Visiting a different church every Sunday for a year, Part 3

I had read the reports of the Mystery Worshippers on Ship of Fools, the online magazine "of Christian unrest." In their own words, “Ship of Fools has an intrepid team of Mystery Worshippers travelling incognito in the British aisles and beyond, reporting on the comfort of the pews, the warmth of the welcome and the length of the sermon. The only clue they have been there at all is the Mystery Worshipper calling card, dropped discreetly into the collection plate.” I loved the idea of stepping back and taking a broad look at what’s on offer in this faith of ours, from down in the pews.

What would I be looking for in each church? I thought I would try to imitate the Mystery Worshippers to some extent: note the opening words of each service, describe the buildings, summarize the sermons. Which churches should I visit? I picked up the phone book and discovered that there were more than 400 churches listed just in our area. Good Lord! (I write that with due reverence.)

I picked ten churches that would probably be different than the ones I was used to, wrote their names on strips of paper, shuffled the strips of paper together, and picked one. My year of visiting churches had begun.