Here's the thing about introverts

June 24           

Christian Reformed Church

            This denomination wasn’t on my list of liberal-leaning churches, but we were drawn here by two factors: first, it's my parents’ denomination since they left the Baptist church many years ago, and we’ve enjoyed visiting their congregation. In addition, a friend told me that she’d been assisted greatly by one of the ministries of this particular church, so we decided to give it a try.

            It ticked most of my boxes, and both of Ben’s—so this one is still on our list, although we’re nowhere close to being ready to commit yet. By far the best thing about it for me was the attitude of the musicians. There were several of them: an excellent pianist, a flute, two trumpets, two guitars, and three or four good vocalists. They stood on either side of the stage—well, not the pianist—not calling attention to themselves, just humbly leading.

            Lots of happy people of different ages—but still very white, white, white. Unfortunately, I’ve read more than once that the Church (not this church, but the Church in general) is one of the last vestiges of segregation. I do believe that white church culture and black church culture are different enough that truly integrated congregations are difficult to maintain, and I think it may be impossible to find a truly diverse congregation, especially in this area.

            I also believe that I probably won’t find a congregation that doesn’t have a huggy-huggy time. Here’s the thing: extroverts can and will do their extroverty thing wherever they are—before and after services, in the parking lot, washing hands in the restrooms. You don’t have to give them more extrovert-centric places to do their thing. They’re just fine. And when you set aside a time for greeting, extroverts hop around like happy little bunnies, extroverting, while introverts think how am I going to make myself look stupid now? And then someone shakes your hand and says “Welcome! Are you a guest here?” and you say, “Thanks, you too!” and you want to just sit down and rest your head for a bit.

            It’s just occurring to me that whichever church we eventually find, I’m going to have to get to know a lot of new people. The thought of that utterly exhausts me.

            The sermon: good. A bit long, maybe. An approach to “blessed are the peacemakers” that I hadn’t heard before.

            Chairs: comfortable (necessary for the 1.5 hour service)

            People: friendly

            Cookies served after the service: excellent

            By looking at the bulletin, it appears that there are outward-facing ministries: a soup kitchen, for example, and the ministry that helped my friend.

            I’m uneasy, though, because from what I know about the denomination, it’s not where I’d prefer a church to be along the ‘welcoming and inclusive’ spectrum.

            All in all, it was a pleasant experience, and I’m thinking that we’ll go back for another go-round. But we’ve still got quite a few more on our list. This one gets a 9 out of 10 from me.