Research

A congregation is a holy place no matter what religion it practices. From my observation visits to these congregations I noticed, of late, a sad turn in the way people dress and act in these holy congregations. Many who attend church believe it is the vehicle through which God deals with His people via preaching. Although many other may attend church for others reasons not well understood. All who have to the intention to show up to worship service at a congregation have the same reasons to pray and worship. The objective in going to church is to seek to build a relationship with God. Many people go to church to fulfill an obligation through some ritual and so are condensed to actions without meaning. Church worship is all about an encounter with God and others that changes who they are. The problem is much deeper than the time of the day. Showing up late to the service can mean lack of commitment to the congregation. But some are late because they want to skip the worship. They don’t want to have to stand there and sing the songs. They’d rather take their time getting to church and get there after the singing is over, and be in time for the sermon. They see the time of singing together as being optional and unimportant. For example, at the Pentecostal church I visited the pastor wasn’t even in the room during the singing. He showed up 40 minutes later when he appeared on stage to preach. This sends a message to the congregation that the singing is something that can be skipped. Unlike at Sacred Heart Parish the priest made it clear after people still showed up late, “its polite to stand at the back and not try and squeeze past people who are praying, listening, it’s disruptive.” Although many might have a reason why they are late, but from my observation to the three congregations it disturbed many. People might also arrive late thus they can make a grand entrance and be noticed. Their intentions could be comparable to those in Matt 6:5 “When you pray, you