Visiting Another Church

Last week, I was invited by some friendly strangers to attend their Sunday worship service. I told them that I already have a church that I attend, but they told me that they have a YouTube channel, where they share videos of their Sunday services. I've always been a bit curious about how other church services compare to ours, so this evening, I visited their service digitally, about 60 hours after it took place.

There were a few things I liked about it. I loved that they sang a lot of hymns. I was even familiar with a few of them and with the tunes for a few others. The sermon was uplifting and encouraging (if a bit political), and it had a practical and reasonable call to action. It was a good message, centered on doing what we can to help others. And the service seemed to strike a balance between cozy and grand. It was a small congregation, with a Linger Longer-like "Coffee Hour" planned for after the service, but they still had the sorts of decorations you'd expect from a larger church, and they made liberal use of their organ.

However, their service just wasn't for me. There was a lot of ceremony, a lot of reading the words written in the program. It was too scripted. And despite the scripting, I was unclear about why things were happening when they were happening. There seemed to be little rhyme or reason to the organization of the service. I was especially confused when they officially welcomed us to the service after the service was already half-over. I also didn't agree with everything they said, which I suppose is to be expected when visiting other churches. I would have been bothered by the recitation of the Nicene Creed if I wasn't so curious about what the creed actually says. The inclusion of the Lord's Prayer was nice, but it was set to music with which I was unfamiliar, dampening my experience with the prayer. But when they acknowledged the catholic church as being the one true church (despite being Episcopalian), that's when I officially checked out. It's fine that they believe what they believe, and I'm glad that I visited to expand my religious horizons somewhat, but I didn't see any need to subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Visiting this other church was an educational experience for me, and I appreciated it, but I didn't feel that it was a religious experience, and I didn't feel like I was worshiping. And granted, the familiarity bias is probably in effect, but I don't think I'll be attending that church regularly. I feel much more comfortable and closer to the Spirit in ours.