...what was your 1st expirence like inside of a church? (page 3)

misanthropic

I have had the good fortune to visit several famous churches, including the Vatican, Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, and quite a few in Canada in Montreal and Toronto. Catholic and Anglican cathedrals are always aesthetically pleasing, to atheist and believer alike.....since I was not religious at all when I first attended one of these churches, I simply experienced a deep reverence for the breathtaking artwork and architecture.

I would love someday to see such places. Of course where live I've only seen pictures.
Unfortunately the only church experiences I've had were at newer churches in the area. I'm not a believer but I was there for a few plays in support of my friend who's kids attend the attached private school. The place was like a mini town with Movie theatres, food courts and the like. I couldn't imagine that Jesus would ever approve of such a place.

VanillaMocha73

Scary.... Figured lightning was going to get me or something.... But I survived, apparently.... All the stuff that I had been told about Christendom / Babylon were WRONG.

NanaR

Welcome byz!

Ruth

Leolaia

I thought...wow, people here worship with heartfelt emotion and sincerity. It felt like how worship was supposed to be (that is, what one encounters in the Bible itself). It was such a stark contrast to dry information-oriented talks at the kingdom hall, which I had a hard time regarding as reverential "worship".

Narkissos

I used to visit churches ("buildings") during my last few years as a JW. (Funnily enough, I think this started when I was asked to show the cathedral of Rouen -- on the same square where the perfidious English had Joan of Arc burned to death -- to American guests in the French Bethel as part of the routine tour, which surprised me at first.) Besides those "cultural" visits, the first church I really entered as a potential participant was a moderate and rather traditional Evangelical church in Paris, just a few yards away from my last Kingdom Hall. It was a Bible study night, and I shared quite naturally in the discussion (I only had to explain where I was coming from at the end of the meeting). I attended that church for a few years after that. I had visited some others in the meantime, but I was more attracted by the "classical" services of this one. I guess I'll always feel at home wherever I hear some Bach (the best thing ever happened to God, as Cioran put it).

done4good

I'm a Photographer and I do a lot of weddings inside other churches so it is no big deal to me, just a building.

As a jw, I did wedding photography for a few years while in college, and obviously worked in many churches.

Since leaving, I can't find any real desire to go. I just can't deal with any organized religion at this point in my life.

j

...what was your 1st expirence like inside of a church?