So, last Sunday Alexis and I visited a small local church in Belchertown - it was quite a neat experience! It was certainly different from the Northampton church we currently attend - it was much smaller, both physically and in number of people, and it had a different feel to the order of service.

We were warmly greeted by many people both on the way in and on the way out of service, including the pastor. We were also given a handsome thank-you-for-visiting gift, which had an informational booklet on the church and contact info. We were encouraged to fill out a visitor card too.

Now, that was a bemusing experience for me - it has been several years since I was a newcomer to church, and I’ve spent much of the past few years being on the “inside” in church circles. I’ve never filled out one of these “visitor” cards, at least not seriously as a “church shopper”.

This time, though, Alexis and I are seriously looking into attending a local church instead of making the long haul into Northampton - partly because we feel called to be a part of our local community and partly because we are rethinking what it means to be part of a local church to begin with.

Anyway, filling out the visitor card made me think… perhaps it would be neat to run a little social experiment. Just from driving around “downtown Belchertown” I am aware of at least five different “local” churches in the town, four of which are within a five minute walk of each other, centered around the town commons. I wonder - it might be fun to visit each of these, fill out their respective visitor cards, and engage in “interesting” dialogue with folks from those churches who might respond to the cards.

Yep, you got it, I’m thinking of being the pain-in-the-neck church visitor :-) The wise-ass who knows the “inside” story ;-)

I’m partly motivated by rascally mischief and a bemused attitude toward church, but in large part I’m motivated by a genuine curiosity about why and how local churches exercise their presence in their local community. I figure, serious doctrinal disagreements aside, these churches all purport in some way to serve a faith that is, to greatly varying degrees, loosely centered around the message, person and divinity of Jesus Christ.

Well, I did say “purport” :-) I’m assuming that the divinity aspect is probably what trips most of them up, but at least they all purport a loose affiliation with Jesus. So, it might be neat to get an understanding of how the local churches around us view their place in the context of His Kingdom…

For example, the visitor card of the church we visited had the usual assortment of info gathering questions - name, address, marital status, age, most recent act of wickedness (just kidding) - and also a list of checkboxes, which I filled out as follows:

[x] First-time visitor
[x] New to the area
[x] Would like to know more about this church
[ ] Returning visitor
[x] Would like a visit
[x] Would like to know about being a Christian

My premise with that last checkbox was partly rebellious but partly serious too - yes, I am a Christian, but shouldn’t Christians always like to know about being a Christian?

Anyway, I’m looking forward to a visit from whoever it is from this church that decides to come see what kind of heathen people we are :-) I’m putting together a list of questions for the conversation, and also for representatives of the other churches in the area that we might visit:

    About God

  • What is your view of God?
  • What is your view of Jesus?
    About your church

  • Why does your church exist?
  • How do you see your church in the context of the message and purpose of Jesus Christ?
    About Belchertown

  • What are the different kinds of people that live here?
  • Why do they live here?
    About God and Belchertown

  • Does God care about Belchertown? Why?
  • Is God involved in Belchertown? How?
    About your church and Belchertown

  • Why is your church in Belchertown?
  • How is your church joining in with what God is doing here?
    About other churches

  • What is your take on why other churches exist in Belchertown?
  • What is your church’s relationship with the other churches in Belchertown?
    About other modes of Christian living

  • How is your church supporting the work of people not in your church who are doing God’s work in Belchertown?
  • What is your take on the idea of being part of a church but intentionally NOT going to services?

What say you people out there - any other questions that need to go on this list? :-) Perhaps it would be a fun exercise to think through these questions in the context of your own local church, whatever town/community/people-group it happens to be “planted” in? Any of these questions provoking thoughts or concerns for you?

And, yes, I already thought of adding “What is your take on people who clap on the back beat during worship songs?”…