Church Shmurch
I think Reid and I reached a new level of frustration today.
Since we found out I was pregnant, our desire to find a church home has become more urgent. We’ve been to quite a few churches during the past three or so months. We thought for a while that we’d go to Casey and Sheena’s church for good, but something doesn’t feel quite right. There’s nothing wrong with it, we just aren’t sold on the decision yet, especially since we’d much rather find a church that’s closer to us. No offense, Pattons.
Today we tried a church that’s seven minutes from our house. Everything was fine…until the pastor got up to speak. I don’t think I can accurately describe just how awful it was to sit through. Nothing made sense, he never explained the passage he read, he just quoted several famous theologians, CNN polls, famous celebrities’ quotes, etc. None of these things connected. I even laughed out loud at one point because I couldn’t believe how ridiculous some of the things were that he was saying.
Once we realized he wasn’t even halfway through, we left.
I was pretty harsh when we left, even to the point of saying he’d never been to a homiletics class, or at least, he never passed. I’m good at being rude when I’m riled up.
We still have four churches on our list to visit, but we can’t help feeling hopeless in our search. Our focus has shifted from wanting the perfect church, to simply wanting a place to make friends and have a small group. BUT, I’d like to be able to at least sit through the sermon. We’d really like a place that we feel comfortable bringing our child to learn. (Not that they won’t learn from us.)
What adds to our frustration is knowing that its possible to have a church that is deep and has community, but it’s in a different city. We’ve started listening to the teachings online once a week together and love it. It blows our minds every week how much we’re learning, but breaks our hearts that we don’t have a community to share it with here.
This is me just being honest.
PS: Here’s exactly how this pastor spoke, except with longer pauses:
Sorry the quality’s so crappy.
i hear ya. if you find a good place let us know.
i do not know how you feel about the p.c.a. church, or even how far is too far to drive for you, but if you have the urge to visit one, altadena valley presbyterian church on caldwell mill road…has a great community of people and the service is heart felt (in my opinion). we miss avpc tremendously! now this is just a suggestion
but in regards to your feelings…i hear ya girl! we are having a problem finding a church (even if it might be temporary) down here
anyway…i hope you are feeling well these days!
i have a horrible feeling that the snl clip is profoundly similar to MANY preachers out there… eek. looking for a church/community where you really connect and invest is really challenging, and can be a lengthy process. praying for the lord’s direction for you guys–especially as your family’s growing!
(i’ve also got a cool friend in birmingham who works for student life… not sure where he attends, but i’ll find out for you. maybe it’ll be a good lead!)
Hi Urshley! I wish we could have sat with you guys when you came to our church….and things weren’t normal that Sunday by any means…. but trust me…Zeb and I know what you guys are going through. We felt the urgency as well when we found out we were preggo the first time. Thankfully St. Peter’s has become a dear family to us. You’ll find it…eventually. It’ll probably the place you least expect it.