In an effort to find a place where my husband and I might worship together, I visited a church suggested by an acquaintance of mine. I did a little research before I went because when I don't take the time to research, I end up at a place like the Christian Science church (true story). Everything seemed legit so I decided to give it a try.
This was actually my first time attending what I call a "modern" or contemporary church service. My definition of modern is non-traditional. No hymns, no pews, no dress code, coffee allowed in the sanctuary and people drinking, use of AV tools (videos, bible verses and sermon notes displayed on a large screen), referring to scriptures by announcing their page numbers, modern sounding music, greeters - not ushers. I've been in church all my life, but this was something very different. I've even attended a predominately white southern church and it was far different from that. In fact, I'm still a tad undecided about whether I liked it or not. But, it was all Bible-based so no arguments from me there.
They sang 3 songs that I did not know and they were all very pop-sounding. I think the congregants found them a little difficult because not a lot of people were singing. In this respect, the P&W experience was more like a concert and not very participatory. But maybe this is what a modern church service is like.
I think God is dealing with me about my personal views on church. I feel like I need to look past the physical and even past the way I typically think. I think we (church folks including myself) are doing a piss poor job in bringing others to Christ and into fellowship. We often say "all are welcome" and "come as you are," but when people who are not carbon copies of us come, we have a lot to say under our breath (eg, why did she/he wear shorts/their club clothes/their hair rollers to church?! [cuz yeah, they do that at my church sometimes]) Do we really think that the average person who knows little about God/Jesus/Christianity would enjoy our church services? More specifically for me, would the average urban person in my church's community find our worship service remotely appealing? I feel the need to connect on a different level and perhaps in a different environment to help me see myself more clearly and others differently.
Let me say for the record, my goal is not to find a new church home! I love my church. However, sometimes it's refreshing to hear and see something different because God isn't just the God of black churches, or charismatic churches. He's the God of many denominations, cultures, music genres, and traditions. While I'm not ready to physically put my name on the roll of the modern, "church of the future," I most certainly appreciate their role in the Kingdom.
Blessings
