Church-Scouting Testimony

You can tell a lot about a church from its sign out front: “You think it’s hot here? Beat the heat with Jesus.” Or, “God is as big as you make him.” Or, “Islam and the West.”

I only remember where–at a Unitarian Universalist church–I saw one of the above quips (Can you guess which?), but each is revealing. Hellfire and brimstone avoidance, divine creation (best perfomed after looking at self reflections in bowls of mushy Lucky Charms), intellectual complexities of abstraction… Where might one find a home?

One of the biggest downers about our upcoming move is leaving behind our beloved church. It’s small, with people of many backgrounds and persuasions, with good music, with supportive friends, with opportunities to contribute. It’s the only one of the denomination around, too, whereas we’re moving to the Megatropolis (note the capital M) of denominational sogginess and–my new word here–perflusivity.

Figuring out how to find our place in church among the denominational repletion in our new hometown is going to take time, and a lot of tentative scouting. I’ve decided, for starters, to look for a few key elements in the churches we visit, such as these:

1. No territorial flags, U.S. or otherwise. Unless, perhaps, they’re all there.
2. No crosses. I don’t worship the cross.
3. Good music. Accapela. In parts.
4. Friendly people. We’re toying with the idea of repeat attending a church for as many times as we’re invited home for lunch afterwards.
5. Down-to-earth sermonizing with an ear to the real world.
6. Potlucks. Lots. But only on Sundays when we’re not otherwise invited to lunch.