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.

Don't Miss This Great Gospel Presentation!!! February 11, 2012, Last reminder!!! - 2/9/2012 8:15 pm

Five Myths About Youth/Young Adult Church Dropouts - 1/26/2012 11:04 pm

Eagle River Grace: Good Sermon and Prayers, But Not Guest Friendly - 1/24/2012 10:10 pm

Coming Feb. 11 - Steve Johnson’s “A Play for a Purpose: The Gospel According to John Mark” - 1/20/2012 4:22 pm

Why Are Anchorage Youth/Young Adults Deserting Church? Six Reasons - 1/13/2012 10:13 pm

Anchorage Moravian Church: Joyous & Sincere - 1/8/2012 11:33 pm

10 Things I’d Like Anchorage Churches to Tackle in 2012 - 1/1/2012 8:42 pm

Baxter Road Bible Church Ends “It’s Not Your Birthday” Giving Program Far Above Expectations! - 12/30/2011 11:33 am

Christmas Eve: Service Times Shown on Websites by Thoughtful Churches

The following Anchorage churches gave prominent attention to their Christmas Eve services on their websites. Times were easily seen on the first screen, often in striking ways. Thanks to these churches for this great community service! It is obvious they understand how the Internet is reshaping the way churches communicate with the public.

* Trinity Presbyterian - Awesome Webpage
* Cornerstone Church - Just Right & Tasteful
* Amazing Grace Lutheran
* City Church
* First Baptist Church
* Anchorage Grace
* Holy Family Cathedral
* First Presbyterian
* Community Covenant – Eagle River - Can't Miss It
* The Crossing - Birchwood - Wait For It
* Anchor Park UMC
* Christ Community Church
* Anchorage Bible Fellowship

In addition to event postings and display ads in the newspaper, webpage postings should be a “no-brainer”. Unfortunately, a Christmas Eve survey of many local church websites found either a single line of mention out of sight on a webpage or no mention at all. If your church is not listed above, you are probably in this category. I may have missed some churches, for which I apologize. I surveyed most of the churches I regularly visit and comment upon. Christmas Eve is one of the heaviest church attendance nights of the year. Why ignore drawing attention to it?

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