Finally Going Back to Church!

[TopazRaven]

So tomorrow I should finally be going back to church! I don't know why I feel the need to post a thread about this, I guess I'm just excited. It's been about 8 years since I've stepped foot in one! I'm also pretty nervous though. I know, it doesn't make any sense to be afraid of going to church. I guess I'm just afraid the people there won't like me and will judge me and my mother. I'm still very sensitive being new to Christianity and all, ok so I'm just overly sensitive to begin with... Whenever someone doesn't agree with me on some of my beliefs and acts all judgmental towards me I feel really bad inside. I just hope I'll be accepted is all. It probably doesn't help that I'm pretty anti-social either. I have mini anxiety attacks whenever I know I have to meet new people.

Meanwhile, ignoring my strange issues for now, since I have been away from church for so long I guess I don't really know what to expect. I have a terrible memory and can't remember much about my younger years there, we are returning to my childhood church. Is there anything I should be looking out for? Any advice anyone can give me? Lol, I know, I probably seem like a weirdo right now.

Edit: Also, while I'm at it, I'm a bit confused. There appears to be three different services.

8:30 AM Traditional Worship Service in the Chapel
9:30 AM Sunday School for All Ages
10:00 AM Celebration (Contemporary) Service

Does anyone know what each of these means? Like which one should I be going to? My mom insist on the 10:00, I guess because she doesn't want to get up to early. xD

[Peanut]

Edit: Also, while I'm at it, I'm a bit confused. There appears to be three different services.

8:30 AM Traditional Worship Service in the Chapel
9:30 AM Sunday School for All Ages
10:00 AM Celebration (Contemporary) Service

Does anyone know what each of these means? Like which one should I be going to? My mom insist on the 10:00, I guess because she doesn't want to get up to early. xD

Actually it looks like there are only two. I'd suggest the 10 AM one unless you like Hymns.

[K. Ayato]

Peanut's right. The traditional style usually means they have hymns for worship.

[Dante]

Yes, 10AM is going to be geared more towards your age group, like Christian Rock. Traditional will just be singing hymns (maybe with an organ if you're lucky) that are... well... traditional (they date back to Martin Luther if I'm correct). But yeah, contemporary is better. And if you don't like it there, if you're looking for a church, there are others... most are rather similar... but there are others.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Hymns dating back to Martin Luther? Possibly. Our traditional Lutheran churches have hymnals with some songs dating back to 900AD. Yeah. Makes Shakespeare seem easy-to-read.

[TopazRaven]

Oh alright, thanks guys. 10:00 it is then!

[Atria35]

Don't worry about people judging you. Churches generally WANT new people to come to them!

But don't worry if you don't think that the church you've chosen isn't necessarily for you- that's okay, and something that even seasoned churchgoers deal with. There's always another church.

[Lynna]

I hope everything goes well for you!!

[aliveinHim]

That's amazing that you're going back to church! I love church, I'm sure you will too!

[Dante]

So how did it go?

[TopazRaven]

To say the least, awkward. The website had the wrong times posted and we walked in half-way through a service. It was so embarrasing! Apparantly the times are 9:30 - 10:30 for Contemperary and 11 - 12 for traditional. Me and my mother noticed the service was already started before we even entered the building because we could hear the singing. We stood outside with a loss as for what to do, looking around despretly to see if we could find signs posted anywhere with the times. A lady came out and got us and told us to join them even though we where late. They claimed we weren't late and it was fine, but come on man. It started at 9:30. We got there at around 10.

None the less, as I said, I haven't been to church in 8 years so I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a lot of singing and I kind of stood there awkwardly because I'm very shy and I don't like singing. It's worshipping God so I know I need to. I'll try harder next time. I panicked at first because I thought it was all singing. After about 2 songs we sat down and then we did this thing where some people where asking for a prayer, someone wrote it down and then we all prayed together. Then the pastor gave her service. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. That wasn't a problem at all. I'm just an awkward person. Anyway, we are going to try the traditional this coming weekend to see which we like better.

[Atria35]

^ Nothing says that you HAVE to sing. Don't if you don't want to. I know that I can't sing- I don't bother because I want the people next to me to like me.

But you might want to inform someone that the times are wonrg- there might have been other people put off by that.

[ChristianKitsune]

To say the least, awkward. The website had the wrong times posted and we walked in half-way through a service. It was so embarrasing! Apparantly the times are 9:30 - 10:30 for Contemperary and 11 - 12 for traditional. Me and my mother noticed the service was already started before we even entered the building because we could hear the singing. We stood outside with a loss as for what to do, looking around despretly to see if we could find signs posted anywhere with the times. A lady came out and got us and told us to join them even though we where late. They claimed we weren't late and it was fine, but come on man. It started at 9:30. We got there at around 10.

None the less, as I said, I haven't been to church in 8 years so I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a lot of singing and I kind of stood there awkwardly because I'm very shy and I don't like singing. It's worshipping God so I know I need to. I'll try harder next time. I panicked at first because I thought it was all singing. After about 2 songs we sat down and then we did this thing where some people where asking for a prayer, someone wrote it down and then we all prayed together. Then the pastor gave her service. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. That wasnt a problem at all. I'm just an awkward person. Anyway, we are going to try the traditional this coming weekend to see which we like better.

I know "Seasoned" church goers that still come to services late, I wouldn't worry about it ^_^/

Glad it was a decently okay experience!

[K. Ayato]

Don't stress yourself about singing. If you don't know the words or just don't want to sing, take that time to focus on the message of the lyrics and the voices around you. You can still worship that way .

[Rusty Claymore]

Well, if they were operating on CST (Church standard time) you probably arrived just after they started. XD
About the singing bit, I've attended church my whole life and I don't sing a lot of the songs. It hurts my throat if I really try to do it right, and even then I sound awful! So to remedy that I play bass for one of the worship teams and work in the sound booth. XD

I know "Seasoned" church goers that still come to services late

Yeah yeah yeah, that's just a polite way of calling us "Old and salty". XD

[TopazRaven]

Ok, thanks everyone. I feel a little better now. I'm interested in seeing what it will be like next week. The people all seemed so nice and friendly. Though I'm not sure if the same people will be there or not considering we'll be going to a different service. Lol, it was kind of funny. Me and my mom hid in the back and during the break everyone was coming up to us to shake our hands and say hi. We're so anti-social. xD

[Lynna]

Then the pastor gave her service.

Oh cool! It was a Female Pastor then? I must confess, having been to the same church for most of my life, I've never seen one XD
Anyways, Don't worry about being late! Just today, we were having a potluck, and we came late, and nearly everyone else had finished eating XD We actually feel very accomplished when we come to church on time
Hope next week goes well too!

[TopazRaven]

Thank you! Yep, a woman pastor! I thought that was pretty cool to. We did go to a Methodist church and from what I hear they are fine with women pastors. I know some churchs don't like that.

[Dante]

There was a lot of singing and I kind of stood there awkwardly because I'm very shy and I don't like singing. It's worshipping God so I know I need to.

No - that's not true at all. There is nothing saying that you have to sing, and I sometimes sit songs out just to watch people's expressions (can be rather enlightening at times). If you're singing and don't feel comfortable with it because it's "not you", then to sing would be placing a false offering of happiness before God.

In my own thoughts on the topic, what if you're depressed and hate your life at the moment and go into Church and sing, "I'm so happy to be alive ect. ect." you'd be doing nothing more then lying to God. One of the bad parts of large congregations is that you'll be made to feel uncomfortable that everyone else is singing a song and you don't want to. But you should take as a point of pride to sing when you feel the song speaks to you - because that way you're actually singing what you feel and that's true worship from your heart and not simply meaningless gruntings from your mouth that may outright contradict your heart.

[Nate]

Yep, a woman pastor!

Based solely on this and no other information I immediately approve of this church 100%.

[Okami]

I know "Seasoned" church goers that still come to services late, I wouldn't worry about it ^_^/

Indeed! My best friend and her sister almost always arrive half-way through the first or second song. They've been believers far longer than I have lol

[TopazRaven]

Based solely on this and no other information I immediately approve of this church 100%.

It was pretty cool. She was a nice, funny old lady to.

[Furen]

Yeah yeah yeah, that's just a polite way of calling us "Old and salty". XD

That's what the Seasoned is for Mo, remember, if salt loses it's flavor, how can it be seasoned?

Also on the topic of singing, I find you can't hear the people around you anyway (maybe cause I sing loud, even though I'm not the greatest singer...)

[MrKrillz0r]

Oh I know the "Going to church even though you haven't been there in ages" feeling.

I happy you had a great experience, so was mine! I'm kinda anti social and stuff as well, so I still haven't talked to a lot of people although I've been attending there for like half a year. *Church five*

[Sapphire225]

Although I can't recall a time I haven't been actively going to church, I can relate since we moved a few times and went to different churches, it was akward, especially when we went to my aunt's church (I forgot their denomination, but they believed that woman shouldn't wear pants so wearing a dress was...different, to say the least).

When I go to church, I don't sing either because I not really a singer. I'm pretty sure the people around me value their hearing.

[TopazRaven]

Oh I know the "Going to church even though you haven't been there in ages" feeling.

I happy you had a great experience, so was mine! I'm kinda anti social and stuff as well, so I still haven't talked to a lot of people although I've been attending there for like half a year. *Church five*

Lol, church five! That's awesome. xD I'm glad you managed to find a nice church to. Happy I'm not the only anti-social Christian.

That's what the Seasoned is for Mo, remember, if salt loses it's flavor, how can it be seasoned?

Also on the topic of singing, I find you can't hear the people around you anyway (maybe cause I sing loud, even though I'm not the greatest singer...)

Trust me, I can't sing and I honestly don't like singing. I'd rather just read along with the lyrics in my head and hum or something.

Although I can't recall a time I haven't been actively going to church, I can relate since we moved a few times and went to different churches, it was akward, especially when we went to my aunt's church (I forgot their denomination, but they believed that woman shouldn't wear pants so wearing a dress was...different, to say the least).

When I go to church, I don't sing either because I not really a singer. I'm pretty sure the people around me value their hearing.

Aw, I'm sure you're not that bad! Can't be any worse then me. Well, in least I'm not the only one who doesn't sing then.

[Saiya~Jin]

I hope you enjoy/enjoyed it!

Looking at your age, maybe you should try to find a youth/college bible study group there? It'd be a great way to meet people your own age and whatnot!

[MrKrillz0r]

Haha Topaz, I don't sing either.. I just read the lyrics. My singing voice is.. ehm.. not that great to say the least.. xD

[Saiya~Jin]

Well you aren't singing for you or anyone else, you're singing for God. And I'm sure he'd love it, regardless.

[Scarecrow]

Lol... I haven't been to church in about 10 years at least... I almost went last sunday but I kind of just sat in my car and didn't go anywhere.... then it was "too late" so I got back out and went back in side...

I have a bit of an anxiety/nerve issue to begin with (this goes for anything new with lots of people) New place with LOTS of new people and going in by yourself... yuck... so yeah I know the feeling. I wish they had services in the evening to be honest. I'm a lot more comfortable plus a lot more alert... I like the feeling of just being able to slip in and slip out. Can't do that during the day really.