As dissatisfied as we may be with church as a career opportunity, our enthusiasm for church attendance has not been dampened in the least. Since February, when we left the HOP, we have been double-dipping, so to speak, in church worlds.
On Saturday night we attend a contemporary service at a local Baptist church. The contemporary music is the best in town, and we enjoy worshiping with friends in the small and familiar crowd. On Sunday morning we have been attending a Presbyterian church, which we love for its liturgical style, simplicity, and meaty preaching.
Since we are no longer officially pursuing the church job track, we felt that it was time to really commit to a church. We have been visiting several congregations in our area, and we have yet to find one place that really has captured our interest.
It's been almost a year since I blogged about my own conflicting preferences in worship service styles. At the time, I was hoping to be part of a church that could reconcile my desire for casual and formal, comfortable and reverent, etc. Now that we've had the opportunity to sit in the congregation of many different churches (and many good churches, at that), I've come to believe that the only way I can reconcile the paradox is by keeping my feet in two worlds.
When I go to Saturday nights I feel the warmth of community and the emotion of jamming for Jesus. When I go to my PCA service, I feel the companionship of centuries of believers as I recite the beautiful words of liturgy and sing ancient songs of faith. The combination of these experiences makes my churchgoing experience feel complete. When I miss out on either one, I feel lacking.
And so it is not indecisively, but thoughtfully, that I choose both.
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6 comments:
To be truthful, we're technically still looking. But the more we see, the more we wonder if we'll find a place that we love as much as the sum of these two.
what does stephen think?
Stephen feels more strongly about committing to one, but he agrees that it's a harder decision that he thought it would be.
Go to both. That way, you don't leave "us" and you get the best of both worlds. :)
Otherwise, we'll kick you out of LG.
Just kidding! We'll love you whatever you do.
Hehe... yeah, the new ADP here asked if y'all were members (I was talking about how Stephen used to pastor a church) and I didn't know how to answer. Well, we won't kick you out... even though he had a speculative tone in his voice.
John and I have talked about visiting your Sunday morning church. We'll have to find a Sunday that you're not church hopping, and I'm not teaching preschool.
We are regular attenders; that's the same thing, right??
We had a refreshing Sunday back at RPCA, and we're going to stick around there. Name your Sunday.
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