A Weekend in Amarillo

For a fun adventure Alex and I decided to spend a short weekend out in Amarillo, TX where his oldest brother and fam live. We had a good time catching up, hanging out, and actually visiting a church we could be comfortable in.

One highlight of our adventures was going to the open air production of  the play Texas, which takes place down in the Palo Duro canyon. It’s a fun and well produced play about romance and life in the old west days. The backdrop of the canyon wall and the fresh air certainly makes it the most charming of experiences.

We also enjoyed some good rounds of playing the tabletop game of Pathfinder. I’m still figuring out the game but I have managed to not die yet! We are a group of elves investigating the lack of contact from a foreign city to our king, but we are currently sidetracked looking into a mysterious explosive that fell from the sky. Game play accompanied by some amazing homemade chocolate chip cookies. Yum.

Overall a fun weekend, but I’m glad to be home and catching up on sleep.

The Pains of Church Shopping

Due to a number of issues coming to light at the church which we thought would easily be our church home (the one which Alex had been going to for several years), we realized we needed to start searching the area for a new place to attend on Sunday mornings. We had both rather lucked out as far as church’s go in our lives before this and are rather new to the whole experience.

Let me tell you, it can be frustrating.

Some of it is very good and deepens our understanding of church. The experience gives us the opportunity to really examine what the Bible calls a church to be. How much consideration must be given to the individual elements of teaching, worship, outreach, and community? Where can we accept non-optimal standards in these areas? (Acknowledging that all churches are flawed and a perfect church doesn’t exist to be found).

What is frustrating is when you think you have set good Biblical standards but there is not a church to be found that satisfies them. It has weighed on me. Conversations have centered on which church we have visited is the least worst. I have gritted my teeth and walked into worship services where I watched people act like they were at a concert. I have shared questioning glances with Alex as we listen to sermons that often are just terribly underwhelming if not slightly off. There do not seem to be many other options to try, and the fact starts becoming more clear that we might have to temporarily settle with something we aren’t very content with, always waiting for the rise of a better church that we can run to.

And other questions arise. How do we connect with a church if we feel like we’re only using it as a temporary placeholder until something better comes along? We cannot find a single church that is paedobaptist. While this isn’t an issue in our current lives, a few years down the road when we decide to have kids, how do we practice what we believe is a Biblicaly mandated sacrament?

I’m saddened by this state. My heart longs for a place we could happily settle and get our fill of good teaching and worship. It is hard to have to brace myself for whatever might happen every time we walk through church doors on Sunday. And it is worrisome that we have quickly run out of options.

Until a resolution, Alex works hard to make sure we get the teaching we need. We read the Bible and pray together every night, and we listen to one or two sermons to supplement that. He also takes the search for a new church very seriously, and leads us so well in visiting and analyzing churches and searching out the right answer for us. I’m so lucky and grateful to have him.