Since we arrived in England, Scott and I have been attending church in central London at one of two churches. This has proven difficult at times (particularly in the midst of pregnancy sickness, heat and pregnancy combinations, and new baby schedules) so on several occasions we have attempted to find a more local church to attend. However, it has seemed that every church in Croydon that we attended appeared to have a very Pentecostal influence (though none of them were supposedly Pentecostal churches) and therefore ended up being out of our comfort zone. After getting discouraged, we'd start heading back into the city again. We have never been happy with this set up, however, because it makes it very difficult to get involved with the church, particularly with mid-week activities and therefore has been difficult meeting people. And so the search for a local church has continued.

A couple of days ago, I walked down a road near our home that I had never been down and, lo and behold, there was a Baptist church. Eureka! Surely this church won't have any speaking in tongues or people falling on the ground etc... I was excited and quickly called Scott and we planned to attend today. And it was only a 5 minute walk from our home so it would be very easy to get involved. If only I knew what I was getting us into...

This morning we dressed for church (in much dressier attire than normal because it is my philosophy that it is always better to be overdressed than underdressed when visiting a church for the first time) and headed to this church. When we opened the outside door, we were greeted by a bulletin board with different flyers and announcements hanging up. We instantly became a bit anxious when we noticed several things saying "Strict Baptist." Okay, so this church will probably be a bit more conservative than we are used to, but we can handle conservative. (After all, we went to Harding - and loved it!) :) I then opened the door to the auditorium and this is what I found:

- The church appeared to consist of about 15 people (a lot smaller than we would like)
- Everybody in the church was over the age of 60 (not ideal - especially since we have a kid - but we like old people)
- I was the only woman NOT wearing a hat (uh oh)
- Scott was the only man NOT in a suit and tie (uh oh)
- We were wearing blues, greens, and khakis; everybody else was wearing blacks and grays (what is this, a funeral?!)
- The 15 people were scattered around the church, sitting apart from each other and nobody was talking or visiting or smiling (church had not yet started - YIKES!)
- There was a man sitting up front who seemed to glower at us when we looked like we were going to enter. Maybe this was because we were wearing colors. Maybe this was because we were young. Maybe this was because we spoke to each other. Maybe this was because I had a baby strapped to the front of me. Maybe this was because I didn't have a hat and Scott didn't have a tie. I am not sure of the reason but it was not inviting.

Needless to say, we shut the door and left without even getting a foot into the auditorium. I have never walked into such an unfriendly environment that was supposed to be a church. *sigh* Guess we will be back up in central London again next week.