If you view church in a tradition manner, then we didn’t go this Sunday. However, if church is two or more people gathering in God’s presence, then we had a most significant time. The pastors begin by sounding the shofar (a trumpet made from an animal horn, as mentioned in the Old Testament) and we […]
There’s a Mandarin service followed by one in English;. We attend both. The worship team leads us. The words to the song are displayed in Mandarin and have the English translation underneath. They sing and I listen to voices of a different tongue. God’s presence engulfs me. When others raise their hands, I wonder if […]
We almost skip this church since efforts to contact them were unsuccessful. It took a Saturday evening drive to confirm they’re viable and learn their service time. On Sunday a small crowd gathers, mostly older. The service is traditional, but in an informal way. At times it seems evangelical and other times mainline, with periodic […]
The sanctuary of this Roman Catholic Church is grand without being ostentatious. Modern and airy, it seats several hundred, with pews arrayed in four sections, each group angled to face the front. Behind the platform is an impressive marble wall with a large crucifix at its center. To one side, at floor level, is a […]
The church has a contemporary service followed by a traditional one; we attend both. A Lutheran congregation, I expect a high-church experience (more formal and liturgical). However, their idea of contemporary is far different from mine. Their music is modern, yet shrouded in formality. Reading from the lectionary, we stand for the third passage, this […]
The church we visited this Sunday is a nondenominational gathering that meets in a public school auditorium. In some parts of the United States it’s unheard of for a church to meet in a government building, but in our area, it is not. Though some would overreach, citing a need for “separation of church and […]
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 […]
This Pentecostal church receives us warmly. The greeter is an amazing ambassador and will interact with us several more times throughout the morning. He introduces us to the pastor’s wife and it’s not long before her husband seeks us out. The pastor pointedly asks if we’ve ever been to a Pentecostal Church. When I say […]
The church has no website and its Facebook page is nothing more than a placeholder. Given this lack of presence on contemporary channels, our experience suggests they are a smaller, aging congregation with a traditional service. My assumption proves true. The pastor is the first person we meet. He’s perhaps in his thirties and not […]
Next on our list is another United Methodist Church. Their website has a helpful “what to expect” section. Described as “a quaint, country church,” visitors may “come as you are.” The facility reminds me of the Methodist church we visited three weeks ago, as do the age of the attendees and the service style. The […]