The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Observations from Church-hopping Part 3

 This makes more sense with the explanation from part 1 which is here.  Part 2 is here. 

Time to wrap up some thoughts on our church visits over the past few months. Some things were good and some were bad; at least in my opinion. What about the ugly? Well, there was nothing theologically ugly which is wonderful. But, as mentioned in earlier posts we're not venturing out to churches that don't have a solid reputation so it is really not a surprise. To be totally honest, there was nothing ugly in any of the services we've participated in, so I'll just put one more "bad" item here in order to have a part 3.

The last bad thing is pretty common. My guess would be you would see it in any church you visited other than the tiniest ones. I suppose if you look at it from a certain perspective it is good and not bad, but to me it is a depressing and negative phenomenon. Here it is. It's sad to see ladies coming to worship while their husbands stay home (or go to the lake or golf course or whatever). Come on guys, step up and get in the game. 

Seriously, if  you're in church leadership may I suggest to you to stop trying so hard to reach children. Reach their fathers and let the fathers reach their own kids. 

The church-hopping will continue this Sunday. If future visits yield new info I'll report it on this blog.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Observations from Church-hopping Part 2

 You can read part 1 of this topic here.  Basically, I'm sharing some thoughts from our experiences over the last four months visiting a different church each week. At this point, we are not looking for one to join. Rather, we are simply trying to relax and enjoy worshiping without any responsibilities. Plus, we just want to learn how different churches operate their services. We have enjoyed our time, but there have been a few negative things.

The Bad

Now before I upset anyone, let me just say that most of what I am about to relate is only "bad" in my opinion. I'm sharing based on my preferences more than biblical precepts or principles. I am very aware that there are plenty of people who absolutely love the things that I dislike. You can take my ideas and consider if others might also feel that these things are bad (in which case you might want to make application). If you don't think they would, then at least maybe you'll be entertained for a minute.

The first thing that I'm identifying as bad in our church visits is how poor churches are at nailing the friendliness factor. Obviously, as Christians we want to be warm and welcoming to anyone who enters our meetings. We want them to feel loved so that they will be attracted to Jesus. One complicating factor is that humans come in a wide variety of personality types and what one might consider as friendly behavior, another might consider as too invasive or too much too soon.

Let me clarify that I am not speaking here about the official time of welcoming guests (although that time can be hard to nail too). I'm just talking about  how friendly people were to us when we were entering the campus, finding our way around, waiting for the service to start, leaving the service, etc. Unfortunately, most churches were underwhelming in this department. In some churches we were completely ignored or spoken to only minimally and with little joy or enthusiasm. On the other end of the spectrum, a church or two was way over the top. You really can be too casual and too personal with people when you are trying to make them feel welcome. Greeters and church members have to remember that people like their personal space and do not want to feel like you are trying to sell them something. Also, it takes time to build relationships. Don't try to act like you are someone's long lost best friend when you've just met them moments ago.

Why is this important? People form an opinion about your organization in the first seven minutes they spend on your campus. If you ignore them or overwhelm them in those seven minutes they are less likely to come back. Fortunately, a couple of the churches we visited did get this right. They made us feel welcomed and seemed genuinely interested in us. But, they did not overwhelm us or try to be too familiar. 

Bad thing number two- -annoying worship leaders. First of all, don't sing the same chorus for 15 minutes. Second, don't do medlies. Just pick some good songs and sing them individually. Let them speak. Third, I really don't care to see you hopping around, jumping to and fro, swaying back and forth, looking like you're constipated, beating your chest, flailing your arms, and so forth. Just stand there and smile and sing the song. If you want to lift a hand every now and then, go ahead. But don't make a big production of it. I didn't come to see a show and hopefully neither did anyone else. Fourth, don't tell me what to do. I don't need you to tell me to "put my hands together" or "raise your hands to Jesus" or whatever else you think I should do. I'm going to sing the song to Jesus and if I feel the need to do something else, that is between Him and me.

Bad thing number three- -bad sound mixing. If your instruments are turned up so loud that I cannot hear anyone singing, that's too loud. If the guitar is so loud that I cannot hear the melody from the keyboard, that's annoying. If the band is so loud that I can feel the base in my chest, that's ridiculous. If you have multiple singers but I can only hear one of them, that's annoying and a waste of time and talent. 

Bad thing number four- -Light shows. I know they are trendy and cool. I know they add ambiance. I know that you feel like you have to compete with the entertainment industry and lots of colored lights whirling around the sanctuary make you feel like you are. The reasons to have them are many. Personally, I don't think any of them are valid. However, if light shows make you happy I can deal with them . . . as long as you keep the spotlights OUT of my eyes!

Bad thing number five- -topical preaching. Okay, I know that sometimes there is a good reason to do this (I actually did it the other day when I was filling in for somebody). But for the most part you should be preaching expositionally and systematically through God's word. Let the text speak for itself and let God speak through the text. He knows what people need.

Bad thing number six- -churches with very few children in the service. Obviously, Covid has changed every church's attendance pattern but it is incredibly frustrating to me to see a worship service with few or no children. Come on moms and dads, let's get with it.

Gotta stop for now. Part 3 coming soon.

A Very Timely Message That You Should Internalize

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i60eQZPG5XM

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Observations from Church Hopping

"And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching."  Hebrews 10:24-25

Introduction

In November of 2020, after 25 years of ministerial service in a local church, I resigned from my post. Almost every Sunday since then, my wife, younger son, and I have visited a different church. Our purpose has not been to find a new church home but just to enjoy worshiping in different settings with different people. We wanted to see how folks do church in a variety of contexts other than what we were so familiar with. Honestly, it has been a breath of fresh air.

Along the way, someone suggested that we catalog our visits in a blog. I considered doing kind of a "play by play" blog recounting what we experienced each week. However, I was afraid it might hurt feelings if I disparaged someone's church or a favored leader. [Note, I know that basically nobody reads this blog so the chances of hurting someone's feelings are pretty minuscule. Still, I thought the respectful thing would be simply to write generically about what we have experienced.] Therefore, I decided to limit the writing to some general observations from our journey. I hope that it will edify and maybe even evoke contemplation of how you do church.

Before I get into what I've noticed, allow me to make a couple of disclaimers. One, I am unapologetically a Southern Baptist so my ideas are clearly slanted in favor of Baptist practices. That does not mean I'm looking down on you if you belong to a different denomination; we can agree to disagree about non-essential doctrines and practices. Two, this journey is not over as we have several more churches we want to visit. Therefore, I may update these thoughts as we have more experiences. Three, I am very aware that my opinions are not facts (I'm aware of this because of how often my wife tells me 😉). So when I say things that may seem critical, I'm not trying to cut anyone down, just telling you what I think. I realize that we all have preferences and what works for one may not work for another.

The Good

We have seen a number of good things through this process. Just to give you a little context, we have been to nine different churches (I think), including six different denominations and one non-denominational church so far. These churches have ranged in size from about 20 congregants to several hundred. The musical components have ranged from one leader with recorded tracks to highly produced, highly talented worship bands, and everything in between. Further, and this is interesting to me, all the preachers were very educated and had ministry experience. Finally, and this too fascinates me, partly because of the holiday season we did not get to hear the senior pastor at each church, which was a disappointment. However, we found that the "fill-ins" were very knowledgeable and well spoken.

So, what have been some of the good things we have experienced? One thing is simply the presence of God. It has been uplifting to be able to meet with God in such a variety of settings. Yes, I am Baptist. But it is refreshing to know that God shows up in the gatherings of my non-Baptist brethren, and refreshing to know that I can participate in worship with them.

A second thing has been the unity in the body of Christ. Everywhere we went, I felt very at home knowing that I was surrounded by brothers and sisters. We may worship in different places and in slightly different ways, but there is truly a connection that we have in Christ. I have honestly sensed this connection in the various churches we have visited despite being surrounded by strangers most weeks.

A third thing has been the preeminence of Jesus. Granted we have not wandered in to a church we knew to be progressive. In fact, we have known something of the reputation of each church so far. Yet, it has been exciting to note the exaltation of Christ in music and message each week. Truly we are, His church.

A fourth good thing has been the dependence on the word of God. For the most part, Scripture was taught, respected, and encouraged everywhere we have been. Again, we have intentionally not visited churches that we know have a low view of Scripture. However, it has been encouraging to see how the Bible is viewed over such a diverse spectrum of congregations.

A fifth and final good thing has been prayer. Honestly, it should not be a surprise that prayer played a key role in all these services. However, you (like I) have probably heard stories of pastors and congregations that do not pray enough. You have probably heard various leaders call for more prayer in the church. I do not doubt that we need more prayer in the church. But it surely has been good to witness the place that prayer has among all these congregations as they gather on Sunday mornings.

Well, this has become rather lengthy. I'm thankful for the good things we have had the pleasure of being part of as we have visited local churches. I must confess, though, that I did not appreciate everything. What were some bad things? I'll save those for the next post- -which will hopefully be within a couple of days.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.