September 7, 2024
While on vacation or traveling for business, finding a place to worship, especially when a tight schedule requires traveling on Sunday, can be a challenge. Yet, the worship and fellowship experienced on many of those occasions may be enhanced by the providential hand of God, opening the church doors we normally would not have opened, and by introducing us to new friends along the way.
In the days before internet, sometimes we got the Rand McNally Atlas out and tried to determine what town we would be near around 11 a.m., the “Baptist Hour.” On one occasion we enjoyed sweet fellowship and worship in a little Baptist church in a small coastal town in North Carolina and were able to make it to a ferry taking us to the Outer Banks on time. Some of these experiences were especially insightful for our children growing up.
In the summer of 1982, while Seminary students in Fort Worth, my wife and I participated in an eight-week church planting practicum in Washington State. One of the stops on the drive to the northwest was Albuquerque, N.M. On Sunday morning I got out the phone book early and started calling Southern Baptist churches listed in the Yellow Pages until someone answered the phone at one of them. It was the pastor, I explained we were traveling and asked for a recommendation. After inquiring where our hotel was, he said, “FBC of Albuquerque is where I would go if I were you.”
Upon arrival we went into an atrium to wait for an earlier service to end. There we met an elderly couple in their 80's, Harry and Alma Stagg. We discovered the Staggs had been in ministry and were natives of Louisiana. His lungs had been damaged by mustard gas while he was in the Army serving in Europe during WWI. Several years later in declining health, with his very survival in the balance, his doctor recommended they relocate to a dryer climate.
Moving to New Mexico, he became a missionary, church planter and pastor before accepting the position of executive director of the New Mexico Baptist Convention where he served from 1938-1968. We shared a time of prayer with them but not before he insisted I accompany him to his car where he gave me a copy of his biography. He lived to be 101, passing away in the year 2000. New Mexico was good for them, and they were good for New Mexico and their fellowship warmed the hearts of a young seminary couple!
On several occasions we chose churches along the way in advance by their reputation. This has included the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, S.C., Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C., and Westminster Chapel, London, U.K. In all the churches, their reputation of quality worship exceeded our expectations and helped us to honor the Lord through worship.
We have also used travel time to explore worship with different denominations on several occasions due to proximity. When the SBC was in Indianapolis several years ago, we stayed in a hotel adjoining the Episcopal Cathedral on Monument Circle. Without a car, we chose to attend the early service there before being picked up by one of my childhood friends to attend a later service at their Assembly of God Church. While in Washington, D.C. several years ago the closest church we could find near our hotel with an early service was the National Cathedral. What a magnificent edifice in which to worship, rich in tradition and history!
The internet has made it easier to find a house of worship while on the road. A few years ago, while in Vermont one Sunday, my hiking companions assigned me the task of finding a church. Scouring the internet, I found one about 15 minutes away in the small town of Pittsfield, Vt., that had an early service. It was a “Federated” church, which meant several churches of different denominations combined when the town’s population declined. We met in a beautiful old white frame building which had been built when the community was more prosperous.
There were 15 of us in worship that morning, and as it turned out, five of us were from Georgia. Arguably 16 if you include Alan Jackson. The church did not have a pianist and they sang along with recorded music. A teenage girl sitting by her mother near the front got excited when the lay pastor, with a broad grin across his face, announced the next hymn was off Alan Jackson’s gospel album. Alan led and we followed. After the service there was cake and coffee in the social hall. As it turns out, that humble worship service was one of the highlights of our trip!
Finally, if all else fails, try following the bells. I was in London in the fall of 2019, shortly before COVID raised its ugly head. I was hoping to attend Saint Paul’s Cathedral before visiting other sites in that area. The trip on the subway took longer than expected and when I exited the station by the Cathedral, I discovered I was too late. I wanted to attend worship somewhere. As I emerged from the station and was considering other options, the air was filled with the sound of powerful pealing bells. I decided to follow them and a few blocks over discovered the Saint Vedast Alias-Foster Anglican Church. It was in an unassuming building on the outside which hid a remarkably beautiful sanctuary within.
The building, like nearby Saint Paul’s Cathedral, had been designed by the famous architect Christopher Wren following the Great London Fire of 1666. It, like the church in Pittsfield, Vt., had 15 people in the service that morning. It proved to be one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had visiting any church.
What are the tips for finding churches while traveling?
Atlas (hardcopy or online), the Yellow Pages, reputation, proximity, internet and if all else fails, follow the bells.
One thing all the worship experiences had in common, regardless of the number in attendance, building, and across denominational lines, was the Lord was present in each one of them. Finding a place to worship while traveling will honor the Lord and may help you growdeeper in your appreciation of faith, fellowship, and worship in ways you cannot imagine.
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Charles Jones is a Southern Baptist historian and a retired pastor.
