We’ll Bypass Visiting This Church (For Now)
So far, we’ve visited twelve churches.
With one exception—a spiritual community that wasn’t exclusively Christian—we’ve faithfully attended every church on our list, according to their distance from home.
As our journey continues, we’ll skip some to maximize the breadth of our experience.
The first church we’re skipping is a mainstream denomination church. There are two reasons: We’ve visited this church several times before with a family member.
Second, the church has been struggling of late and is embarking on an organizational metamorphosis. They are in a time of transition from which a new church will hopefully emerge.
This new gathering will have a fresh perspective, a different pastor, and a new name. They will be reborn. Since this is all in the planning stage, we’ll set this church aside.
If their transformation progresses, we’ll visit later. And if this strategy doesn’t work, there will be nothing left to see.
It’s a tough time for the faithful few who remain. I pray for a successful organizational metamorphosis.
Takeaway for Everyone: Every church will at some time struggle. Make sure that season doesn’t turn away visitors.
[Update: though it took a while, we do eventually visit this church. I call it a reboot. I think it was worth the wait. Read about that experience.]
My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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