Church visits

Visiting: As a student of religion, I've seen how various factors in a church visit affect spiritual growth and religious attitudes as one searches for a church home. I visit churches to observe, firsthand, how they present themselves to visitors. My visits, with a few exceptions, focus on Christian churches. This blog contains accounts of those visits, and related posts. I look for the following in my visits:
• Friendliness and warmth
• Genuine welcome, true Christian hospitality
• Effective, well-delivered bible-based main teaching
• Music deepening the worship, not just entertainment

Map to churches I have visited.
My email: churchvisits@gmail.com


Chris Thompson

Chris Thompson, an amateur biblical scholar and student of religions, is a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society for Biblical Literature (SBL). He enjoys AAR/SBL where he studies, first hand, with worldwide religious scholars. A management consultant, skilled in all aspects of 360-degree feedback programs and human resource management systems, he practices these skills as Workforce Consulting. He lives in Anchorage.

ON THE WEB

Google map with visited churches

As I visit churches, I'll post their locations on this map.

Why Are Churches Not Sharing Speaker Names/Topics in Advance? - 11/15/2009 6:47 pm

Central Lutheran: Warm and Caring - 11/3/2009 10:10 am

Anchorage Bible Fellowship: Not as Hidden Now - 10/28/2009 11:11 am

Anchorage Bible Fellowship: Hidden on Elmore - 10/18/2009 1:51 pm

Church Experiment Reduces Sanctuary Noise - 10/11/2009 9:59 am

St. John UMC: Evening Service Option #4 - 10/4/2009 5:03 pm

The Power of One - 9/26/2009 10:24 pm

ChangePoint: Evening Service Option #3 - 9/19/2009 8:59 pm

Cornerstone: 2nd Visit - Still Solid & Welcoming - 9/12/2009 10:21 am

Looking for a Service in Anchorage: A Drive-by Account - 9/5/2009 1:51 pm

Anchorage Church of Christ: Good Service...Welcome Needs Work - 8/29/2009 10:59 am

He’s Just ‘Alright’ - 8/21/2009 11:00 pm

Trinity's Community Caring Extends to Children With Special Needs - 8/14/2009 10:47 am

St. John UMC: A Bright Light In Special Needs Leadership - 8/6/2009 2:20 pm

Abbott Loop: 2nd Visit - Not Much Change - 7/31/2009 2:41 pm

Sunday Evening Church: Trinity Presbyterian's '7:07' - 7/23/2009 10:46 pm

Saturday Evening Church: Faith Christian Community - 7/17/2009 6:20 am

First CME: Underattended Gem on 36th - 7/9/2009 11:22 pm

Chapel of the Cross: "B Team" but Friendly - 7/3/2009 4:12 pm

Life Church: Lively & Honoring Fathers - 6/26/2009 5:08 pm

Hillside-O'Malley SDA Church: And the Lord Rested the Seventh Day... - 6/18/2009 11:18 pm

The Crossing @ Birchwood: A Work in Progress - 6/11/2009 8:11 pm

Church Experiment Reduces Sanctuary Noise

Comments (0) |

Many of the churches I've visited in the past 1 1/2 years are quite noisy in their sanctuary before the service. Occasionally I've commented on this. Recently I stopped by Trinity Presbyterian to check out their service. Finding the sanctuary doors closed, and a dark interior with few people seated, I queried Associate Pastor Tammy Letts about what might be happening. She explained they were experimenting with creating a more worshipful environment and attitude. The way they're doing this is by keeping the doors closed until the 10:30 a.m. service start time. Before that time, worshipers are free to go inside if they choose to do so. But it is into what is clearly a reverent environment. At 10:30 the doors are thrown open. The congregation enters to the joyful sound of music and the service commences.

To all those churches who already demonstrate reverence in their worship places, I say "good job"! To those churches experimenting to create a more reverent environment, I applaud your efforts. To those churches who are beset with irreverent noise, I urge you to visit other churches who are addressing this issue, and then experiment with your own solutions. The Lord says, "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." I've not noticed any significant background noise levels on previous Trinity visits but I'm always pleased to note when a church is continually striving to improve their worship environment and experience. Best wishes to Trinity for a successful continuation of this experiment.


By submitting your comment, you are agreeing to adn.com's user agreement.