All 50 States: Attend a Church Service

Standing in front of the pulpit at West Parish of Barnstable UCC, West Barnstable, Massachusetts, May 12, 2024 As I began my quest to visit all 50 states, I found myself doing the same activities in each state. One of those activities was attending a church service on many a Sunday morning. Having grown up in a Protestant church, I patronized Christian churches, mostly Protestant, but with a few Catholic churches included. I picked only three of the churches deliberately (Georgia and Virginia being the others), with most visits being determined by where I was staying or traveling.   On Mother’s Day 2024, I reached the goal of having attended a church service in all 50 states. Number 50? The West Parish of Barnstable United Church of Christ, located just off US 6 in West Barnstable. It is the oldest* church on Cape Cod, having been chartered in 1616 in England and emigrating to Massachusetts after they were released from prison. (*The dispute is with another UCC congregation in nearby Sandwich. That congregation came over before the West Parish congregation but did not charter themselves until they arrived. West Parish’s church building dates from 1717, the Sandwich building is newer and made the cover of an Elvis gospel album.) West Parish began as a Congregationalist church – its 1717 sanctuary has box seats (literally a pew in the middle of a boxed off area) and a pulpit that towers above the pews. Otherwise the sanctuary seems rather plain. (If interested in this architecture, look up pictures of the Old North Church and the South Meetinghouse in Boston, probably the two most famous.)   Having wandered into churches most of my adult life, I decided to fully embrace this opportunity. I signed the guestbook and noted that this visit was #50. I accepted a name tag from the women greeters, and I spoke to many of those circulating before the service. Everyone was welcoming and gave me a “Visitors” gift bag. The preacher, Rev. Reed Baer, preached a sermon on social activism – of the Blessed are the Peacemakers variety. After the sermon I walked upstairs to the balcony and waited for the crowd to disperse. Rev. Baer gave me more information about the church’s history and took the picture you see at the top of this entry. He was tickled by my achievement, but I didn’t want to delay him too long from the rest of his ministerial duties. I took a few pictures of the exterior and went on my way.       —   Other interesting experiences from my church visits:  

1. Georgia (2003) – I attended Sunday School lessons with President Jimmy Carter at Marantha Baptist Church in Plains. I stayed for the church service afterwards, as well.
2. Virginia (2006) – I attended one of the last services at the old location of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg. Rev. Jerry Falwell did his best to scuff the line between church and state, exactly the way I expected he would. I stayed out of the view of the cameras.
3. Colorado (2017) – The Stillwater Cowboy Church, Fruita – my first cowboy church experience. The entire service lasted 45 minutes. As it was Memorial Day weekend, we were asked to greet one of the veterans in the audience.
4. Delaware (2013) – First and Central Presbyterian, Wilmington – I attended an Easter breakfast before the service, allowing me to cross off another goal of me – “Eat a meal with complete strangers.”
5. Iowa (2011) – First Federated, Lisbon – I came into town while the power was still out after a storm. As a result, everyone in the small church had to sit in the first few pews until the lights came back on. Liturgically this church followed the pattern of taking an Old Testament and a New Testament scripture and try to weave them together. Refreshingly, this is the only time I have heard the preacher say that he had no clear idea how they were connected. (I think other pastors have given it their best try.)
6. Nebraska (2015) – Dundee Presbyterian, Omaha – this is the church Warren Buffett grew up in. But I could tell that he has since left the faith, or at least given his money elsewhere. The church was on my route to the College World Series that afternoon.
7. Idaho (2013) – Community Presbyterian, American Fork – I was asked by a member how I found the church. I responded that I had used Google and then filtered out all LDS and Catholic churches. Her response: “You had only one other option, didn’t you? That community church over in Layton?”
8. I have attended church services with various friends and family members, most of whom had no idea they were helping reach this goal.