Church Shopping: Holy Trinity

Drew and I have been meaning to/wanting to find a church here in Dublin, but our internet searches proved to be limited in terms of anything non-Catholic or close to the city.  Meredith actually found two churches here in Dublin that were plants of her church in NY, Redeemer, so we decided to try one of those out this weekend, finally!

I know I generally get anxious before social functions, but Drew and I BOTH get major church anxiety.  I'm not sure why.  We really liked our church in Dallas, but when we belonged to a community group, we'd both get so ansy every week before we went.

Sunday was no different.  We took the train to Rathmines, a neighborhood south of us, to try out Holy Trinity Church.  It's housed in a beautiful old church in a quaint neighborhood, and shares the church with the more traditional parish that has been going to the early services there for years.  Our service started at noon, but you're supposed to get there early for "coffee, tea, biscuits, and fellowship!"  This immediately struck fear in our hearts.  Especially when we showed up as close to noon as possible and realized that no one was even attempting to make their way into the sanctuary.  A lovely woman named Suzy greeted and welcomed us and obviously knew we were new, and she pointed out where the coffee and tea were, and encouraged us to "take a look around, and get to know people!"  Kill me.  We got coffee and made a beeline for the corner of the fellowship room to hide and check out  a lot of information about the church.  Not long after, a young guy named James approached.  He was 19, but looked about 25, and said he was a struggling law student.  He asked us a lot of questions and was very friendly and welcoming, but something was slightly off.  No matter.  He was a nice guy and we definitely appreciated his inclusivity.  We met another guy named Richie, who was tall and cute (and perfect for several of my friends, actually) and very nice and intelligent and talked to us a lot about the history of the church, Tim Keller's influences, the mission of the church, etc.  We liked him.  We finally made our way into the sanctuary, some of the first, and watched the other young adults file in to some praise and worship music.  At the beginning, a woman who worked with a women's shelter stood up and talked about how we could all get involved.  (God?  Is that you?)  Then the music started.  And hilarity ensued.

During the first song, which I didn't know, Drew and I noticed/heard someone with an extremely loud voice shouting out the words to the song.  Completely out of tune.  This sort of thing bothers me immensely and it's generally all I can focus on.  I didn't want to turn around and find out who the culprit was so Drew and I just eyed each other and focused on singing.

Fast forward 15 minutes to the next song, and we hear the voice again.  Further away.  And it belongs to the dancing lunatic that is our pal JAMES!  He was off to the side of the alter, doing jumping jacks, clapping off-beat, head banging, and dancing erratically like a nut job.  I understand being moved by the Spirit but this was downright distracting.  And hilarious.  I noticed him first and looked at Drew out of the corner of my eye and watched him notice James too.  Then we both started giggling and tried to stifle the awkward church laugh where you're trying so hard not to laugh but you can't help it and it makes it worse.  Thank God the song ended.

Fast forward another 15 minutes, during "How Great Thou Art", and James has moved YET AGAIN to a pew right directly in front of us!  Now if any of you know this song, you know it's not a pumped-up song that's easy to dance and clap to.  It's a HYMN for crying out loud!  But don't you worry: James found a way!  He continued jumping up and down as high as he could and clapping every so often and banging his head and acting like a complete lunatic.  It was too much for us to handle.  I tried to focus on the words and attempted to look elsewhere but it was impossible.

After that, we heard a good message about some of the churches core foundations and principles and how/where church falls in the priorities of your life.  Evidently they all go to lunch afterwards together, and the "emcee" of the service invited all guests to hang around after with everyone to get to know the members.  Nope.  Not happening.  We briefly talked to Suzy on our way out, who graciously gave us a list of other cool churches in Dublin to try, God love her, and we ran into a friend we'd made at the Yelp Elite event who was super nice.  And instead of getting distracted anymore or having to talk to any other kooks, we headed directly for the exit with our eyes straight ahead and didn't look back.

On the way home, we talked about why trying new churches and talking to people in church was so hard for both of us, or why nut jobs like James can distract us from the whole service.  We still aren't sure.  Maybe we're too cynical.  What we've determined, after many long discussions yesterday, is that we're looking for a church that has people just like us.  Which may or may not be possible and may or may not be out there.  And may or may not be worth going to, actually.  We want to meet people who aren't crazy kooky Christians but who are low key and chill and love Jesus but also like to have a good time and be real with each other.  And as God as my witness, we'll find one.  One day.  Maybe.  I hope.  For now...the search continues!  Stay tuned.