Standards

I've been trying to figure out how to phrase this. I suppose I'll just start from the beginning.

I remember going to church as a kid where you wore your church dress and there was a choir and church was church. You went there to learn, be fed with the Word of God, and filled with the joy of being in Christ.

I was a kid, though, and that memory is a stale 10 years old. Today you find more bands than choirs and I'm thrilled when I can wear a pair of jeans on a Sunday instead of scrounging around for a nice skirt (I wouldn't normally mind wearing a skirt but I have something along the lines of folliculitis and my legs look a mess). Never-the-less, despite the changes, I still go to church on Sundays to be fed. Finding a church up here was a bit easier for Jo and I because my pastor's older brother teaches up here, so we switch off with his church (non-denominational) and an episcopal church (for Jo) every other week. So far, I've been fairly cool with going to his church because he was very nice to us when we introduced ourselves and he's had a few good talks with Jo, who likes to discuss religion much more than I do. Also, this church is relaxed, just like my pastor's from home, so I felt like the transition went fairly smoothly. However, today kind of threw me off guard.

For a moment, stop to ponder this: where do you draw the line at how relaxed a church is? I'm not talking beliefs but what specifically is or is not allowed of the congregation.

My pastor's brother's church is housed in an old movie theater and it is what I would call "a mega church." It has a large congregation and I'm not surprised that I hardly recognize any regulars because I A) am there every other week and B) have only been a couple of times due to trips home. When Jo and I walked in today, the worship service had just begun so we searched for seats and other people arrived and sat around us until the whole place was fairly full. Normally, I hardly pay any attention to the people around me because I'm there to learn but, today, the guy sitting on my left definitely caught my eye to the point where I was distracted by him for most of the service.

Let me begin with this by mentioning that this church, like my pastor's, has a coffee shop, so I'm used to seeing at least half of the congregation sitting with hot or cold coffee in the cup holders. The guy sitting on my right had brought his own water bottle and that had no effect on me. What began to irritate me a little was when he decided to pull out a power bar and proceed to ear it fairly loudly, twisting the wrapper down so it made that horrible crinkly sound. I nudged Jo and we both smiled in an agreement of "how weird" and then I went back to listening. 5-10 minutes later, I was distracted again by heavy breathing and, looking to my left, I saw that he had begun to fall asleep. OK, I admit, I will get sleepy in church at times but I have never permitted myself to actually fall asleep because I feel it is very disrespectful to your pastor as well as to God, so I was slightly annoyed by this. Especially by the fact that he woke up, dozed off, woke up, and dozed off again. Sighing to myself, I returned my attention to the pastor.

Then I heard it. The crinkle of light plastic. I looked over to see him reaching into a bag of Jelly Belly's that a girl (daughter/sister?) was holding out for him. At that point, I was done. "What are you doing?" I wanted to say to him. "This isn't a lecture. This is church. You're snacking through church! Did you not eat breakfast or lunch? Excuse me?"

I realize that this may sound a bit harsh (and mom and I have already had this chat so I know exactly how she feels) but this kind of turned me off of the church. I mean, my pastor's church was probably the most relaxed church I've been to but no one snacks in there. And people there stand up and worship without needing the band telling them to. What are these people afraid of? I'm not just talking about a few people, either. I mean BIG theater seating. And, when the band was finished playing a song that seemed to be a local favorite or a hit, half of the congregation clapped. Excuse me? This isn't a concert. This is worship service! This band is playing to lead us in worship, not perform their favorite songs for our enjoyment. This shouldn't bug me but, honestly, I feel that a lot of standards and traditions have gone down the drain. If I didn't disagree so much with most of the Catholic doctrine, I would become Catholic because I feel like basic church standard is gone. Eating during church. Sleeping during church. Next thing you know, people will be texting on their cell phones, bringing their laptops, and answering phone calls.

I realize that the people shouldn't judge a church on it's congregation but doesn't a congregation reflect the church? I pondered this with Jo all the way back to my apartment because this was something that bugged him as well. And we've decided that this church has received a little check in our "black book". If I didn't adore the pastor and his brother so much, I'd be researching new churches before next Sunday to visit. However, due to the beliefs of my mom that, if I feel that I am being fed properly, that I should keep going, I've decided to give it another chance.

I want to throw these thoughts out there to all of you. I'm curious for a response as to what you think about current church standards and whether or not you think I'm out of line. Honestly. Give me your thoughts. Don't hold back. Not today.