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.
