Church Shopping

I’ve been a member at the same church my whole life…..literally; my mother took me for the first time as a newborn. When I was a child our congregation was about 30-40 people, nowadays on a good Sunday there are 10-15 of us. Some families have moved away but mainly the elders just keeping dying off. I know that’s morbid but it’s true! We have no Sunday school, no youth groups, no involvement in the community, etc. Week after week I take the girls [my hubby is Catholic and attends his own church] and ride with my mom and grandma to church……..BLAH. I’m getting nothing out of it, except communion and……..that’s about it, well and I guess the girls are learning how to whisper???? To me church should be a place where your soul and inner peace are replenished for the week. A place where when you leave you feel cleansed or refreshed from the inside out. A place where you grow spiritually each week. I am not getting this. I guess you could say I’ve been continuing there out of loyalty? Out of not wanting to make changes? But, I’ve decided it’s time I go church shopping. I want to stay with Church of Christ, I just hate the idea of going to a new place. Call me strange but there are two main reasons why I do not like visiting new churches….

1) No anonymity. At least not in a Church of Christ. You are pounced on like the fresh meat that you are as soon as the service is over. You are greeted by at least a dozen new people all wanting to know if you’re new to the area, etc. You are sometimes even invited to Sunday dinner. Now I’m sure you’re thinking, “What’s wrong with that”? I’ll tell you. I LIKE being anonymous sometimes. I LIKE not being hounded with a thousand introductions. I don’t like when they assume this was my first time in a church, and they better grab onto me before I fall into the clutches of Satan.

2) Learning the routine; each church has their own routine. Granted, most Church of Christ congregations probably have the same rituals but not necessarily in the same order, and I’ve seen the communion done a few different ways. Again, you might ask, “What’s the big deal”? I’ll tell you. I don’t like feeling lost and looking foolish; especially with two noisy kids by my side to bring all the attention on us. First, you have to find a place to sit and hope that you’re not taking the seat of a regular. Then, you have to figure out what everyone is doing and what’s going to happen next. Then there’s the DREADED “meet and greet”, which some churches do as a regular part of the morning service. Where people actually get up and go around greeting one another, and then if you’re new ……well…you’re shark bait.

So we’ll see how it goes! I’ll be sure and keep you all [well, all 2 of you] posted!