My next church

[Chris]

My church (of 17 years) will hold its last service this weekend, and will dispose of its assets over the next two months. Already, well-intentioned people are telling me where I should next go to church. With due respect, I think God and I can figure this out OK. My next church will have an organ and a choir. People will sing from a hymnal that shows all four parts. It will not have a drop-down screen, powerpoint, a praise band, a drum cage, nor a minister who calls himself “Pastor Bob” (or any other handle with no last name).

[Dave Roberts]

I like your thought process. You will make a wise decision.

[Sandy]

I'd be interested to know why your most recent church decided to close.

From your list of criteria, I don't think you'll have much trouble finding a new one.

[Chris]

[Dave Roberts]

It did not help to be on the edge of a growing university campus that kept few students in town for weekends but which occupied prime real estate in the area. It also is a problem to be in an economy dominated by federal installations and those dependent on federal contracts.

[linda]

Good luck finding a church that uses a hymnal, organ, choir, and sings all 4 parts. Our one disappointment moving south is that we cannot find one unless we want to also get waaaayyyyyy far out in some reallllllllyyyyyy radical fundamentalism.

[JE Pettibone]

[Sandy]

I googled to see if there might not be a more traditional CBF congregation in Chris' general area that leans toward a more traditional service, piano, organ, choir, hymnals, and found a you tube video of North Riverside Baptist Church. Then it dawned on me that might be the church he attends now.

If you're interested in crossing denominational lines, Colony Friends Church is in your area. No organ, but they have an electronic piano that makes organ sounds. Mostly they sing acapella.

[Chris]

[Tim Bonney]

[Rvaughn]

[Tim Bonney]

[Tim Bonney]

A quote from Tom Bandy comes to mind. “All the matters is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything else is tactics.”

While I don’t always agree with Tom, the bigger question than “do I like the worship style” is, “is my church leading people to become disciples of Jesus Christ.” As far as I’m concerned if people are coming to Christ I don’t care if the music is on the kazoo.

[JE Pettibone]

[Dave Roberts]

I actually think that worship style is not the real issue. More and more, churches have withdrawn from being part of the public life and discourse outside the church. We also have few contacts with people who don't attend church or who don't attend our particular church. Our insularity has cut us out of relationships that offer the opportunity for evangelism which necessarily comes through relationships. As churches age and members retire, often our only social contacts are with fellow members which kills any evangelistic thrust. We don't even have to leave our computer screens to order most of our necessities.

[Rvaughn]

[Sandy]

I hadn't ever heard of a "tucking comb," and with my family's roots deep in the mountains of West Virginia, I though I'd seen and heard a lot of unusual things in worship that you won't see anywhere else, or have now been lost because no one does them anymore. Though the church my mother grew up in doesn't exist any more, I'm sure you can still find a few like it. My Aunt frequently claimed she would never join a church that had indoor plumbing and electricity, because the one they grew up in had neither. Nor should a church have padded pews with backs or a store-bought pulpit. Their church had a fellowship hall in the basement, but only because winter weather necessitated moving the "dinner on the ground" they had after church each week inside. If it was warm enough, they had tables outside under a brush arbor and in the fall and the spring they had revival services there.

[linda]

Unfortunately I am just enough of a musician to have a bit more than a working awareness of the science of crowd control going on now with changing the tempo, the lighting, the temperature, the volume, and making sure those on the stage are the right age/haircut/clothing etc to maximize the release of specific brain chemicals at specific times for specific reasons. And while it is always presented as aids to worship, engendering a spirit of worship, or helping folks feel the presence of the Spirit to me it smacks of snake oil manipulation. Sorry, but that is just how I react when I see it happening and know what is going on.

We have located a multi service larger UMC within driving distance that has a traditional liturgical leaning service and plan to check that out. Been avoiding the UMC but will admit to being pleased with some recent votes and judicial counsel decisions lately, and have learned the church of which I speak is even more conservative than that. So we will see.

If what counts is nickels and noses then yes, contemporary with bands and praise teams works. And folks do walk the aisle. But it palls when you don't see lives actually changing (eg addicts to alcohol stop drinking, not join a 12 step group and drink on) and are aware that walking the aisle response MAY not be the result of the Holy Spirit moving but rather MAY be just a successful capturing of heart beat, a good band being able to then slow it, combined with long standing time lowering blood flow to the brain increasing vulnerability to suggestion, and a good mesmerizing speaker. And if the brain chemical fix is a really good one you can engender much the same thing that happens in drug addiction: give the crowd a fix and they will crave another fix by next Sunday. May swap an addiction for Christian concerts for an addiction for a drug but still just an addiction to a chemical.

And then watching the same people float from church to church always seeking a new high, still doing the same old same olds: living together unmarried, drinking to excess, drugging, being lazy, neglecting or abusing their kids, not caring about the world about us or the people in it, etc also soured me. Sure, if I crank up the keyboard and you really wallop the drums and the guitar guy really gets into it all by the scientifically stated sound levels, lighting levels, beat, and tempo we can bring them in and bring them back and get them to walk the aisle. But if their lives say they haven't met Jesus, not really, well, why?

[Sandy]

[Tim Bonney]

[Tim Bonney]

[Tim Bonney]

[Rvaughn]

[Rvaughn]

[James]

Chris, we, Hampton Baptist Church, meet all of your criteria. That being said we are not without problems.

We not only use a hymnal, Baptist Hymnal 1991. We use all of it except the contemporary Christian hymns. Our choir is quite good. We approach the Bible with open minds. Our point of view is that the Bible should lead us to our theology. We do not believe that our theology should govern what we believe about the Bible. This is why we accept homosexuals in our membership. One couple, good friends of mine, was married in our sanctuary.

On the flip side, we are aging but still have a core of young families.

May God guide you to the right place.

PS, Chestnut Memorial UMC may be a fit for you.