Worship

I was on the road driving during "church time" yesterday. I live in the South, and there is the tendency of people here to look at you like you are a horrible sinner if you're caught away from church on Sunday morning. I find myself falling into the category of people who church worship isn't appropriate for. For many years, I loved church. I liked the people I met there, the music, the message. After six years living in a highly socially liberal area, I find that I don't much like the people who go to church here. This is a generalization, so it doesn't apply to all churchgoers in this area.

I feel like that people who say "Have a Blessed day!" are trying to convince you of their piety. It grates on my nerves. I don't care about your piety. I'm more concerned about whether or not your a nice person. Piety does not equal nicety.

There are signs in people's yards and on their cars. They are mysterious in order to get you to visit their website or buy into their ideas. Everyone wants to display what church they are a part of. It feels like they are rubbing it in your face that they go to church. Going to church also does not equal being a nice person. 

These aren't people that I want to spend time with. I don't want to talk to them. I don't want to listen to them. I don't want to be near them. I don't want to be judged by them, because they seem to think that being pious and going to church are the things that make you worthwhile.

I still worship, even though I don't go to church. I look at the beautiful sunset and think how great is the power of God. I wonder at how perfectly the Earth was made in order to sustain life. I listen to the giggles of a two-year-old and think how wonderful it is to be that amazed by new things every time.

The world is my sacred space. Life is my worship. How do you worship?

A New Beginning

I'm going to church in the morning for the first time in nearly a year. Intellectually, I'm excited about it. I'm excited about blogging about it and telling people what I thought. I'm looking forward to thinking about religion/theology again.

Emotionally, I'm not very excited at all. I feel like I've forgotten how to dress for church, how I should act at church, and even the rituals. Of course, every different church has its own rituals. I really enjoy figuring out what the quirks of each particular church are, and I'm sure that the words will come back to me quickly enough. I don't feel the passion for church any more. I think that is really what I'm searching for.

I feel like I am going about this totally differently than I ever have before. In the past, I've always been hunting for a church home. I am now, but I don't expect to find one. I feel like I will never find a church that measures up to my last church. I'm not ruling it out, but I wonder where a place is for me in a very conservative geographical area. Where do the liberals go to church? Do they go to church at all? I don't know where to find them. That really is a question that those who churchsurf face: Where can I find the people like me?

What is Churchsurfing?

You might be wondering what churchsurfing is. Actually, I would be quite surprised if you did know what it is!

Churchsurfing is a term that one of my friends coined to describe what you do when you go hunting for a new church. You try out a church, feel out their specific doctrine, listen to their music, get to know the people, get an idea of what the church culture is like.

I live in a middle-sized city in Kentucky. I lived in Los Angeles for six years, so L.A. thoughts, attitudes, and moral standards crept into my way of thinking. The result is a liberal person in the fringes of the Bible belt. It makes it hard to find a church that suits me and vice versa.

I'm on a journey through the city, church by church. I'm determined to try out every church in the city, week by week. Hopefully by the end of it, I will have found a church that I can call home. Agree or disagree, I'm just one person. Let me know if you'd like me to visit your church!