What I like about you

I know I come off as a pretty negative person sometimes (cynical, sarcastic, jaded, rebellious and questioning, too). And here on my blog it can seem that all I do is complain about my church. Some of this is my nature to poke at things - "Why can't this be better?" Computer programmers are a seldom-satisfied bunch, which is why software is always changing as developers try improving it (and sometimes succeed). But I can end up being too much of a downer if I let myself just wallow in all of that, and as I wrote recently, I think we owe God enthusiasm - a lot of it. So it is fair to ask, "But gee, Jim, if your church dissatisfies you that much and you don't feel it will change, why don't you just leave?" Fair question. Beyond my own dislike for "church shopping" I decided to ask that question to myself in another way: "Can I name three things I like about my church?" Luckily, I can.

1. The focus of all preaching and teaching at our church is Jesus, the cross, the resurrection and the sacrament of communion. Period. Every single sermon always comes back to our Lord and Savior and what He has done for us through grace and how we are a part of Him and His purpose for the world. Let me repeat it, because it gets repeated to me every week: Jesus, the cross, the resurrection and communion.
2. The congregation is genuinely friendly. If you show up as a newcomer, you will be noticed and greeted by lots of people. This is what attracted us in the first place, because the church we were attending and where my wife grew up has gotten very large and cold and we wanted somewhere we could fit in, not just be "lost in the crowd". If you like a church that's welcoming then you'd like our church.
   
3. They put up with a tiny third service that obviously isn't a "moneymaker" or attendance draw. We go to a "contemporary" service with live music at 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. But the music isn't what's important. Besides the schedule being more amenable to us, the thing we like about it is it is small and intimate - a normal 5:00 service is 30 people, a big gathering would be 50. A few times it's dipped to 20, which is about the number of people involved in the music and lights and sound and their families. Compare that with the traditional service at 8:00 a.m. that typically draws 300 or so, and the more family-oriented service at 10:30 a.m. with 150 on average. Many of the people who attend the 5:00 service have already attended one of the others as well, so not only are the numbers small but in the sense of drawing in people who otherwise might not attend (like us) it is really sort of a miserable failure. But the pastor keeps it going and the elders let him. Thank God. I like the "country church" feel of it and of getting to know everyone in it over time.

There. That wasn't so hard! :o)

Consider this a meme if you wish. If you attend a church (traditional, house church, pub church, whatever), name three things you genuinely like about it. If you don't have a place you call "church" right now then name three things that if you see them in a gathering will tell you that you've finally found what you're looking for. I will leave the paid professionals out of the tagging (although you can join if you wish) and nominate the following to participate:

• Tina ('bout time she started blogging again :-)
• Chris ('cause he seems happy with his church)
• Erin (who may have found what she is looking for)
• Glenn (who may be creating something soon; I want to hear what he wants it to be like)
• John (just to get him off reviewing French theologians for a bit :-)

Looking forward to reading your replies! If you pass it along, please link back to here.