Next up in the Church Visiting series

Biblically directed
I attend Immanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Collingswood, NJ, where I hear a good sermon and  am given a book and a shorter catechism.

Here rests the offspring of the love of God, Friedsam a Solitary
I visit the Ephrata Cloister, which was a thriving community of unusual religious folks long ago.

Dangers of complacency
I visit St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lancaster, PA, where a member warns the congregation that their financial situation is poor, and a visiting pastor preaches against complacency.

My mother walks two hours to church every Sunday
I visit the Roman Catholic congregation that worships on Sunday evenings at the Campus Catholic Ministry at Stockton College, in Pomona, NJ. Here I meet a remarkable Ugandan priest, Father Grace.

Will heaven be boring?
I visit Come Alive! church in Medford, NJ, which was in the news for a while in 2006 when its pastor defended a couple in the congregation who had been charged with starving five foster children in their care. I hear lots of praise music, and am touched by the story of a couple in the church who are in the process of adopting a Chinese girl with medical needs.