So we're trying out a new church. Don't be freaked out or make a big deal of it, it's just something we're doing. We're kinda diggin' it at this point, it's big enough to be interesting and to have a good youth program but the people actually know each other and speak to each other after services, something that we haven't really found at most of the other churches we've attended. It is Church of Christ (which I was raised attending), but with a serious twist that I thought seperated us from the Baptists, they have music. I have NEVER heard of a C of C that had music in services, but I guess in this day and age and in this location, you have to compete with aaaall the non denom churches out there. They have a guitarist, a base guitarist, a percussionist (usually a bongo or box cajon which I had to look up to find out what it was) and sometimes a keyboardist. In addition, they also have a choir or sorts up on "stage" that consists of about 7 or 8 people with mics who lead the rest of the congregation in song. I'm pretty sure the song leader writes some of the songs they sing. They also sing some of the traditional church songs, which honestly are the only ones I feel compelled to sing because in my mind they are "church" songs and all the rest are just christian music. After I recovered from the shock of music in a C of C service, I decided to embrace it not to be offended by it, and I don't feel that I have to slink down in the pew for fear of going to hell because I'm engaging in un Church of Christ behavior (my own feelings, not something I was taught). The sign says Church of Christ, so we're all in it together.
There are some other things that go on at this church that are unfamiliar for me in a Church of Christ. They have an "Amen" pew. Now this title takes me back to my childhood of listening to Ray Stevens songs and the one about the squirrel who got loose in church. Feel free to sing it if you know it, and if you don't know it, google it and give it a listen you're in the south now. I was raised in what I thought was a semi "liberal" church. I say that because we listened to music and went to prom and all sorts of other things that some "purist/conservative" C of C members don't engage in, or so I've been told. We were taught that you went to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. On Wednesday night you were allowed to participate in a group discussion type class, onSunday night it was a more casual service, but on Sunday morning you were to go in, sit down, and shut up. There was no amening unless you seconded someone else saying it at the end of a prayer, you didn't blurt out "preach it" when the preacher was on a roll, and you certainly didn't clap or hold up your hands while you were singing because, well I'm not really sure why people do that last one, but you didn't do it "back in the day" as Henry would say. Things you were allowed to do during church were chewing gum as long as you didn't play with it, smack or stick it under the pew, color if you were a child, and ponder what restraunt you were going to eat dinner at if it wasn't already in the crock pot at home. You were also allowed to hope the preacher finished up in time for you to beat the Baptists to said restraunts, or ponder if your casserole waiting in the multi purpose room would still be hot in the event that you were having a potluck because eeeevery body knows there's only one thing Church of Christ people love more than softball and VBS, and that's a good potluck.
Given the afore mentioned "no nos", it's easy to see why this church confuses me a bit. They do all the things that I grew up not being allowed to do. Having said that, I still like the church and plan to attend there unless something really strange happens. If anyone starts speaking in tongues or floppin' around like a fish, I'm outta there! I also like that the preacher wears a mic so that you can hear him in the huge auditorium, and they have projectors and screens that show you what song to sing and also show the preacher during services in case you got there early and grabbed a back pew. That's a little C of C humor because everyone knows that the people who sit up front are either asking for prayers, or they got there late. I also like that they put a tag on your child and give you a matching tag that has to be matched up at pick up so that no one runs off with your kids. It is afterall a big church and crazies show up everywhere. In the event that you have a baby as we do, they give you a pager in case your kids starts to cry uncontrollably. That's handy too. I suppose that's really all I have on our church adventures for now, but if anything else happens I'll be sure to post about it. Oh, one more thing. They have a sewing group that is meeting on Saturday to make dresses for women in Honduras. I'm planning to attend if the lady calls me back about my RSVP.
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