Church Search 2: The Failed Attempt

Well, here we are again. Another week gone by and another few inquiries into neighborhood churches. Unfortunately our attempt this morning was foiled. I had, in our second week here, searched newspapers and internet sites for things to do in a desperate attempt to stem our tide of boredom (as we searched semi-successfully for jobs and household items). I came across a Craigslist posting by a seemingly disaffected pastor who was interested in starting a younger group service of an apparently emergent persuasion. So I emailed him and quickly got a response telling us about two possible times for worship every weekend. Seeing that his church was rather close (18 minutes according to Google Maps is close in Phoenix) Christian and I decided we'd try the 12pm Sunday gathering. Either lines got crossed or the gathering died aborning because we arrived at 12 sharp and NO ONE was there. The church was locked and there was not a car in the lot. *Sigh* This was more unfortunate for us because we were unable to attend the typical church, as most have service before 12 (think: 9:30 to 10 am range).

Instead we drove down Greenway towards an undetermined lunch location. On our drive we saw numerous suburban churches - at least one Chinese, one Korean, and another compound which was called an Indian Mission (Native American, not subcontinental). We saw one church which had posted a 6:30 pm service time, and the building did not appear to be a large scary type. On Greenway at least, the churches said nothing of fire, brimstone, or Satan on their signs.

Christian and I did make an attempt to contact a youth pastor with connections to my father's church... and after our initial email, I called only to get a voicemail and no return call.

Needless to say, we're rather discouraged. It feels as if there is water everywhere, but there is no living water. Apparently Arizona is a desert in more ways than one. Maybe this shouldn't be a surprise considering that a person can walk into a grocery store and see numerous civilians visibly carrying guns. I don't have to mention the current Republican presidential bastion of morality was produced here.

Phoenix is a large city and there are many churches, colleges, and ethnicities represented here. But it is still a city in Arizona and Arizona is wild, and in many ways Republican. Large multinational companies have corporate offices and manufacturing facilities here. There are sufficient wealthy suburbs to satisfy at least the nouveau riche type, if not blue-bloods.

However there is one good thing, which is somewhat related to religion. Sportsbars here are devoted to certain teams. We found one by chance that is devoted to Green Bay and ate dinner while watching their first game. If only we could find the Steelers' bar...