Hi! My name is Aver Age Churchman. I am a member of the Christian Reformed denomination.

I went to church twice last Sunday. I must confess that I was rather bored. I do not know what it was, but it bothers me. Come to think of it, I have been bored for some time now. I wonder what it is!

It is probably the order of worship. It has not been changed for awhile. We have sung these doxologies for two years or more. There is never any variation. You always know what is coming next. That prayer of confession has no meaning anymore—just words. But, come to think of it, I was bored with the previous order of worship also, and when they changed it to our present one, that did not really help either.

If the problem causing my boredom is not the order of worship, then it must be the pastor. He has been here over seven years. I almost know what he is going to say on a given subject before be says it. Maybe if he would vary his voice a little more, or walk around on the pulpit area, it would keep my attention. He has a call right now. Maybe he will take it, and we can get a new minister. That will liven things up here a bit. But, I have to be honest. I thought church attendance would be more fun when our last minister left. It was good to see a new face and hear a new voice, and I was excited for awhile, but t hen that controversy arose over local evangelism, and I sort of cooled off again. Actually, our minister is a really dedicated person, good personality, does a lot for this church. Maybe my boredom is found somewhere else.

I think I should leave the denomination. There is that Congregational Church in town. There is a church that is really on fire! They have a great missionary program. They are interested in young people, and they witness to their neighbors. That young minister presents a pretty powerful sermon.

Of course, there is also that Baptist Church in town. That is good too. They have a great educational program-something for everybody. They even have a gym for their young people; and they have four ministers in that church. What a tremendous choir! I also like it when they have a professional football player give his testimony. I wish I could be a Christian like that. On second thought, my friend Jim goes to that Baptist Church, and he is unhappy there. It is just too big and you are just another face. Bill, at work, goes to the Congregational Church and he is unhappy there. They are a little too liberal. Must be those churches have problems too. There is perhaps no perfect church. Maybe I ought to go to that more conservative church where they have no problem with women seeking to be elders and deacons, and where every minister uses the right hermeneutics. Well, maybe that is not the answer either.

Do you know what I am doing? I am bored about my church, and I am blaming everyone else and everything else. How dumb! The problem is not these other people or things, but the problem is me. I ought to look at myself for a minute or two.

I go to church the same way I go to a ball game, or the same way I watch TV. I am a spectator. IfI like the action, I applaud; if I do not like it, I boo. If the TV program entertains me, I watch it, else I turn to something else. I have become a church spectator looking for someone to entertain me, and if they do not, I become bored. My training from youth up has been to attend church, and so I continue to attend, but I am usually bored because the entertainment or performance is not good enough.

I think I remember that the Bible does not present the church in terms of a theatre or a football game. The church is a body in which each member does his or her part; or it is a vine with branches each bearing fruit; or it is a building with each brick doing its part to hold it up and keep it strong; or a marriage with each party exercising his or her responsibilities to each other so love remains and grows. Where did I ever get the idea that the church was a spectator event?

Another thing comes to mind. The Bible speaks about truth which forms the basis for a good Christian life in righteousness and holiness. I have not really been paying much attention to what the minister has been teaching from the Bible the past years either, but mostly to how he delivers his message. That must be why my Christian life is not what it ought to be, and maybe that is why I am not serving the Lord with my gifts, and failing to witness for Him.

I think next Sunday when I go to the two worship services, I will enter into the spirit of worship, and I will seek to learn and apply what the minister teaches. It might even be a good idea to prepare myself already on Saturday evening. Yes, maybe if I, Aver Age Churchman, would change, my whole denomination would become more alive and more powerful for Christ.

Norman B. Haan is the pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church of Waupun. Wisconsin.