I’ve decided to visit some different types of church services this fall, and some friends are along for the ride. So far, there are only three on our list. That might be it, or I might find more that spark my interest. Either way, I thought it would be interesting to write about my experiences with different forms of services.
First off, I’m not going to name the churches we visit, because it’s not about the church but rather my very biased opinions on attending different styles of services. I don’t want to name names but rather talk about experience.
Second, I made a grading sheet to help me look at roughly the same things at each service. I’m not going to go into all the criteria I put into my grading sheet, because it’s totally biased. The main criteria include friendliness without being pushy, structure, and the theological merits of the sermons/song lyrics. Politics, anti-science, emotional manipulation, or the phrase “the Bible clearly says” can get negative points. For a comparison, I ranked the last two Catholic churches I attended and both scored in the mid-seventies. Easter would probably put both in the low-eighties.
I really should have had a category for web sites. I don’t ask for much from church web sites. I appreciate when they are good, but it’s ok if they look like they haven’t been updated since 1997. All I want is directions and service times, but apparently, some church web sites can’t even swing that. I don’t want videos about end times or sign-up sheets for small groups on the front page if you can’t even tell me what time to arrive on Sunday morning. I’m a Millennial, which means I want to get my information without having to call your office and actually ask someone. I really don’t think that’s too much to expect.
But I really don’t know what to expect; that’s the point. I want to get over some misconceptions and be able to speak from a little experience when talking about other styles of worship.
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