I've had a few seemingly anti-church posts lately, so here's what I like about my church.
1) Diversity in worship music.
My church is good about having a balance of songs by different artists and even from different time periods. There are weeks when we might do some of the same songs, but it's still a mix of songs. We've been known to start with "Blessed Be Your Name" or "God of Wonders" and then go into "Jesus Paid It All" or "Be Thou My Vision" after announcements. I've learned a lot of the old hymns during my past two years at Calvary Chapel.
2) Bible study methods.
"This stuff isn't seeker-friendly, but it's in the Bible, so we'll look at it." My college pastor said those words one Sunday night as we were studying chapters 18 and 19 of Genesis. His words seem to serve as a summary of the Bible study style used at Calvary. I like going right through the books of the Bible verse by verse and chapter by chapter. I've been able to learn more and have found stories I never knew existed through this style.
Last but definitely not least...
3) The people I've met.
They're great people. Enough said.
What do you like about your church?
Comments (17)
It smells good!
The one in my hometown:
1.) Father follows the pope and Vatican.
2.) The pastor's passionate stance for life. It's caused quite a stir in our small community but church attendance has risen since this priest has been transfered to our church.
The one I am a member of:
1.) It's pretty.
2.) Follows the Vatican.
3.) Less passionate than the other one but still loving in a calm way.Â
I love my church. it is like my second home. I grew up there. literally. my mother was pregnant with me when she started going there.
I love my pastors and the word they bring. I love the worship and dance ministry. when I visit other churches I miss them. :)
I went to a big church for awhile, but I found it really intimidating and couldn't get to know anyone, but I feel really pumped after every meeting and I love the music.
Now I go to a small church, and I knew everyone there, but the sermons feels dry and unmotivating... and there are about 6 - 12 people in each services.
=S
1. The preaching of the word is taken very seriously. As is Christ crucified for the remission of sins.
2. The sacraments are administered and taken in high regard.
3. It's a very mission focused church. Orphans and church planting are it's focus.
4. Correct doctrine is taught.
5. The members come together in a truly special way when someone is suffering. An amazing thing to see!
My church: www.glasgowchurch.com
I like it because its small and my youth group is the best :)
i like my church and i dont like my church. i like my church because we are always getting new people and people are always pregnant and we always have babies in the church im not kidding like right now we have 6 people pregnant and one of them is pregnant with twins so yea i also like it because we have a good pastor and a good college and career group there. i dont like it because it is very traditional. we sing hymns never worship songs not once have i ever sang a worship in either of my churches that i have gone to. i love worship songs. second reason i dont like them is that they are a lot of old people and well old people just scare me and third is that they are very judgemental like if a guy that had a green mohawk and tattoos all over him or her came in like i bet you 100 percent that they would talk to them and i would be the only doing that because i dont judge
because it's a place that i can go to worship and i love how the priest preaches.
1. I love Jesus Christ and I love the Eucharist, that I can encounter the full and complete (albeit mysterious) Christ every single day.
2. I love partaking in a two-thousand year tradition established by Christ through St. Peter and the Apostles and maintained by their successors.
3. I love all seven sacraments; I could not imagine life without them, and I love the way in which they are celebrated.
4. I love the saints.
5. I love religious life and the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
6. I love that my priest is 110% dedicated to me and sacrifices his life to make himself available to the work Christ wants to do through him.
7. I love the universality of the Church, that I can go to a Catholic Mass anywhere in the world and participate fully and understand what is going on regardless of the language.
8. I love that the Bible is proclaimed at every Mass.
10. I love the vast treasury of prayers, devotions and spiritual writings available to me.
11. I love the Pope!!
12. I love having so much in common with over 1 billion people in the world and being baptized into a heritage that is not only heavenly, but is one passed on to me by some of the most amazing people history has ever known, from St. Peter and the apostles to St. Augustine, from St. Joan of Arc to Blessed Mother Theresa, St. Thomas More, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Therese of Lisieux... don't get me started!
13. OK I'd better stop... basically everything in this video, too:
http://www.catholicscomehome.org/epic/epic120.phtml
My church follows the Bible and what the Bible teaches. How can you get any better than that?!
@Ancient_Scribe@xanga - Amen, agreed! on all points (even, though more removed for me, #5)! I would have to say that my joy in going to church as a pre-Catholic Christian seems almost empty in comparison to the joy that came after converting, and even illuminates it with its hindsight; the Eucharist is the epitome of Christianity.
Furthermore, it's so wonderful and even relieving that my criteria for a 'good church' or 'good worship' doesn't have to be 'my' criteria, me versus Christianity (full of all those misunderstanding sinners and tax-collectors underneath me); it is a criteria beyond my own self. It's furthermore relieving that 'good church' and 'good worship' doesn't have to do with the mathematical sum of works-based human efforts and emotionally-moving productions. A good church (as far as internal function) is one that celebrates the ancient, sacred mysteries; and the Mass is good worship.
And strangely enough, even though this is 'my' criteria for what is 'good', us bunch of papists, even so my local church somehow manages to be a community of believers! And we manage to help the poor, visit the sick, teach the Bible, worship God, etc. Strangely enough.
I used to go to a very small church that was radically diverse, for such a small congregation.
Now I go to a big Church with hundreds of twenty-somethings who all dress super hip and look pretty and thin and rant about social justice. There's a handful of homeless guys, who I've gotten to know well. I've slowly gotten to know others in the congregation, but its difficult. Although at times the Pastor's sermons are too obviously influenced by the Barna group, they are still powerful, sound, and refreshing.
So I suppose what I like about my Church is ... it is close to my house and they run a homeless shelter.
I'm still kind of new to the church I go to, since I only moved here a few months ago. Here are a few reasons why, after much church shopping, my boyfriend and I picked the one we're at:
1.) Good music. The worship band is well rehearsed, and the sound system is run well and up to date. Yes, these are things I look for in a church, because, as someone who has worked in live music for several years, it becomes quite a distraction when I can hear what the band or the sound guy is doing wrong and I can't help fix it.
2.) Sunday evening service. My boyfriend is a paid sound guy at a church in a different town, but he doesn't feel like that church is his home, so we had to look for a church that provided a Sunday evening service that we could both go to. Lucky for us, we found one!
3.) Relevant messages. One of the reasons my boyfriend and I don't feel a connection to the church he works for is that the messages don't really resonate with us, and the preaching style feels forced and unorganized. The pastor at the church we've been going to is really young, but he is very good at presenting the message in a way that is easy to understand and resonates with my life.
I like my church for several reasons:
1. Their music. A lot of churches I've heard of have older, slower music. The first church I went to, on Sunday, I did not enjoy the music. The lyrics were nice, of course. However, I did not enjoy the tunes. I found it hard to enjoy the music because it felt so old and slow. My new church is more Christian rock. I enjoy the lyrics AND the sound.
2. The people. They actually make me feel welcome. At my old church it felt so separated, and people only talked to me if I talked to them. At my new church people welcome me, and actually know my name.
3. Coffee. We have a coffee house in our church. It's free. You can donate if you wish, and the donations go to helping those in need in the town and other countries. They also have a coffee shop across town, and all the money goes to as said above.
@Amyseen@xanga - "It smells good!" I like this one the best & comes very close to saying it all!!! Fascinating!
The congregation we are a part of is very very different (in doctrine/teaching) from our very fundamental exclusivistic religious background. In fact, there are some basic things doctrinally that I just can't 'buy'. The preaching/teaching style is not my 'bag' either. But despite these fairly basic differences & not so basic differences, we are accepted and loved--We are there not because they have everything 'right' (there are several things that I think could be improved upon), but because we have been very much accepted and loved---these people know of our stances & allow us to 'voice' them from time to time in appropriate settings. In fact, I have been entrusted (and honored) with the privelege of teaching a weekly Bible class for the last 2 years and on occasions I have been permitted to speak before the congregation---there is that much trust that I will not abuse what they have entrusted to me & that is a wonderful thing!!! This means alot to us!! LAW--
Maybe ask why does your Church like you....
Its small, I know the whole dozen, we can build intimacy more easily, we have no financial overhead for a building.