Going to church

This morning, I woke up and had a hard time deciding what to wear.  Today, for the first time in five years, I went to church without being a pastor serving a parish.  For five years, I’ve planned my Sunday morning outfits around a clergy shirt, and this morning, I didn’t do that.  I wore a dress and Adam and I went to a church that we’ve never attended before.  Since I’ve helped to plan and known what is going on in worship just about every Sunday for the past five years, it was new to walk into a sanctuary without knowing what the songs or even the readings would be.

When the pastor made the announcements, I didn’t know any of the people he mentioned, and no one knew who I was.  I was reminded, in a way that I haven’t been for a long time, that it takes courage to walk into a new congregation for worship.  People will sometimes compare church to a family, but what if you don’t feel part of that family?  Sometimes it can feel like you are sitting on the sidelines of someone else’s family reunion.  You don’t know the people, or what is happening next.  Since it has been my job to know these things for a long time, I can only imagine what other people feel like when they walk into a new congregation.

It gives me a great deal of compassion for people who are willing to take the risk of showing up in a new place, allowing themselves to feel vulnerable and open to what they might experience.  It’s not an easy thing to do.  And yet, it is a good thing to do.  Because going to church, going to worship, is not all about me and how comfortable I may or may not feel.  It’s not about how much I like the songs that we sing or the people I meet.  It is about God, who goes above and beyond all the people gathered for worship, making us into a community and a body even if we don’t know each other at all.  It is about a human need to connect with something that is bigger than we are, something that started before we were born and will continue long after we are gone. 

So it was good to go to church today.  Afterwards, we went to brunch and sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous morning.  We bought a Sunday paper and went home and took a bike ride.  (And now I am tired and sore from the hills that we perhaps over-ambitiously tackled, but like going to church, going on this bike ride was a good thing!)

What makes something a good thing to do?  Does it have to do with your personal comfort or fulfillment—or that of others—or is it some of both?  Maybe it has to do with other criteria—because it is the right thing to do, or it simply seems good to you, or…?  Do you go to church?  Why or why not?