Hey fellow Iowan.
Methodist, huh? That's the sect of the protestant religions that interests me the most. I have heard some radio sermons, and I love their approach to God and the Bible. For example, the Methodists don't just say "do this, never mind why"... they said "this is why we do this, let's find out why". The love to use the Bible to explain the reason why Christians believe the things they believe, and there is a lot of room for questioning, reflection, and disagreement. It might just a setting that you'd be comfortable in.
I've gone to several churches over the years, and none of them have stuck. If you stumble upon a "seeker" Church (blech), be prepared for a deluge of people to fawn over you and try to make you feel welcome. If you're like me, and can see through that, you'll just find it annoying. They'll want you to go to coffee, join a bible study, sit with them, and there were even times that they wanted to "lay hands upon" me, and pray for me. Ouch. Seeker churches usually have a huge "rock" band, and signs that say "come as you are" and "jeans are fine, bring the kids" etc. That's annoying. I think that a person should look fairly nice in a house of God, put a little effort into it. Some of the seeker churches in my area have coffee shops, gift shops, gyms, book stores, and they're huge buildings worth millions. They have lots of members, and it's all very loud and chaotic.
I must admit, the sermons are hit or miss. I've found that if the band is good, the talker isn't, and vice-versa. However, what really turns me off from seeker churches are the overly anxious do-gooders, who seem to have a heart attack when someone they haven't seen before walks in. It's a little too overwhelming.
If you come to a seeker church with a tattoo, or piercing, or any other fringe society marker, you become the hero of the morning. People constantly come up to you to tell you you're "cool", which is the most annoying thing of all!
Then, of course the bands tries to get everyone up, and there is a big projector that puts the words of the song on a screen in front of the congregation. Some of the songs are (I kid you not) popular pop songs, with lyrics changed to fit a Christian theme!!!
People are raising their hands toward the sky, eyes closed, swaying back and forth. I have never had the desire, nor have I gotten the spirit in me enough to do this. I'm use to praying with my head bowed. It's all very strange, and sometimes seems a little put on (to me). I feel very uncomfortable worshiping in this environment.
Then, there are the regular, traditional churches... which I find to be more bible based (they give you time to look up a verse), and more fulfilling because the tone is a lot more serious, and less about getting people in the door. The problem though is that sometimes no one at all will talk to you. I actually like that, as I want to introduce myself, and get my self acclimated at my own pace. I like the tone of these kind of Church services more, they're a bit more like Kingdom Hall, but the preacher is actually taking the information from the actual Bible. What a concept.
My friend goes to a traditional Presbyterian church, and there are only 25 members. It's really small and low key. He's very self-righteous though, and thinks that if he doesn't read his bible and pray several times a day, he's letting God down. He's the kind of guy who contemplates dropping out of college so he can devote more time to prayer. I tell him he's being silly, and God knows his heart. He can quote bible verses to contradict every idea I have to try to make him feel better about it. He'd fit in perfectly in a KH (but he'd kill me if I said that to him :P).
I also like singing the old Hymns... they are much sweeter than the rock songs at the seeker churches. I just don't think rock 'n' roll and church are a very compatible match.
I haven't decided to make Church a regular thing, and I don't know why that is. My husband isn't really interested in it, even though we get into good discussions about God. He hasn't made the decision to be a Christian, but once in the bombastic atmosphere of a seeker church, he approached the podium to dedicate himself to Christ. It's a hypnotising thing, these seeker churches, but they're not for everyone. Neither are traditional churches. Sometimes Church isn't a choice at all. That's kind of where I'm at... I don't really feel that strongly about either. I'd like to go to the Methodist service though... but something is keeping me from going. I have a lot of social anxiety, and I don't want to be noticed. But I really want to go!
That's my two cents.
