As
we left the beautiful red doors of church number one I was pleasantly surprised
that I was not disappointed by the service. In actuality, I was surprised how
inviting the church was among other things. I think it helped that it was sunny
and 60 for the first time in months. It also helps that the town of Sandwich is
a quaint Cape Cod town. How did we get here?
It
did not start with a new house (but it did end there). No, it started with the
fact that driving to Attleboro every Sunday just became too far and too time
consuming. In fact, Attleboro is not even the closest Evangelical Covenant
Church to our house in Wareham. Except, we had already established a
relationship with the church before moving down to Wareham, and it was not that
much further than the other Covenant churches that were a little closer.
The
idea of actually becoming a part of the church was just not possible from that
far away. Additionally, with the looming of a baby on board (along with
gasoline prices escalating again) we knew we had to switch churches. It was
nice to go on Sunday morning, but simply impossible to go any other day of the
week. We decided to look for a collection
of churches near our new home. We came up with eight churches in Plymouth and
Sandwich. Later, the list was cut to seven because one of the churches had
mentioned only supporting men in leadership on their website.
Over
the next several weeks we will be going from church to church trying to find a
home. I won’t be giving out specific church names or denominations until the
end, but hints will be in each blog. The series will go eight weeks (I’ll have
to find an additional church to make it eight again). However, the series could
end or be extended if we find a church or if the eight weeks are not enough.
Church
1
It
was a warm sunny day in Sandwich on Sunday. It made it easy to walk to the
small New England church from the side street where we had parked the car. We
could see the big red doors of the entrance as we crossed the street to the
church.
We
walked in to see that the procession of clergy were making their way to the
front for the beginning of church. Everyone was singing the first song. A
simple wrong turn to the church had made us a minute too late. The church
obviously started right on time. After the procession went past we (and a few
others that did not quite make it on time) stepped into the sanctuary to find
our seats.
From
the beginning it was obvious and no surprise that this was high church, with
strong emphasis on liturgical worship. This didn’t faze either of us. Well, not
until I was singing along with the first hymn and noticed that there were no
titles in the hymnal. Finding this peculiar I moved on.
On
to the sermon. The sermon can be make-it or break-it with me. In this
circumstance I was not persuaded either way. The pastor gave great examples of
faith and one not so good example, Augustus Caesar. It wasn’t gripping with
theological problems, but it didn’t get me off my seat in awe. All in all it
was good.
At
the end was communion. Not just communion, but communion with a wafer. It was
different and not how I would do it. However, they do have communion each week,
which is missed out, even in most Covenant churches. At the end of the service
we had a very friendly couple come up to us and talk for a few minutes. This as
well does not happen in many churches. A welcome sign from a welcoming church.
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