, including Millennials on boards and a young adults pastor.

I assume the author attends a church where these things are not already happening, but I would argue, in the greater number of American churches, all these things are already a part of the churches’ protocol – at least they have been at virtually every church I’ve ever attended.  I would suggest, perhaps the reason many Millennials feel they aren’t being heard is because they are complaining to each other, rather than finding out the proper avenues for making their opinions known. 

There’s Nothing New Under the Sun

When I was in high school, a lot of my friends in Sunday School made the same sort of complaints.  I call them my Sunday School friends, because that was the only place I saw them.  Their parents drug them to church on Sunday morning and it was the last appearance they made all week.   I know because I was there pretty much every time they opened the church doors.  Church was and is my life.

Throughout the year in those Sunday School classes, the director would get up to make announcements.  Barely a Sunday went by the church was not inviting us to deepen our involvement – to sign up for committees, serve on boards, answer questionnaires, volunteer for this or that or the other.  Then in the worship service they also made announcements about committees being formed and meetings being held.  Each Sunday as we walked into the service a deacon would hand us a program and if we took time to read it, it would inform us the very same things in the announcements in Sunday School and church.  If you missed that, it was in the newsletter the church sent to our house each month.  Nowadays, the same announcements are being made and you can also find the same thing on websites and Facebook pages.

The bottom line is that churches desperately want input.  They hire all kinds of staff members to connect with various age groups.  They regularly have business meetings, often immediately after the main worship service, hoping people will attend.  They have response sheets tucked into the program.  Usually the email addresses for the pastors, the elders or deacons and staff members are readily available.  If you want to be heard, step right up!

Practice Patience

While your local McDonald’s measures response time in milliseconds and you expect your computer to operate instantaneously, that’s not how everything works.  Just because you are not seeing your “input” immediately adopted, it doesn’t mean you aren’t making a difference.  With a 24 hour news cycle we’re all used to results.  In the morning we find out what stupid thing someone has said or done.  By the time we pick up our coffee at Starbuck’s, social media has organized a response and by lunchtime the someone is making an apology.  Instant gratification!

That’s just not the church.  If you want to be heard and make a difference, you have to slow down and work through the process.  After over six decades in church, I can tell you one thing, nothing is new under the sun.  The thing you want has most likely been suggested before and for every change you suggest, there is someone else suggesting the exact opposite.

But what if you have practiced patience and you continue to get no results and no respect.  Well, let’s talk about that next week.

What Are You Looking For?

FAITH TALK: THE PURPOSE OF CHURCH

Great Expectations

I can tell by the tone of their voice many people are very disappointed in the church. That makes me sad, but if I get the opportunity to explore their disappointment, I’m sometimes surprised by what they expected church to be in the first place.

What do you think the church is supposed to do? Some people point to the Great Commission and say, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations.” Well, that is what Jesus told His disciples to do and I believe each of us is called to be a witness of the Good News, but while each of us should spread the Gospel, that wasn’t the sole or even primary purpose of the church.

I’ve heard the church criticized for not caring for the poor, needy and homeless. That’s another admirable endeavor and most churches in some form or fashion do minister to the poor, needy and homeless – maybe not to the satisfaction of observers, but it is certainly an activity most churches embrace. However, Jesus Himself said, “The poor will always be with us,” not because He didn’t think taking care of them was something important to do, but to remind us that it is not our primary focus.

The list goes on. Some singles expect to find their intended spouse at church. Some people think the church should come to the rescue when they get in a financial bind. Some people seem to have the desire to drop their children off at the nursery and come back eighteen years later to find productive adults. Some people see church as a cure for loneliness, a form of entertainment or they go there in hope of a mission trip headed to the destination of their choice.

For the Saints and the Body of Christ

In Ephesians 4, Paul points out pastors and teachers lead churches to equip the saints and to build up the Body of Christ. Certainly that includes missions, ministry, worship, fellowship and many other things, but the church is for Believers. The church was really not designed to open up its doors and entertain everyone to the satisfaction of anyone that might drop by. Salvation is for whosoever will, not for whosoever shows up and I think this is how churches end up getting criticized.

Most American churches are focused on outreach – so focused in fact, that equipping the saints and building up the Body of Christ gets lost along the way. Instead of doing what churches were designed to do, they endeavor to please everyone and disappoint far too many. We’ve been so intent on taking advantage of our freedom of religion to evangelize, we have gone astray and quit doing the things we were intended to do.

By comparison, churches in nations where Christians are persecuted meet in secret. They only have a few people meeting at any given time. They can’t meet at the same place or the same time on a regular basis. They keep their meetings confidential and should someone show an interest, the members first reaction is suspicion. By necessity, this was the case with many of the early congregations of Believers.

Go Ye Therefore

As individual Believers and Disciples of Christ, we have been commissioned to GO and teach all nations. Did you notice the GO? We weren’t commissioned to show up on Sunday morning and warm a seat. Our job is to GO and as we GO, emulate Christ in such a way Unbelievers will be clamoring to discover the secrets of our abundant life. Instead, we’ve opened up our doors to everyone and when they criticize us we scurry around trying to please them, ignoring the needs of our members. It is no wonder Believers might abandon the local church, because in some ways, local churches have abandoned them, in order to go out and romance everyone else.

My church is warm and friendly. We have greeters to welcome visitors. We’ll offer you a cup of coffee before Sunday School and we hope you’ll stay for church. Our pastor rarely ends a sermon without offering an invitation. But we are a body of Believers. Equipping ourselves to minister to others is a primary focus of all of our teaching. We build each other up in fellowship. We worship together. To be frank, our church doors don’t open all that frequently, because our members don’t huddle together waiting for someone to show up. Instead, we GO.

If you’re a Believer who’s been dissatisfied with church, perhaps it’s because you are going to a church that has lost its way. It’s trying to replace the GO with crowded pews and is therefore more intent on entertaining guests than it is in equipping you. Yes, leave that church, but don’t stop there! Find a church intent on equipping you for your commission to GO.

All Churches Are Not Created Equal

FAITH TALK: A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME MIGHT NOT BE A CHURCH

Let’s Talk Denominations

I’ve been dancing around an obvious fact.  All churches are not the same.  There is no universal experience guaranteed in every church building you walk into.  Over here you find a heavily ornate building, rife with symbols and ritual.  Over there, you have a group meeting in a school cafeteria and there’s not so much as a Christian flag in sight.  Some churches number their members in the thousands, while others have an attendance that can be counted on the pastor’s fingers.  In other words, churches are diverse.

If you’re hoping I’m about to start denouncing “bad” denominations, you’re going to be disappointed.  I have met committed Christians from pretty much every denomination there is, even some commonly labeled as cults.  These Christians, regardless of what their denomination may be famous for, love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart and are sincerely trying their best to live a life that grows constantly more Christlike.  We may not agree on every dot and tittle of theology, but we share a common bond.

On the other hand, I’ve also observed a lot of people who call themselves Christians, from pretty much every denomination out there, that aren’t exactly walking the talk of the church they belong to.  I’m not judging their salvation or lack of it, because a video of my life would contain a lot of scenes I’d be ashamed of.  I’m just saying some Christians don’t seem very Christ-like and you can find them in pretty much ever denomination there is.

All these denominations, from the most liturgical to the most charismatic, also have their detractors – people who point to the denomination of their past and blame it for not attending church or for their lack of faith or devotion or whatever.  When it comes to denominations I have my favorites and I also have serious theological conflicts with others.  My point is, while your denomination may effect your enjoyment of church, its not a legitimate excuse for dropping out of the Body of Christ – as if you  could.

The Bible promises God’s Word shall not return void in Isaiah 55:11.  So while we can pick and choose between denominations, as long as God’s Word is being presented, a seed planted in some hearts will grow to maturity.  The Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of defending itself from whatever human error may be passed along in teaching, if we are willing to keep studying the Bible earnestly.

So, if you don’t like or distrust a denomination, fine!  Leave the denomination!  However, the Body of Christ needs you, so please find a place you can worship in peace and harmony with others who love the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Using the Wrong Measure

FAITH TALK: WHO ARE YOU MEASURING AND BY WHAT

Hate Christians?

I want you to know I can completely understand why some people are down on church and on religion.  Don’t get me started on religion!  Religion has kept more people away from God than any sin ever committed.  But churches?  I’m thinking Paul would have a hard time wrapping his mind around the facilities and organizations gathered under the loose appellation of “church” in these times – especially in this country.  Probably most especially in Dallas, Texas.

I can even understand why someone might hate Christians.  There’s a few I’m not too fond of either.  However, before you lump me in with a whole collection of undesirables, let’s investigate the label a little more.

Judging God by His People

If you’re looking at the people around you to figure out God, then you might be looking at the wrong place.  Romans 3:23 says it best.  We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God.  It’s that simple.  Just being a Christian (or claiming to be) doesn’t fix what’s wrong with us humans – at least not in this life.  Becoming a Christian has two parts – the immediate justification and the eventual sanctification.  That sanctification takes a different route and follows a different timetable with every one who accepts Christ as their Savior.  When you’re looking at a Christian, you’re looking at a human being – for all intents and purposes, just like the one who looks back at you in the mirror.  The only difference there may be is if that Christian is really working at their sanctification.

If you feel as if you’ve been judged by a Christian, it might be satisfying for you to know that in judging you, they’ve just judged themselves.  Matthew 7:1-2 is a particular favorite of mine,  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”  Jesus had no patience with this particular human trait.  

Unworthiness is the one thing all true Christians have in common.  They realize they are unworthy of God and the sacrifice of His Son.  Some Christians and so-called Christians are just more unworthy than others.  

Judge Christians By Their God

While trying to measure God by Christians is a bad move, measuring the Christians by the Lord God and His Son Jesus Christ is what God intended.  Christians are given the charge to be perfect and holy – just like the example God has given to them.  (Matthew 5:48 & Deuteronomy 18:13, for instance).  Let me warn you in advance, however, I already know the results of that comparison.  Refer back to Romans 3:23 on the falling short thing.  I certainly haven’t pegged perfection or holiness.

I started this series to discuss why people are leaving the church.  If you left the church because it is full of hypocrites, then you’re right, we’re guilty as charged.  In Roman 7, the Apostle Paul makes a lament all Christians understand, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

Now, I’d like to know why a Christian failing to do what they intended is so much more awful than other people’s failures.  Do you quit working out at a gym because of people who have let their memberships lapse?  Do you quit your baseball team because someone strikes out?  Do you quit your job because a fellow employee fails to complete an assignment?  All these situations can be disappointing, but if you see yourself as a compassionate human being, then you will probably forgive these folks and go on with your life.

I’m just asking you to give Christians the same slack.  I can tell you there are several “Christians” who have treated me worse than anyone outside the church.  I’m not judging whether they are saved or not, I’m just saying they treated me pretty shabbily.  However that piddly list of injustices is minuscule, microscopic even, when compared to the number of Christians who have loved me, supported me and encouraged me throughout my life.  I didn’t let the the hypocrisy of some stand in the way of enjoying the love of all the others.  If you’ve left the church, disappointed by the behavior of some people attending a church, I invite you to come back and give us another chance.  We’re only human.

A Church is not THE Church

FAITH TALK: ATTITUDES ABOUT ARCHITECTURE

A Body of Believers, Not a Building

In the article which set me off on this blogging adventure, an author tried to explain why people were leaving “the church”, only his reasons sounded as if they were directed at a church, not the church.  Allow me to explain.

A church is a building, a congregation or perhaps even a denomination.  THE CHURCH, at least the one I am defending, is the Body of Christ.  The Body of Christ is a universal collection of souls who have accepted Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross as atonement for their sins.  They have confessed their Sin (notice the capital letter and the lack of an s) and have repented of it.  They now have a relationship with the Risen Christ and will be going to heaven.  They hail from a variety of churches and denominations, but together, they are THE CHURCH.

It is entirely possible for an entire congregation to show up at a building and for no one in the congregation to be a member of the Body of Christ.  I’m not saying this is the way it usually is, but regardless of what the sign on the outside of the building says, it takes more than a collection of people with good intentions to make a church.  They may call themselves Christians, but as pointed out in Matthew 7:21-23, the Lord God might say to the whole crowd, “I never knew you.”

What’s more, membership in a congregation meeting in a building with “church” in its name, is not a perquisite for belonging to the Body of Christ.  All over the world there are people who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, but have no church building to go to.  Some of them got to Christianity without the benefit of input from another human being.  Christ is still introducing Himself in visions and dreams.  Some of the members of the Body of Christ would make any sacrifice to be able to worship the Lord God in the presence of other Believers on a regular basis.  The only one checking the rolls of the Body of Christ is God Himself.

So, if you are a member of the Body of Christ, you actually can’t leave THE church.  You might quit going to the local building or cut your ties with a particular congregation, but while that may allow you to sleep in on Sunday morning, you haven’t actually left anything.  You’re just not participating in corporate worship.  If perhaps you’ve been attending church, but never actually accepted Christ as your personal Savior, then you were never a part of the Body of Christ anyway, no matter which earthly membership roll you have your name on.

Go Ahead, Leave a Church

The disgruntled church attendee, who purported to speak for his generation, had a number of valid reasons for leaving a church.  If I attended the church he was complaining about, I’d leave too.  Many churches have lost their way, but not THE church.

Let’s say you go out for a hamburger and it’s really bad.  How do you react?  Do you quit eating altogether?  Do you quit eating burgers?  Do you quit eating in restaurants?  Nope!  You just mark that burger joint off your list and keep eating at your house and in restaurants.

So why give up church because you had a bad meal?  Maybe you’ve been going to a church since you were a child and never liked it.  Maybe you’ve always belonged to that denomination.  Maybe a church is the one closest to your house.  Fine, leave!  But don’t give up on Christianity because one congregation or denomination isn’t doing it right.

I challenge you to find the members of the Body of Christ that you belong to and worship with them.  You will never feel so loved, so needed or so appreciated as you will when you actively participate in the Body of Christ with like-minded and like-hearted Christians.  If you’d like to find out more about that, then come back next week.

12 Reasons to Leave the Church I Don’t Buy

FAITH TALK: A PLACE TO BEGIN

A couple of months ago I saw an article outlining 12 reasons Millennials are leaving the church in droves. The article interested me because even though they aren’t all Millennials, I seem to know at least a drove of people who don’t go to church. I hoped the article would provide a bit of enlightenment. Unfortunately, it didn’t, but neither would it leave me alone. You may understand what I mean. No matter what I was doing, the article was tickling the edges of my mind.

At first I just tried to apply the reasons cited to people I know. None of the reasons seemed to fit the situations of the unchurched in my personal acquaintance. In fact, everybody I know has a much better explanation of their choice than those listed in the article. The reasons the author offered sounded more like whiny excuses. I’m sorry, but it’s true. These “reasons” were supposed to be coming from the most enlightened, best informed and most highly-evolved generation ever, but sounded like someone trying to get excused from study hall. (Do they have study hall anymore?)

Since a week or two later the article was still following me around, in spite of the weakness of its arguments, I decided I would write a series of blogs to address these reasons and prove they were the whiny excuses I perceived them to be. I set about writing rough drafts for the series, but about eight articles in, I realized I had adopted a fairly angry tone. I’ll admit I am far too familiar with people all over the world who risk death and imprisonment to worship with fellow Believers for me to have much patience with what amounts to complaints about pew cushions.

But I really didn’t want to be angry. I wanted people to understand the value of church and woo them back to fellowhip, not sledge hammer them. I love the church and wish I could share all the benefits I derive from it. Belittling and minimizing the excuses, offered by a random article I saw online, really didn’t seem to be the right way to go about wooing anyone. So, in spite of the work I had put into the series, I abandoned it and went on about my business.

Now two months later, the article still won’t let me go. I no longer have the desire to pistol-whip the whiny excuses imagined by the guy who wrote the article, but I still sincerely desire to start a conversation with anyone who has given up on church. So here I go.

Perhaps you are one of the unchurched folks I know and love, or maybe you’re just someone who ran across this blog. Perhaps you’ll actually start a conversation with me in the weeks to come, responding to my thoughts in the comments or maybe you’ll just have a conversation with yourself. Whatever happens, It has become clear to me this is the next thing I need to do. I need to talk about the church I love and at least invite you to consider finding your way back to some congregation where your participation will make a difference in the life of others.

So if this sounds interesting to you, come back next week and I’ll start the conversation.

No More Spectator Church for Me

Twenty-odd years ago I was actively plugged into a church. I taught Sunday School, managed stage productions and sat at the table where ladies signed up for women’s ministry activities.  Then my world turned a somersault.  I met the love of my life, had cancer, beat cancer and married that handsome fellow I still adore.

Though I jokingly tell people I’ve spent the last twenty or so years looking for a church, it hasn’t been very funny.  My beloved husband comes from an orthodox background and I am a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative Evangelical.  Finding a middle ground between two Christian faiths might not seem like it would be such a chore, but it has been.

The term “Conservative Evangelical” has become tarnished in recent years, but that’s what I am.  People outside my belief system have an insatiable desire to pigeon-hole me into a category.  They want to forecast how I will vote, what I will buy and where I will buy it.  I just don’t fit very comfortably into my assigned box.

I am no “Church Lady” bludgeoning religion into people who have no interest in it.  In fact, I have no interest in religion myself.  What I’m into is a relationship with my Creator and my theology is decidedly conservative.

I happen to believe the Bible is the Divine Word of Almighty God and that He means what He said.  That belief is increasingly scary to those who don’t understand being sold out to the Triune  God.  They seem to think my faith is some kind of condemnation of them, but nothing could be further from the truth.  My faith isn’t about them at all, except for feelings of love and compassion.  My faith is about me and my desperate need for Father God.

One of the “symptoms” of my faith is an overwhelming desire to worship and fellowship with other believers.  Here in the Bible Belt, with a church on every corner, one might think finding a church would be an easy thing to do, but over the last couple of decades it’s increasingly difficult to do.  For a long time I blamed the disparity between my worship experience and my husband’s, but in recent days I realize that’s not the real problem.

My husband and I began our search for a middle ground when we were dating.  We visited a wide variety of denominations and found one that seemed to be a reasonable compromise.  The problem with compromises is that even though the middle ground is somewhere in between two preferences, it isn’t a place either party wants to be.  Our first church lasted for a couple of years and then we moved on.

We actually returned to the church where I’d been a member and were happy there for a couple of years.  Then there was one of those ugly power struggles.  We didn’t leave that church so much as it left us.  Then the real search for a church home began and I fell into the trap of comparisons.

Though I started out with the best of intentions, after a while, I slipped into Spectator Church Syndrome.  The fact that we changed cities every couple of years added to the problem.  I wanted to find a church, but more and more they were beginning to all look alike and none of them looked like I wanted them to.  This church had a better choir than that one.  That church had the most charismatic pastor.  This one had a great women’s ministry, but their Sunday School classes were pretty lame.  Before long I found myself comparing everything from decor to hairstyles, but nothing suited me.

With our latest move, my husband opted out of the church search.  That’s when I figured out churches had changed during our pilgrimage.  Forget trying to find a church to satisfy both of our tastes.  I couldn’t even find a church to satisfy my own.

It’s not that there aren’t any churches to choose from.  We have everything out here in the boondocks – from huge megachurches, to tiny congregations with pretty much everything in-between available.  Each Sunday I would Google “churches near me” and give something else a try.

At pretty much every church, with varying degrees of technology and size, I went into an auditorium, sang praise songs, had a greeting session and was served up a sermon.  For me, most of the auditoriums were too sterile.  It felt like as soon as the service was over, the next program could be a rock concert or an intro session for a pyramid marketing scheme.  It was not universally so, but where a church had a more traditional feel, I ran into other frustrations.

Praise songs are another obstacle for me.  Don’t get me wrong.  There are many wonderful praise songs that I love, but they are too repetitive for me to dig my teeth into Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.  I love belting out the old hymns which have lyrics which get into my business and follow me into the week.

In some churches the praise and worship session is actually more of a concert with all the toe-tapping and body- swaying any rocker could want.  Some people complain about folks who put their hands in the air.  That doesn’t bother me at all, but if the only way I know I’m not in a dance club are the words of the song being displayed on the wall…well, I have a problem with that.

Somehow, the church experience I longed for was lost in a tide of coffee bars, sound systems and drum sets.  In trying to be more attractive to the world, churches are becoming more of the world.  This Spectator Church stuff just wasn’t for me.  Even when I tried to plug in and find areas of service, the jobs assigned to me were as perfunctory as the Sunday morning greeting sessions.

Finally, I stumbled into a tiny Bible Church.  It never came up in my Google searches.  Someone at my old church recommended it.  The parking lot is gravel, the floors are concrete, the sanctuary walls are pine and the windows are functional, not decorative.  The congregational songs came directly out of a hymnal and the special music was, at best, enthusiastic.  The sermon blew me out of the water.  Nothing fancy mind you – just rock solid teaching that had me scribbling notes in the margin of my Bible.

After another visit or two, hubby joined me at the Christmas Eve Service.  Little was said on the way home.  Hubby remarked on a few notes he noticed the musicians missed, but he also commented on how well-rehearsed the performers had been – entering and exiting on cue with not even a moment of hesitation or confusion.

I was quiet.  I was enjoying the satisfaction of worship.  Yes, there had been missed notes, but I hadn’t been keeping score.  I had been participating.  I was no longer a spectator.  I knew I’d found my church home and I wouldn’t be sitting on the sidelines for long.

Equal Opportunity for Methodists

AT HOME IN HEATH: VISITING FIRST METHODIST ROCKWALL

(First Published on Travel Talk)
In an effort to be sure we’ve left no stone un-turned, we visited First Methodist Rockwall recently. Growing up Baptist, Methodists always seemed like the biggest rival in our evangelical conference, so I felt like a traitor as I walked in the door.

In my single days, Lovers Lane Methodist was sort of the “it” church. I actually went there for several weeks and attended a Sunday School Class that was studying a book you may have heard of, How to Survive the Loss of a Love. It’s a great book and I’ve used principles from it in many situations, but at the end of the study I realized we hadn’t opened our Bibles once. This wasn’t my style of Sunday School.

Shortly after that I discovered Northwest Bible Church and I didn’t have to look any further. Even though I’ve journeyed through many other churches with Bill, for a variety of reasons, I still feel like my home church is Northwest.

My next Methodist experience was a phone conversation with one of their ministers. Someone from Northwest introduced us (long before I met Bill) because they thought we’d be a match made in heaven. I never actually met this minister in person and I don’t remember his name, because our theological differences became immediately apparent in the first phone call. I simply believe what the Bible says about sex and he felt it was up for interpretation. His interpretation was that when he was dating someone he expected them to put out. That relationship wasn’t going to go anywhere.

Theology is important to me, so that was sort of the end of the line for me and the Methodists. Enter Mr. Bill. Coming from a liturgical background he’s not as fussy about theology. He saw a nice building and thought it might be a nice church. He’s not as wary of snake handling as I am.

Let me tell you, if you are looking for a great Methodist Church, it’s right over there across from the new county courthouse. The facilities are lovely and a new building is coming up right now. We were greeted and welcomed and greeted and welcomed to beat the band. The seats are comfortable, the sound system is good, the music was great – the selections, soloist and the choir. It’s obvious that they have a whole lot of ministry going on. High marks all around.

The sermon was about Crabby and Grabby…I mean Esau and Jacob – Crabby and Grabby were the nicknames the preacher tagged them with. Somehow the story skipped from youthful competition to end of life reconciliation without really addressing all the tough stuff in the middle. Bill tagged it Theology Light. You can’t judge a whole church by one sermon and Bill liked a lot of things about FMR, so who knows, I might be destined for Methodology – or would that be Methodism. I’ll have to find that out before we visit again.

There’s really only one more church on my list. After that we’ll be doing the second round, which will be Sunday School Classes. You may think I’m crazy for blogging about this, but in my world, it’s more important than granite!

Three Sabbaths

AT HOME IN HEATH: THREE SUNDAYS OF VISITING CHURCHES

(First Published on Travel Talk)

Still on the hunt for a church, we continue to visit local churches. The closest church to us is a small Christian Church on the edge of Buffalo Creek, First Christian Church Rockwall.

My dad went to a Christian Church in Melissa until Mom turned him into a Baptist. I also have an aunt who attended a Disciples of Christ Church in Dallas. First Christian Church Rockwell has Disciples of Christ in parentheses after its name so they’re connected somehow. I haven’t researched it all, because I’m not that far into the decision making mode, but with Dad and Aunt Tommie’s endorsement I felt like it was safe to visit without any concern of joining a cult or handling snakes.

I can tell you this. No matter what church we decide to join, there isn’t a church anywhere that’s more friendly. When I said this was a small church, I really do mean small. Perhaps a hundred, certainly not more than a hundred and fifty folks were there for the service. They immediately knew we weren’t regulars and they showered us with attention. And we’re talking good attention – not sign here on the bottom line and become one of us attention. More, “we’re so glad you came to worship with us today – so let’s be friends” attention.

The service was a little more liturgical than a Baptist ceremony, more responsive readings and that sort of thing, but the music was wonderful. For one thing they sang songs I know. I love praise and worship music, but I’ll have to confess most of it seems like the same song on repeat. After the first or second time around, I’m ready to move on, but for some reason they keep on going over it and over it an over it. Among the glorious old hymns that I love, FCC Rockwall threw in a Gloria Patri and the Doxology. We even did a praise song or two, but they kept it brief.

As much as I enjoyed the opportunity to sing these old standards, FCC Rockwall took it up another level. The accompaniments were a harp, violin and guitar. It was all good, but the guy on the violin must have been an angel visiting from on high. What a virtuoso! I guess you’re getting the vibe that it was all so far, so good. Even the preaching was good. Not as deep into exegesis as I might prefer, but when it gets as deep as I prefer, it puts Bill to sleep, so this was a good thing also.

A part of me was saying, “this might be it,” but there were other parts. One part is the methodical part of me that reminded me of the other possible churches we hadn’t even visited. Another part was wondering if I’d fit into a church so small. I’m used to larger congregations and venues,which mean more programs. I haven’t decided yet, but the wonderful email from the pastor in the next day or so didn’t hurt.

The next Sunday we went to Ridgeview Church and I got my exegesis. Talk about a church with programs. These folks have it all happening. It’s bigger than the Christian Church, but not big – if you know what I mean. One concern was their disregard for the clock. I was ready for it to be a little longer than a hour, because they started 15 minutes before the hour, but the hour and fifteen minutes passed and they were still going strong for another half hour. A full half hour of that (at least) was praise and worship music. I know it was a half hour at the beginning of the service and they threw more in as things progressed.

So far all the churches we’ve “shopped” have earned a second visit. That Goldilocks feeling of too big, too small, too hot, too cold is very present. I’ve actually made my second visit to the Christian Church. Bill was tied up with landscapers on a recent Sunday. That’s not exactly a Sabbath thing to do, but with all the rain we were just glad to have someone show up.

So I ran over the the First Christian Church and enjoyed their early service. The crowd was even smaller for than the later service. All the vibes were good this time around, too. Sadly, the smaller service didn’t rate the amazing accompanists that the later service did.

Next on my calendar is the trip to San Antonio I’ve been talking about on Wednesdays. On that Sunday, I’ll be heading to San Jose Mission for the Mariachi Mass. Then I’ll be back and we plan to visit First Methodist Rockwall. I’m not a Methodist, but Bill likes their building. Come read how it goes.

At Home in Heath: More Sabbath Adventures

(First Published on Travel Talk)
Searching for a new church is a Goldilocks experience. This one is too big, that one’s too cold and you keep looking until you find one that is just right.

The mega-church was too big and too modern for us, so I hit the computer to get a list of other local churches. Sadly, one of the things I discovered was some of the reasons many people are turned off by church this day and time – not all church people are nice people.

As I wandered around the internet listings, I did what most of us do. I read a few comments. In a way, they were kind of humorous. One person was highly insulted that he’d visited a church twice, with the visits being about a year apart, and both times the sermon was about money. I wanted to tell him that most churches set a Sunday or two aside each year at about the same time of the year and focus on the budget. They are responsible to congregation for the way they spend their donations and the Bible has plenty to say about money. I’m sure this guy had just happened in on the same thing twice.

Some comments were so hate-filled that I wondered what had possessed the authors to show up at the church in the first place – and then I wondered if they’d gone at all or they’d just spread a little hate around for their own personal pleasure. Then there was Miss Righteous. “If you’re looking for a church on the internet, then you’ve missed the point.” I had to read it several times to believe I was not making a mistake. Are you kidding? If you are looking for a church in 2015, why wouldn’t you look on the internet? No wonder people are staying away from church in droves.

On the Sunday after our mega-church extravaganza, we woke up to rain. Mr. Bill volleyed a suggestion that perhaps it was raining too much to go to church. I wasn’t having any of that. I went right on with my preparations and prayed the weather would cooperate. The downpour lessened, but the rain wasn’t going anywhere. Bill reluctantly traded his pajamas for something more appropriate and came along.

A traditional Baptist church was our destination this time. We were running late and the service was well underway when we got there. In fact it was Mother’s Day and a baby dedication was in full swing. We found all the decorative trappings the mega-church had shunned. We’re talking white baseboards and crown molding, pastel pew cushions and a pulpit large enough to hold any sermon.

If someone were looking for a stereo-typical Southern Baptist church, this was the full monty. The pastor had a Texas drawl that crawled from Amarillo to Beaumont and he employed it full throttle during his extended conversations with his Lord. The sermon was akin to a down home chat – something shared over a meal of cheese grits and pork chops. Best of all we sang hymns. I opened up my throat and belted out several of my favorites. Bill on the other hand, having come from a more liturgical background, isn’t as fond of singing his heart out.

The same music that warmed my heart also ran a few red flags up the pole. After the baby dedication we sang a few praise songs. Well, we tried to sing a few praise songs. There was a guy up front leading us and the words were shown on a screen, but the sound system was so bad that I couldn’t hear the leader or the instruments or the folks around me. I was throwing some notes out there, but I’m not sure they were the right ones.

The sound system worked better for the special music, unfortunately. A precious trio got up to sing, a girl with her mom and grandmother. I’ve got to be honest with you, even Bill knew they were off key. It was sweet to see them singing together, you just wanted to turn down the sound.

As we headed to our car after the benediction, we agreed we’d gotten closer to our goal, but we’d probably need to fine tune things a bit. Check back next week and see what we’re up to.