Church saga continues

This morning we went to Plymouth Wesleyan Church.

The building did not particularly appeal to us. It’s large. It has a canopy over a little drive, like hotels do. It has a welcome desk. It has a modern vaulted ceiling and a big stage and the floor is sloped like an auditorium — in fact, the bulletin called it an auditorium: something about putting your kids in the nursery in order to have the “best auditorium experience.”

The nursery was a nice comfortable bright room and the staff were friendly. Amy went into the worker’s arms without a fuss (unusual) and was happily playing when I returned at the end of the service.

The music was loud but not so that it hurt my ears. Just loud enough that I couldn’t really hear anyone singing but the worship leaders and one woman behind us. It included a song that talked about blessing the name of the Lord when things go well and when they don’t — so good, this isn’t a prosperity church.

The sermon was intelligent and thoughtful. The series is about how becoming a Christian doesn’t have to be a single, total event, but that people can move closer and closer to Jesus, one step at a time. We agree that this is an accurate and useful way to think about it. He did talk about sin and humanity differently than Calvinists do; his view is that humanity is morally neutral, and that we are led into sin by external things. Does he mean we are not accountable for our sin or that it has no internal aspect? He didn’t seem to think that anyone could avoid sinning, though, so the end result is still that all people are sinners and need Jesus. But I’m more comfortable with the Calvinist perspective that we are born sinful and are accountable for our sinfulness.

There’s a group studying a book by an author we don’t approve of, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the church officially endorses this author.

We feel that this is a church we might be able to go to, but it’s not our ideal; of course we’re not going to find any ideal church. We are trying to just ask for wisdom and discernment as we try to prioritize our desires and see which church is the best fit.

Other churches so far:

Grace Reformed Presbyterian (OPC) — familiar liturgy and theology, comfortable building, quiet piano music including both hymns and choruses, small congregation but a good number of young families; too far away, not fabulous enough to be worth going so far.

Crossroads Evangelical Free — large with plenty of young folks, nice nurseries, intelligent preaching; somewhat unnerving emotionalism and reverence for leaders, not sure of theology. We don’t think we can go to this church; just about every time we’ve visited we’ve felt unnerved by too much.

Calvary Lutheran (LCMS) — mostly reasonable doctrine, friendly ushers; lots of sung liturgy and following along in a book for the order of worship, mostly older congregation, organ, unsure of what folks actually believe there. And I know this is a stupid reason to reject a church, but I really dislike wafers and wine. Just about any other form of bread, and juice, suits my preferences better. Silly me.

Newsong Community Church (AoG) — all I remember is that it was TOO LOUD and too much like a rock concert (I don’t have a problem with Christian (or other) rock music, but I prefer a different style for Sunday worship), and the preacher kept talking about how “if Pastor were here…” Assemblies of God is also a bit too far from our Presbyterianism.

Finding a church, like so many other things, involves both morally / spiritually important things and (mere) personal preferences.

The form of liturgy, the elements for the Lord’s Supper, the kind of music, the demographics of the congregation, the building, are all just matters of preference.

Theology is a little trickier. What is the quotation — “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, diversity; in all things, charity.” Usually this means that, while you go to a church that shares your particular beliefs, you recognize that some other kinds of churches are also truly Christian, though different. It’s harder for us to accept the idea that we might need to actually go to a church whose system of belief differs from ours in significant ways. We don’t want to feel like we have to keep our defenses up on Sundays and in small groups, or “protect” Amy from different influences in Sunday school, and all that sort of thing.