Your First Church Visit
A few suggestions
It’s okay to go to church because you are curious.
I recommend it.
Depending on your background and experience with religion it will seem strange.
Expect this.
Wear nice clean clothes that you already own. Avoid cutoffs, T-shirt’s and sandals unless this is all you’ve got.
They will do things in the church service you do not understand. For example, they may take communion.
Don’t participate in this if you do not understand it, and it is okay not to understand.
Simply let it pass or don’t go forward when others around you do.
If asked why you are not participating, tell the truth. You are a visitor and you do not understand the particular ceremony and so out of respect you are abstaining. This should be acceptable to others around you.
Another approach is to meet with a pastor or minister in private before attending a service and explain that you would like to come to a service to better understand this particular religion. They should help you.
When it comes to putting money in the plate, let it pass. You do not have to give anything to any group you do not understand.
If you want to put a dollar in the plate, feel free.
The purpose for any church collecting an offering is for those who belong to that church to support its ministries. If there is pressure placed on you to give as a visitor, this is not a good sign.
So why go through all of this?
Because you will be better off finding a church family than attempting to live life out of your own more limited understanding and experience.
Because there are friends there you have not met.
And because they need you as much as you need them.
Of course it will seem weird.
It seems weird going to foreign countries where you don’t speak the language as well, but the experience of travel is life changing.
So is going to church.
