Church visits : Third Sunday of Advent Begins Today

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

Contributors

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.

Third Sunday of Advent Begins Today

Posted by Chris Thompson

Posted: December 13, 2009 - 8:55 am

Many churches in Anchorage are celebrating the Third Sunday of Advent today. The first and second Advent candles will be relighted, and joined in lighting by the third Advent candle representing Joy. This meaningful ceremony does much to offset the pervasive commercial flavor Christmas has come to represent. In the simple act of candle lighting, Christians honor and look forward to the coming of the King, memorialized on Christmas Eve.