Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

The format alone was all wrong for my ADD brain.

Part of what I like about the Episcopal church is the church year, short sermons and pew aerobics.

But seriously, it keeps me engaged.

bnot wrote:The only brand of coc that I've found to have some energy, is the hand clapping churches, the ones the non-hand clappers claim are unscriptural. I visited one of these last week with a sibling, and there was no fire and brimstone, everyone seemed happy to be there, no hammering on "denominations", and they sang songs with passion.

This hand-clapping tribe is in real trouble, their way too happy by CoC standards ... surely they're not acting decently, and definitely not doing things in the proper order.

Dixie_Amazon wrote:The format alone was all wrong for my ADD brain.

Part of what I like about the Episcopal church is the church year, short sermons and pew aerobics.

But seriously, it keeps me engaged.

The sermons in churches which observe the church year are usually based upon the Gospel reading(or one of the other scripture readings) for the day. Often the minister explains the background behind the text and tries to apply it to life today.

That's so much better than the typical C o C sermon. Such is usually a bashing of "denominations" or a ranting about why "we're right and everybody else is wrong."

The C o C service is boring to say the least.

Performing the "5 Acts of Worship" is more important than anything else.

Often the songs have no relation to the sermon. I recall sometimes seeing the armswinger thumbing through the songbook just a few minutes before service to select the songs.

In other churches the service usually has a common theme or follows the church year. Makes it much more meaningful.

What's the coc version of heaven? Will it be as vanilla as church services?

Actually vanilla is my favorite and the biggest selling flavor of some brands. Have you noticed how many varieties of vanilla are out on the market?

klp wrote:Actually vanilla is my favorite and the biggest selling flavor of some brands. Have you noticed how many varieties of vanilla are out on the market?

Vanilla works for me; especially with chocolate syrup and topped with walnuts ... it becomes Heavenly with the extras.

illuminator wrote:What's the coc version of heaven? Will it be as vanilla as church services?

I always heard that heaven would be "eternal worship" and basically be one never-ending CoC service...no thanks.

In a boring work meeting today, I found myself playing an old game. Did you ever play the one where one person draws a number, and the other has to then turn it into a picture? I had to play alone, since I had no bored siblings with me today. So I just did the numerals 1 to 10 and turned them into doodles of people. At one point I noticed our medical director (nephrologist) who was sitting next to me, glancing at my notepad...

CoC gatherings are designed to follow the same exact traditional script week-in-and-week-out. Change of any sort is frowned on because they feel it's dangerous, unpredictable, and uncontrollable ... boredom comes easily when nothing changes.

The traditional, and often ritualistic Sunday morning 'service' is the duty of the elders to maintain - honestly, just ask them - and even if every pew is filled with bored, sleeping, and snoring members, nothing will change. They seem to be petrified that some obscure rule or regulation will be screwed up and they will be held personally accountable.

It's not God that's boring, it's the church leaders with no vision.