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June 2012 Moms
allisonmarie22
member
Totally traumatized at church today... (long)
allisonmarie22
member
So, 10 years ago I moved away from my hometown and since I moved away the thing I've missed most (other than my mom) is my church. I have been pumped for weeks about getting back into church, Bible study and choir.
Well...this morning I woke up at 6am so filled with anticipation for my first day back at church. I got ready and drove there still so excited. I got there early and saw so many old friends.
OK, let me just say that I don't judge anyone's decision on how they choose to worship I consider myself fairly contemporary when it comes to my worship preferences. I am Baptist, and when I left my church we had quite a few contemporary elements in our service, but we still had a choir and a more traditional preacher.
However, I was NOT prepared for the shock of what I encountered this morning.
1) Choir is gone. There is a Worship Leader and a 6 member praise team. The "praise team" are absolutely nothing but his backup singers.
2) The music was SO loud that my head was pounding after 10 minutes, and I am NOT a wuss when it comes to loud music. My babies were kicking me so hard that I'm convinced they were trying to beat their way out to get away from the insanely loud noise.
3) The Worship Leader is a total showboat. I'm convinced that he thinks he's playing a concert every Sunday morning instead of leading worship. It was out of control (again, the Praise Team are only backup singers). I was side eyeing him so badly that I gave myself a headache
4) The preacher was wearing sneakers, ratty jeans and a wrinkled sweater (new pastor...our old pastor was a suit and tie guy and even if he wasn't at least he didn't come looking like he just rolled out of bed).
Anyway, again...there's nothing WRONG with what I encountered. It just wasn't for me. At all. I left 20 minutes before service was over and just cried in my car in the parking lot. I know that sounds silly, but hey...I'm hormonal.
I'm just so disappointed and I hate that I don't think I'm going to be able to adjust. I feel that over the last 10 years all of the changes have happened gradually but since I have been away for SO long I was just shocked too much by what seemed like a bunch of drastic changes hitting me all at once.
Oh well...time to look for a new church I guess. 
Thanks for listening to my rant. Well, it was more of a pity party really...
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Totally traumatized at church today... (long)
It sucks when you anticipate one thing, and you get another. I hate that. And it sucks even more when pregnant because the hormones just kick up even more.
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I don't think its horrible at all that you want to find another church. I think part of the reason there ARE so many churches is because its not a one size fits all kind of deal.
I hope you find one that you enjoy soon!
That sucks.
I also started going back to church. I didn't think it was possible to find one where I live that I actually would like, but I did. It's a baptist church too, and I've only been to Lutheran services previously. I love it. It's very casual, and the pastor seems like a really great guy. The church band is ok.
I'm sure you'll find something you enjoy!
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That's really disappointing! I hope there are other options where you are, but I know visiting and trying to find a new church can be kind of stressful too. Good luck!
On a side note, I'm convinced the worship band this morning really woke my baby up too (not sure if she liked it or not but she became quite active :-) )
We've been visiting churches for what feels like forever. One of the churches we visited was like what you described. They had huge video screens showing the stage and I'm pretty sure the worship leader was more into looking at himself in the screen than he was leading worship.
It's been really hard for us to find a church that has traditional elements with a small bit of contemporary built in. We find one extreme or the other. Good luck with your search. There's a church home out there for you.
Oh, I can just imagine how disheartening that was! I am so sorry! I have been through a couple of sort-of similar experiences b/c my DH's family tends to like more charismatic churches than I am used to. We walked into one once that was set up so much like a TV talk show that I expected Oprah to preach the sermon. Whew!
I hope that you are able to find a church that feels more like home. I am struggling with finding a church that DH and I both feel comfortable in. Mostly, the struggle is getting DH into the church. (Sigh!) My heart and prayers go to you in your own struggle.
That stinks. Finding a church is rough, but there is something out there for you. We are moving in a month, and I think the thing I am going to miss most about where we live now is our church.
Here's hoping you find a church home soon.
That's sad.. I can't imagine how you must have felt. I love the church I used to go to, so I know what it's like to feel like there's not another one that is comparable. & then you get back to the one you love so much & it's not even the same.
Sorry, Allison. I wish there was something that could remedy the situation. I feel bad.
Elonah [3], Bentley [1]