I visited a couple places the last weekend in February. On Saturday, I went to afternoon mass at St. Anthony’s, our local Catholic church. The building, inside and out, is gorgeous. It’s the kind of place I could sit for hours: Exposed wood beams, high vaulted ceilings, ornate reliefs. The front was adorned with an enormous mural of the risen Jesus surrounded by angels, apostles, saints of old, and the faithful of today. A side section of the main hall had a statue devoted to the Virgin Mary, and all around the hall hung paintings marking out the 14 stations of the cross. Tall, sweeping stained glass windows portrayed the apostles on one side and saints of old on the other.

The mass itself was good. The priest was by no means a polished orator, but the five-minute homily is hardly central to the proceedings. I was able to follow along well enough, standing, kneeling, etc. at the appropriate times. Real wine in the Eucharist was a treat; it really added something tangible to the experience for me.

While I will probably visit again, Kerri has enough reservations about Catholicism that I doubt we’ll be attending regularly.

Sunday morning, and the family headed out to the Dayton Vineyard. I’ll give you three guesses what I’m gonna say about it, and the first two don’t count.

It was nice. OK, I’ll elaborate: It was nice… and big. Having been a church planter and having read a number of the books on how to do it “right,” I’m finding it hard not to be cynical.

Stewards directing traffic in the parking lot? Check

Lots of smiling “hellos” as you enter the building? Check

End worship on an upbeat song? Check

Fill in the blank sermon notes full of easy, practical steps to a better life? Check

Opportunity to respond at the end of the service? Check

I am trying not to be disparaging - even if my tone betrays me. None of this is particularly bad. It was, if anything, predictable. Predictability has a certain merit.

So, four weeks down and five churches visited. Of those visited Beavercreek Christian is still at the top of the my list. Did I mention how much I love Ben?