Village Church

I went down to the service at the local church this morning. They have a "trendy" 9:30 service and a "traditional" 12:00 service. Normally the cleaning here takes all morning so last Sunday the other helper and and I, both in our 20s, went to the 12:00, and dramatically changed both the size and average age of the congregation. I didn't mind the service - yes it was traditional, but sometimes that offers a certain familiarity and with that comes a degree of comfort. A good, thinky, sermon and some hymns I recognised sung in the same slightly-too-slow whisper that you could easily find in many a church. What took me was that we were told with great vigour that there is a 9:30 service which is much more modern and that's the one all the young people go to. I'm still not entirely sure what to make of that. I'm still a major cynic, you see.

So today I (alone) made it to the earlier service (tired, soggy and hungry having really slept in, thrown on my cleanest clothes and jumped on a bicycle in the rain) mostly to see what all the fuss is about. I also feel like I ought to find myself a church if I'm going to be here for any length of time, which I am.

Whenever I find myself at a church which isn't (yet!) my own, I find myself thinking as if I was a "mystery worshipper"*. I've never been one, but I spend too much time lurking around this particular corner of the internet. But I got over that feeling quite quickly. *http://www.shipoffools.com/mystery/index.html

A few people gave me that sideways glance that means you've been spotted and you look new and strange, but I introduced myself to the poor couple that happened to be nearest. The service itself was lovely, songs I know and love and a good little preach, even if the poor guy looked petrified. Today we were comparing God's gifts to different types of cake. These people know how to relate to me. There was a sense of that awkwardness that sometimes comes with the CofS trying to be cool to attract precious young people, but I think it was coming from a genuine Godly place, so I'll try and get past it.

What I find harder, even at my own church where I know people, is the hanging around, drinking tea, talking to strangers part. Always makes me feel slightly socially inept, but I stayed afterwards and tried anyway. I got the impression this is somewhere that sees a lot of summer visitors, welcomes them gladly, but doesn't get too attached. I think part of this comes from being somehow associated with an outdoor activity centre nearby. One which may be a Christian thing, or just seems to attract a lot of Christians. I really ought to google it and know these things before the next time I rock up there. I just feel like it might take a while for the local established regulars to accept someone new.

The verdict - no-one's perfect and neither is this place, but it comes pretty close so I'll give it my best shot. This means I will have to shout down my cynical, unforgiving, what-do-they-want-from-me? inner voice and make a concerted effort, week in and week out to get to know these guys and become part of the community for the time I'm here.