Which church?

[Namefordecember]

I live near two churches,the one in my parish is a High church.
The other one isn't although they are both C of E.
I really prefer the more informal church for many reasons.
Is it ok to make that one my regular church?What will happen about family funerals,pastoral care etc?

I love a bit of good modern worship music. The church next door to me does it really well. I prefer plainchant myself but not many people are into that these days.

The problem with the new stuff is that we are still working out what is good. The Wesleys wrote some real turkeys but we don't sing them anymore. I've sung stuff straight off the conference circuit and I like it at the time but after a few times it is all a bit meh. It takes time for the classics to emerge.

When I wrote "the point.." it was in response to Bertrands post above my previous post. Obviously fellowship and community is not the only point to being a Christian but it's a huge part of it.
With regards to churches playing modern worship music; I don't go to church to listen to pop music but I do like some modern worship music just as I like some of the old hymns, some of the music and words are beautiful but quite a lot of hymns are difficult to sing, both the melody and words.
It's quite a generalisation that people usually like hymns. Our church band don't play guitars in a feeble attempt to be cool, they play because it makes the music part of worship accessible and enjoyable to all ages.

"It's quite a generalisation that people usually like hymns. "

I suppose I meant people who go to church, not people in general. Often, churches try to have modern music to attract non-church goers, but it doesn't work and makes the regulars unhappy.

"quite a lot of hymns are difficult to sing, both the melody and words."

I've only come across this once at a wedding of some eccentric people. The thing about hymns is that they follow some set rules and are easy to pick up even if you don't know the tunes.

my parish church has a really vibrant priest. I really enjoy his sermons BUT and it's a huge but...the church building is modern...a weird asymmetrical shape with a metal support column (plain undecorated) again off center. the walls are painted dusty rose pink and the pleated valances are burgundy velour. everything about the space drives me to distraction, I can't focus at all on the service.
the whole time i'm seated there my mind is fixing the space which has so much "wrong" with it.
i'll be changing parishes :( to one where the bishop preaches from, but English isn't his first language....and his sermons ramble.

Gwen, agree that if it's in an attorney to be cool then that is indeed lame. My experience of modern worship stuff is like Nanny says though; simply using different instruments to make it accessible and enjoyable to different people. Certainly praise in biblical times was all around a variety of instruments - timbrels, drums, harps, trumpets etc. Music has always reflected.the times and this is just doing that.

Attorney? attempt.

Op, I'm going to go against the grain and say go to the church which you prefer - the informal one. If you live near it you'll still be able to take part in some of the 'extra curricular' things, and so many people cross the parish lines these days. There is a bit difference in atmosphere in different types of service, and you've found one that suits you, so I'd say stick with it! (prefer HC here, so I'm not on a recruitment drive!)

"Also people stay in their own groups saving seats etc.so I sit on my own." Words sort of fail me about this practice. Any of the vicars on this thread have any thoughts about whether it's worth trying to get congregations like this to be more welcoming to newbies? (obviously I realise lots of newcomers want to sit on their own and not be approached, it's not always easy to know how welcoming to be)

The not talking to new people is an issue in the large and gathered churches I've worked in or had placements in. Sometimes it is about being busy so that in the coffee bit at the end people are so preoccupied with finding Frank and Edna to talk about rotas and the drains that they forget to talk to the new person. Sometimes in a big church you get lots of shy quiet types who like the fact that the church is big and they can get lost in a crowd. This was the case in one church I worked in and to counter this we trained our friendly people to be welcomers and they got very good at judging who wanted a helping hand and who wanted to be left alone. Sometimes it is just the dynamic of gathered churches where people come for a style of worship whether it is modern or choral or smells and bells. Interacting with others isn't part of what they want. In a big church with a lot of staff it can be seen as their job to do the welcoming. That happens in small churches as well but there are more new people to get to see in a big church.

I did a mystery worship on one church I was planning to apply for the vicar job. Great building, great music, excellent preaching but the man on the end of the row I was sitting in ignored me the whole time I was there and climbed over me at the peace to shake hands with someone else. No one in the scrum at the end said anything to me. A challenge in culture change which I decided wasn't for me.