I'm really pleased with myself today because we did try the new church as planned. We headed down there and arrived early, but was made to feel very welcome with almost everyone stopping to say hello and welcome as they walked past.

There are a couple of things that may deter me from attending in future though, I am going to pray for guidance and talk things through with the children.  Before I go on, I must say that I can't fault the welcome we recieved.  There was a gentleman on the door that, upon my arrival, immediately said that he had been told about us and showed us upstairs to where the service is held.  Here I met the lovely Pastor, and was introduced to people as they arrived.  All very pleasant.  What wasn't so pleasant was being shown to our seats, right on the back row as if they were 'placing' the children there so not to disturb the others.   It was also pointed out that there was a room we could go to should the children start making noise.  Now, I know that they were, I'm sure, only seating us at the back for our own comfort, and informing us about the room so I didn't feel under any pressure to stay if the children started making noise.  But, I just think they could have put things a little differently.  For example, surely we should have been able to choose whereabouts we sat?  And as for the room, it could have been said that a room was available if I felt it necessary to use it, but please don't feel under obligation to remove ourselves from the service as with children often comes noise.   It left me kind of wondering whether people had attended with children and recieved the same sort of treatment, being left with the feeling that children shouldn't really be there.

My children were the only children there, which we were kind of prepared for, but the Pastor made a big thing about it and I think it embarrassed them somewhat.  During the service the Pastor said that as there were children there today, he was going to ask them a few questions.  It started off with simple things, like what day is it next Sunday etc, but I could see that Chelsea (whom the majority of questions seemed aimed at) felt a little self-concious in a room full of unknown adults.  Chelsea and Joseph were then told to find certain hymn numbers in the hymn book which they struggled with a little.  Trying to find them under the pressure of hearing "Have you got it yet? Are you there yet?" was a little much and I handed over my book having found the correct place.   Chelsea was then asked to read out various parts of various hymns.  She spoke sheepishly, obviously embarrassed and not wanting to do it.  I squirmed on her behalf.

The main sermon was the Shepherds story and I had actually read it and discussed it with the children earlier in the week.  I was just sat there thinking how great it was for the children to hear about it from someone else, when the Pastor walked over and handed them a wordsearch each.  Now I know that it was a lovely thoughtful gesture, but I would have really liked them to pay attention to what was being said. Obviously, with the Pastor not being a mind-reader, he wouldn't have known that, but I still felt a little disappointed and I can't help but feel that the message he gave the children was "Look, here is the boring bit, so to keep you busy, here is a wordsearch!"  There was no coffee time after the service, meaning people just drift away, many without even speaking.  I think that is sad, as it is lovely to be able to share fellowship with other church members, and after a service seems the ideal time to get to know each other.

I think that Chelsea hit the nail on the head when we talked about it later.  She said that we had been spoiled by our last church and nothing was really going to measure up to it.  We loved the style of service there, the friendly atmosphere, the songs we sang, the general happy, joyful, belt it out style of worship, with singers and a front of house band.  The kids adored their groups, with the wonderful enthusiastic leaders, and learning activities.  Compared to what we experienced today with the older style hymns accompanied by a portable keyboard, well it just had a whole different feel to it, more serious and sombre.  Obviously, different people enjoy different styles and I'm not being critical in any way (at least I hope not), just voicing my thoughts.

Sadly our 'old' church is not somewhere I feel we would ever be entirely involved in.  The congregation is huge, and there are lots of groups and activities going on throughout the week.  I guess the distance is the main factor, coupled with being unable to build on relationships as you hardly ever see the same people twice. 

I kind of feel drawn to the church we attended today because of the friendly welcome.  However, I know that, in order to survive, changes need to be made.  There were only about 14 people there today, not including us (and one of them was a visitor from Australia).  Apparently that is an average gathering on a good week.  I can see what needs changing, but am not sure how open to change they would be.  I'm sure it will mean many many weeks of attending and being accepted before voicing my opinions.  It is also important to me that the children are happy with where we go, and that they feel comfortable. My kids are very easy going, and really fit in wherever we go, but I could feel their embarrassment of being put on the spot today and know they didn't find it pleasant.

I will talk it through with the Lord and ask for guidance.