Sarah Goes To Chuch: The Beginning

One night I found myself in a giant freezing cold warehouse with a complete stranger surrounded by anarchist graffiti and I thought to myself, "I'm going to start going to church."

I'm not sure why that thought popped into my head at that moment. True, I was slightly scared and felt out of my element, but that's exactly how I feel at church. In my opinion, anarchy is far less destructive than organized religion. Warehouses hold lots of cool things. Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. Why church? The only thing I could come up with is I have become increasingly aware that I am searching for something and I didn't find it in that warehouse. Time to search elsewhere. Perhaps I'll find it hidden in a church. Though I doubt it.

So, that's what I'm doing. I'm going to church. A new church every week for a year. Give or take a few days where I'm either too tired/hungover/uninterested/preoccupied/lazy/whathaveyou. I'm going to try to keep such days to a minimum. I make no promises.

A little bit about me before we begin...
 
I grew up religious. Like, youth group president, true love waits pledging, witnessing to strangers, Jesusy Camp attending, morning prayer circle hand holding religious. I attended a Baptist church until I was about 16 and then realized church/Christianity/The Bible just weren't for me. Over the past 14 years I have created my own belief/idea structure out of various pieces of different religions,
things I've read and personal experiences. A spiritual melange that is ever changing. I love the word melange. It's fun to say. Melange.

Something else you should know about me before we go any further - I don't believe in proper punctuation of any kind. Fragments and run ons are two of my best friends.  I cannot spell. I misuse words all the time as well as make up some of my own. Much as I rejected organized religion, I reject organized English. I'll add 10 commas to a sentence for no reason other than I feel like it. This, drives, some, people, bonkers. If that's you stop reading immediately. I wish you the best. Take care.

Onward and Upward.

It is my goal to keep an open mind. Which may be hard, because I already have so many prejudices against organized religion, specifically Christianity. Most of my family identifies as Christian and I do not wish to disrespect them. With that said, I have no interest in sugar coating or hiding my thoughts about the churches I visit. I strive to be honest, thoughtful and again open minded.

I've already attended my first church (post to follow) and I have a list of 21 I'm excited to visit in the St. Louis Metro Area. I welcome your suggestions for places I should visit. I have 31 spots left to fill.

The journey begins...