Why 52 church visits in 52 weeks?

Okay, so after reading the description for this blog the obvious question might be "what is complicated about it?" Let us put your mind at ease, to our knowledge there aren't any skeletons trying to break out of the closet. This isn't a story of a great wrong committed, falling away from the faith, or uncovering false teaching. If it were this would be simple. It is complicated for the very reason that there isn't a big, earth shattering, reason. 

A little back story might be helpful. We are nearing the end of our third decade together, we have four adult children and two grandchildren. We have lived in the same neighborhood for over 20 years and all four kids went to the same three K-12 schools. During this time we have attended the same church; watching it grow from a single site with several hundred members to multi-site with several thousand "regular attenders." Our roles and involvement at church have ebbed and flowed over the years but it has always been an important part of our family. We have many life long friends at church and over the years our church family has been there for us in time of need, as we have tried to be there for others.

If we had to put our finger on one specific reason it would probably be closely related to the upheaval that disrupted millions of lives nationally and, more importantly, many of our family and friends' lives right here at home. We were not immune. One thing we learned is that disruption of this magnitude can have a deep and profound effect on how you make sense of the world.

Part of the process of regaining our bearings has been to reevaluate things that we had held central to our identity. It may make some feel uncomfortable to hear, but in the process we found it increasingly more difficult to make it to church on a regular basis. Long story short, over the last couple of years we have attended about half a dozen services. Each time, as we were leaving, we would look at each other and wonder why we had gone. And this is why it is complicated. Internal conflict is often the hardest to understand.

So here we are. It is a new year and we have both been feeling drawn to find a way to reengage with our faith community. Neither of us is terribly excited with the whole "church shopping" thing, or as Loren calls it "Clark County Circuit Church." We decided to turn it into a project. Get way out of our comfort zone, meet some new people, and experience different ways of meeting with God.

If you are just joining us you can learn a little about us here and how we are approaching this project here.