Are Christian churches much more closed-off than other religions' places of worship?

[Kouyate42]

This is something which has bothered me and many others I know for some time, and I know I cannot tar all churches with one brush, but here goes.

A year ago I moved to where I’m living now, meaning I couldn’t keep attending my old church which is now some 12 miles from my house. I couldn’t justify driving that distance when there were closer similar churches to my house. And so I began attending a new one closer to home.

One thing that has struck me in attending this church is that when I first started attending, it often felt as though I was not welcomed or no attempt was made to ensure that new people were included as much in the participation of the service. Often, I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

This is an experience I’ve had repeated many times in different churches, and remains in stark contrast to the times Ive visited other places of worship and had the opposite experience. Both my local and university mosques are open to anyone who so wishes to visit, and those who attend services as non-Muslims in both of these are given a lot of help to ensure they understand the service and what goes on.

Same for the gudawara, Hindu temple and others I’ve visited. So why the insular nature of the church?

 

[Kristin234]

I think it just depends on the church and the people that attend it.

My church which is a non denominational church is very welcoming. We even have a guest area outside the church where guests can go to before or after the service to ask questions about the church.

My uncle is a Catholic priest and his parish is also very welcoming. If there is someone new multiple people will go up to them and welcome them, ask them questions, etc. I have been there a couple of times and the people have always been very friendly and welcoming even though they knew I wasn’t Catholic.

 

[AntalKalnoky]

As has been said, it all depends on the Church and Pastor. My Catholic Church is Very welcoming, as most of our Churches are. My new 1200 seat Church has tripled membership to 12,000 in 3 years, because of our Pastor. His policy has always been to say “Hi” to 3 people we don’t know; the entire Parish is one highly cooperating, helping each other “Big Family”, with now 60 organizations with same attitude. . :grouphug::tiphat: We can each start the process by simply nodding, saying “Hi” to anyone, Especially the Elderly and Handicapped. Can easily be done by a couple more people, with same attitude; Can become The Parish Attitude to Greet. Can start showing respect to the Pastor, thanking Him for His Work; takes 3 seconds.

 

[jmcrae]

One thing that has struck me in attending this church is that when I first started attending, it often felt as though I was not welcomed or no attempt was made to ensure that new people were included as much in the participation of the service. Often, I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

This is an experience I’ve had repeated many times in different churches, and remains in stark contrast to the times Ive visited other places of worship and had the opposite experience. Both my local and university mosques are open to anyone who so wishes to visit, and those who attend services as non-Muslims in both of these are given a lot of help to ensure they understand the service and what goes on.

Same for the gudawara, Hindu temple and others I’ve visited. So why the insular nature of the church?

Is it possible that, in every case, people are simply assuming that you are a Christian?

Muslims and Hindus look at you, assume you are a Christian, and rush to help you because they know you will be unfamiliar with their ways.

Christians look at you, assume you are a Christian, and don’t rush to help you because they assume that you already know what’s going on.

Just a thought.

 

[familyof4]

I think, as others have said, it depends on the church. My current parish is very accepting, and even did a “mini-course” over the span of a couple of months with ideas about how we can create an even better community within our parish. One of the ideas was to make sure if we saw someone we didn’t know, to welcome them!

I’ve visited the non-Catholic churches of friends and family over the years, and found them to have the same kinds of practices. Some churches are very welcoming, and hope you will stay and learn more and others could care less.

 

[meltzerboy]

This is something which has bothered me and many others I know for some time, and I know I cannot tar all churches with one brush, but here goes.

A year ago I moved to where I’m living now, meaning I couldn’t keep attending my old church which is now some 12 miles from my house. I couldn’t justify driving that distance when there were closer similar churches to my house. And so I began attending a new one closer to home.

One thing that has struck me in attending this church is that when I first started attending, it often felt as though I was not welcomed or no attempt was made to ensure that new people were included as much in the participation of the service. Often, I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

This is an experience I’ve had repeated many times in different churches, and remains in stark contrast to the times Ive visited other places of worship and had the opposite experience. Both my local and university mosques are open to anyone who so wishes to visit, and those who attend services as non-Muslims in both of these are given a lot of help to ensure they understand the service and what goes on.

Same for the gudawara, Hindu temple and others I’ve visited. So why the insular nature of the church?

Well, many synagogues are literally closed-off, locked and gated when not in use. I realize this is for security purposes since we live in a very sick world. Still, I’ve always admired churches, which are open most of the time for anyone to walk in and pray without a bodily inspection. Once inside, however, I agree with regard to synagogues that it varies from one to another. Probably Conservative and Reform temples are in general more welcoming than Orthodox, because if one attends an Orthodox Jewish service, it is assumed one knows something about the customs already, and also that one is not there to mix worship with socializing.

 

[AntalKalnoky]

Sorry I exagerrate! [SIGN] Takes a second or two to (1) Nod, (2) say Hi[/SIGN] small Nod quadruples the catchy greeting, unmistakeably. :hey_bud:npatrol:

 

[corsair]

I can understand why you may not have been able to understand what was going on. Its like anything else, you learn by doing at least a minimum amout of study. You need to have a basic level of knowledge to comprehend anything. You can’t get it by just going in and expecting others to get it for you.

as far as a welcoming is concerned do like others have suggested. smile and just walk up to someone and introduce yourself. Its really very easy.

 

[CopticChristian]

This is something which has bothered me and many others I know for some time, and I know I cannot tar all churches with one brush, but here goes.

A year ago I moved to where I’m living now, meaning I couldn’t keep attending my old church which is now some 12 miles from my house. I couldn’t justify driving that distance when there were closer similar churches to my house. And so I began attending a new one closer to home.

One thing that has struck me in attending this church is that when I first started attending, it often felt as though I was not welcomed or no attempt was made to ensure that new people were included as much in the participation of the service. Often, I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

This is an experience I’ve had repeated many times in different churches, and remains in stark contrast to the times Ive visited other places of worship and had the opposite experience. Both my local and university mosques are open to anyone who so wishes to visit, and those who attend services as non-Muslims in both of these are given a lot of help to ensure they understand the service and what goes on.

Same for the gudawara, Hindu temple and others I’ve visited. So why the insular nature of the church?

This is a question with a generalization that is not defined. The insular nature of the church requires a definition of what you believe the church to be. No answer needed.

Your choices in choosing a Church that would be called Christian would be

Orthodox
Catholic
Protestant (to include non-denominational)

Orhtodox Churches are usually ethnic and if you don’t look or speak Serbian you would stand out and be welcome but certainly be different.

Catholic Churches can be cultural and the varying experiences would be within the framework of the unvarying sacrifice of the mass.

Protestant Churches in my experience are usually filled with smiles and greetings and if you are not known there are usually people that will make you feel comfortable. The basic experiences will be within the realm of Anglican/Episcopalian, Calinisitc/Reformed/ Lutheran, Methodist/holiness/Pentacostal or Baptist.

If you are not looking at these churches as to what they teach and believe that would be a good start. The Old Covenant was not as you know, lets find a temple that makes us feel welcome, rather lets fulfill our requirement to give to God what it is we need to as a result of the Old Covenant. Recall the Samaritan woman, we worship on this hill…we worship what we know,you worship what you don’t know.

Pray, ask the Spirit to lead you to what it is as you learn will bring you closer to the Truth of Christianity and if isn’t warm and fuzzy and you know it is correct then keep honoring, worshiping and praying. Only you will know.

 

[Cat]

But here’s the problem. Some people are very uncomfortable when strangers come up to them, shake their hands, greet them, sometimes even hug them (eugh!), and ask them personal questions such as, “Are you visiting today? Do you live in this city?” “Is there anything I can help you with?” “Do you need information about our church?” etc.

A lot of people who attend church (Catholic, Protestant–I can’t speak for the Orthodox) just want to be left alone.

They are NOT interested in being greeted, welcomed, hugged, shook by the hand, or in any other way acknowledged.

I think a lot of friendly people in churches discover this the hard way when they try to greet one of these solitary types. It stings to be rebuffed when you were just trying to be friendly. It’s enough to scare a person away from ever greeting anyone again. They might nod and give you a slight smile, but that’s as much as they feel comfortable and safe with.

Sorry to say this, but nowadays if you want someone in any given church to talk to you, then it’s up to YOU to start the conversation. It shouldn’t be that way, but once burned, twice wary.

 

[Contarini]

This is something which has bothered me and many others I know for some time, and I know I cannot tar all churches with one brush, but here goes.

A year ago I moved to where I’m living now, meaning I couldn’t keep attending my old church which is now some 12 miles from my house. I couldn’t justify driving that distance when there were closer similar churches to my house. And so I began attending a new one closer to home.

One thing that has struck me in attending this church is that when I first started attending, it often felt as though I was not welcomed or no attempt was made to ensure that new people were included as much in the participation of the service. Often, I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

This is an experience I’ve had repeated many times in different churches, and remains in stark contrast to the times Ive visited other places of worship and had the opposite experience. Both my local and university mosques are open to anyone who so wishes to visit, and those who attend services as non-Muslims in both of these are given a lot of help to ensure they understand the service and what goes on.

Same for the gudawara, Hindu temple and others I’ve visited. So why the insular nature of the church?

A lot of this is because these are immigrant communities very aware of their minority status and very concerned to establish good relations with outsiders.

My experience is that in fact mosques prefer to know in advance if visitors are coming (admittedly, my experience is of taking fairly large groups of students) and act rather put off if you don’t give that prior notice. Jewish synagogues can be quite protective of their privacy, since in many ways their worship is more like a family gathering than what we think of as church (they aren’t interested in proselytizing).

I believe that in India Hindu temples are closed to non-Hindus–at least the central areas are.

I would say that actually Christian churches are more welcoming of visitors than are the meeting places of many other religions. That’s the nice side of what non-Christians find to be the extremely obnoxious Christian mandate toward evangelization/proselytizing.

I think that you’re simply observing the consequences of Christian majority status. Christians assume that everyone basically knows what a Christian church is and what is going on.

Edwin

 

[AntalKalnoky]

But here’s the problem. Some people are very uncomfortable when strangers come up to them, shake their hands, greet them, sometimes even hug them (eugh!), and ask them personal questions such as, “Are you visiting today? Do you live in this city?” “Is there anything I can help you with?” “Do you need information about our church?” etc.

A lot of people who attend church (Catholic, Protestant–I can’t speak for the Orthodox) just want to be left alone.

They are NOT interested in being greeted, welcomed, hugged, shook by the hand, or in any other way acknowledged.

I think a lot of friendly people in churches discover this the hard way when they try to greet one of these solitary types. It stings to be rebuffed when you were just trying to be friendly. It’s enough to scare a person away from ever greeting anyone again. They might nod and give you a slight smile, but that’s as much as they feel comfortable and safe with.

Sorry to say this, but nowadays if you want someone in any given church to talk to you, then it’s up to YOU to start the conversation. It shouldn’t be that way, but once burned, twice wary.

The best way to interact is simply Nod a greeting: “Hi”, or “Welcome”, “God Bless”, at least occassionally, especially the handicapped. It may even bring an acknowledement nod from the most solitary, who are the most isolated in life. We should not have an attitude to be left alone, leave alone. Such a Basic greeting may open to discusion, by Them. We should never interogate anyone entering Church. The Basic Nod with smile is The way, not to distract.

 

[AntalKalnoky]

This is a question with a generalization that is not defined. The insular nature of the church requires a definition of what you believe the church to be. No answer needed.

Your choices in choosing a Church that would be called Christian would be

Orthodox
Catholic
Protestant (to include non-denominational)

Orhtodox Churches are usually ethnic and if you don’t look or speak Serbian you would stand out and be welcome but certainly be different.

Catholic Churches can be cultural and the varying experiences would be within the framework of the unvarying sacrifice of the mass.

Protestant Churches in my experience are usually filled with smiles and greetings and if you are not known there are usually people that will make you feel comfortable. The basic experiences will be within the realm of Anglican/Episcopalian, Calinisitc/Reformed/ Lutheran, Methodist/holiness/Pentacostal or Baptist.

If you are not looking at these churches as to what they teach and believe that would be a good start. The Old Covenant was not as you know, lets find a temple that makes us feel welcome, rather lets fulfill our requirement to give to God what it is we need to as a result of the Old Covenant. Recall the Samaritan woman, we worship on this hill…we worship what we know,you worship what you don’t know.

Pray, ask the Spirit to lead you to what it is as you learn will bring you closer to the Truth of Christianity and if isn’t warm and fuzzy and you know it is correct then keep honoring, worshiping and praying. Only you will know.

Attending a “Protestant” service is no way to find Christ Nor Christianity. They have Thousands of sects, men’s ideas about serrvice, even the Bible; they number less than one-third of all “Christians” in thev world, and are not growing. Only the Catholic Church Is The Church Of Christ, and Growing worldwide, And has the 2000 year old “Last Supper Feast” and Real Presence Eucharist. The Only one With Christ There.

Christ is The Celebrant of the Mass, through the Priest, awesome to note the details. And Masses are the same Any part of the world, being 2000 years old.

 

[JonNC]

This is something which has bothered me and many others I know for some time, and I know I cannot tar all churches with one brush, but here goes.

A year ago I moved to where I’m living now, meaning I couldn’t keep attending my old church which is now some 12 miles from my house. I couldn’t justify driving that distance when there were closer similar churches to my house. And so I began attending a new one closer to home.

One thing that has struck me in attending this church is that when I first started attending, it often felt as though I was not welcomed or no attempt was made to ensure that new people were included as much in the participation of the service. Often, I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

When we moved to NC, we visited the LCMS parish in this community, as the closest ELCA parish was more than 30 miles off. We sought no further in large part because of the warm friendly nature of the congregation. Of course, there were other reasons that drew me to the LCMS, and away from the ELCA, but that’s another thread. lol

The uniformity of Lutheran liturgy makes it easy for Lutherans to visit other parishes, even accross synodical lines. For others, however, it can be difficult to follow, even when spelled out in the bulletin. As a result, one will often see members assist non-Lutheran visitors in following the order of worship.

In short, and has been said, I think it just depends on the parish/congregation.

Jon

 

[PJM]

=Kouyate42;8212015]This is something which has bothered me and many others I know for some time, and I know I cannot tar all churches with one brush, but here goes.

A year ago I moved to where I’m living now, meaning I couldn’t keep attending my old church which is now some 12 miles from my house. I couldn’t justify driving that distance when there were closer similar churches to my house. And so I began attending a new one closer to home.

One thing that has struck me in attending this church is that when I first started attending, it often felt as though I was not welcomed or no attempt was made to ensure that new people were included as much in the participation of the service. Often, I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

This is an experience I’ve had repeated many times in different churches, and remains in stark contrast to the times Ive visited other places of worship and had the opposite experience. Both my local and university mosques are open to anyone who so wishes to visit, and those who attend services as non-Muslims in both of these are given a lot of help to ensure they understand the service and what goes on.

Same for the gudawara, Hindu temple and others I’ve visited. So why the insular nature of the church?

I have NOT heard this about Christian churches, BUT heard it often when I was teaching our Catholic faith for about 20 years. Especially in my association with RCIA.

Protestant communities seem to place a FAR Greater emphasis on “community” aspects of worship, than we Catholics.

The reason for this is simple and SIMPLY PROFOUND. In MOST [ought to be ALL] Catholic Churches can be found the Reserved Presence of Jesus Christ; our God. Really, Truly present in His Now Glorified Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

Second our Mass is a three-way sacrament:

It is a Sacrifice sacrament of God, By God and For God [through His Priest]

It is a Communion Sacrament wherein we Catholics have the the MOST intimate relationshop with our God; a litteral FORETASE of heaven in receiving Jesus our Lord.

It is a Worship Sacrament. Because this IS God, we are obligated to give Worship, Honor and Praise to Him.

THESE THREE aspects which are the “Sum and Summit” of our Catholic Faith require that our Church and Mass be Focused on God, not each other [even though :the spirit of" Vatical II is trying to change this].

We do have fellowship and many CC haw have greeters at the door to welcome tose comming in. Our fellowship by necessity takes place OUTSIDE of our Godly worship and we try to to confuse the two.

God Bless, Pat

 

[AntalKalnoky]

I have NOT heard this about Christian churches, BUT heard it often when I was teaching our Catholic faith for about 20 years. Especially in my association with RCIA.

Protestant communities seem to place a FAR Greater emphasis on “community” aspects of worship, than we Catholics.

The reason for this is simple and SIMPLY PROFOUND. In MOST [ought to be ALL] Catholic Churches can be found the Reserved Presence of Jesus Christ; our God. Really, Truly present in His Now Glorified Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

Second our Mass is a three-way sacrament:

It is a Sacrifice sacrament of God, By God and For God [through His Priest]

It is a Communion Sacrament wherein we Catholics have the the MOST intimate relationshop with our God; a litteral FORETASE of heaven in receiving Jesus our Lord.

It is a Worship Sacrament. Because this IS God, we are obligated to give Worship, Honor and Praise to Him.

THESE THREE aspects which are the “Sum and Summit” of our Catholic Faith require that our Church and Mass be Focused on God, not each other [even though :the spirit of" Vatical II is trying to change this].

We do have fellowship and many CC haw have greeters at the door to welcome tose comming in. Our fellowship by necessity takes place OUTSIDE of our Godly worship and we try to to confuse the two.

God Bless, Pat

Thanks for your great post! Vatican II is not trying to change Any Basics; Know Friday Abstinence is still Catholic Practise and Cannon Law, since the First Century? Not anough people know, since the confusion, based on Self-Centered Secular Media, as Cardinal Ratzinger said, that resulted after Vatican II, as after every Church Council, including the First: “The Council of Jerusalem”. Know that the “Novus Ordo” Mass is based in the great Research about the Earliest Mass, and Follows it, including the “Sign Of Peace” initiated by the Apostles? And the last 2 Popes have Focused on Communion On the Tongue? Etc., Etc. Watch EWTN or EWTN.Com to observe 3 times daily Conventual Mass, and Papal Masses Soon at World Youth Day, etc., etc.

Indeed, the Historic Mother Angelica brought focus on Traditions like The Habit, Gregorian Chant, etc., etc back. It is now All Media, Every part of the world as only a spiffy Nun can do, begining with Nothing but Our Lord/the Holy Spirit in her Soul. :nun1::nun2::heaven:

 

[PJM]

=AntalKalnoky;8225542]Thanks for your great post! Vatican II is not trying to change Any Basics; Know Friday Abstinence is still Catholic Practise and Cannon Law, since the First Century? Not anough people know, since the confusion, based on Self-Centered Secular Media, as Cardinal Ratzinger said, that resulted after Vatican II, as after every Church Council, including the First: “The Council of Jerusalem”. Know that the “Novus Ordo” Mass is based in the great Research about the Earliest Mass, and Follows it, including the “Sign Of Peace” initiated by the Apostles? And the last 2 Popes have Focused on Communion On the Tongue? Etc., Etc. Watch EWTN or EWTN.Com to observe 3 times daily Conventual Mass, and Papal Masses Soon at World Youth Day, etc., etc.

Indeed, the Historic Mother Angelica brought focus on Traditions like The Habit, Gregorian Chant, etc., etc back. It is now All Media, Every part of the world as only a spiffy Nun can do, begining with Nothing but Our Lord/the Holy Spirit in her Soul. :nun1::nun2::heaven:

I watch EWTN Mass nearly everyday as I’m mostly home bound. LOVE IT:thumbsup:

I have and have read all of the Cincilliar and Post Concilliar documents of Vatican II. It’s that darn "spirit of Vatican II that has wrought such unsought changes.

God Bless you,
Pat

 

[AntalKalnoky]

I watch EWTN Mass nearly everyday as I’m mostly home bound. LOVE IT:thumbsup:

I have and have read all of the Cincilliar and Post Concilliar documents of Vatican II. It’s that darn "spirit of Vatican II that has wrought such unsought changes.

God Bless you,
Pat

Exactly! It’s the Confusion by what many thought Vatican II was trying to do; the incorrect misunderstandings. The results were very numerous: Confused and even incorrect Catechesis in the 1970’s, even in Seminaries and Convents. I know more than one Seminarrian and even a Sister who left their calling, because of incorrect Catechesis. The Sister left her order because the Order went overboard in changing the daily Liturgy, habit, etc. She continued the old daily Liturgy, and lived as a Music Teacher. She told me The Order left Her. Our Traditional Diocese has seen a record-setting growth in vocations the last 2 years, as has our new Mega-Church. :getholy:

• Am very traditional myself, as is my only 10 year old new Parish, now Mega-Church. After each Mass, the Priest says the same Prayers as on traditional EWTN. Am watching the brilliant Jesuit Fr Mitch Pacwa now, who Mother Angelica asked to fill in for her (Masterfully, as instructive, thought provoking as Mother, although not as Humerous). We also have a Ghanaian Priest here on Month Vacation, visting his Mom. Our Pastor asks him to co-celebrate Mass.
  

                                                                                                                        Very  luckily,  Mother  Angelica's  worldwide  EWTN,    And  the  last   2    Historic    Holy    Father's   are  slowly    Returning more Traditions.    Traditions    see  Growth in participation,  the  'new  ideas'  no-habit  orders   are  disappearing,  because unattractive to  our  Young.  Orders are    slowly  returning to  Traditions  from 'new   ideas'.  The  Great  Growth  in The Church are  where  we  have been weakest:  Africa  and  Asia.

  God Bless you, Pat, and all Searching for Truth, and the True Lord. Vivat Jesu, Tony

 

[PJM]

=AntalKalnoky;8228055]Exactly! It’s the Confusion by what many thought Vatican II was trying to do; the incorrect misunderstandings. The results were very numerous: Confused and even incorrect Catechesis in the 1970’s, even in Seminaries and Convents. I know more than one Seminarrian and even a Sister who left their calling, because of incorrect Catechesis. The Sister left her order because the Order went overboard in changing the daily Liturgy, habit, etc. She continued the old daily Liturgy, and lived as a Music Teacher. She told me The Order left Her. Our Traditional Diocese has seen a record-setting growth in vocations the last 2 years, as has our new Mega-Church. :getholy:

• Am very traditional myself, as is my only 10 year old new Parish, now Mega-Church. After each Mass, the Priest says the same Prayers as on traditional EWTN. Am watching the brilliant Jesuit Fr Mitch Pacwa now, who Mother Angelica asked to fill in for her (Masterfully, as instructive, thought provoking as Mother, although not as Humerous). We also have a Ghanaian Priest here on Month Vacation, visting his Mom. Our Pastor asks him to co-celebrate Mass.

                                                                                                                        Very  luckily,  Mother  Angelica's  worldwide  EWTN,    And  the  last   2    Historic    Holy    Father's   are  slowly    Returning more Traditions.    Traditions    see  Growth in participation,  the  'new  ideas'  no-habit  orders   are  disappearing,  because unattractive to  our  Young.  Orders are    slowly  returning to  Traditions  from 'new   ideas'.  The  Great  Growth  in The Church are  where  we  have been weakest:  Africa  and  Asia.

God Bless you, Pat, and all Searching for Truth, and the True Lord. Vivat Jesu, Tony

My cloeset friend [former teacher] and my mentor for more than 50 years left the Bothers of Holy Cross, who too went very liberal.

I LOVE ather Mitch’s Mass and homilies And it’s GREAT seeing Jesuit who actually IS a Jesuit

God Bless you,
Pat.

 

[Kouyate42]

This is a question with a generalization that is not defined. The insular nature of the church requires a definition of what you believe the church to be. No answer needed.

Your choices in choosing a Church that would be called Christian would be

Orthodox
Catholic
Protestant (to include non-denominational)

Orhtodox Churches are usually ethnic and if you don’t look or speak Serbian you would stand out and be welcome but certainly be different.

Catholic Churches can be cultural and the varying experiences would be within the framework of the unvarying sacrifice of the mass.

I can only speak for the handful of Orthodox churches I’ve been to, but the ethnic lines of these churches are mainly historical rather than anything to do with the church today. I know that many of the attendees of my local Greek Orthodox church aren’t from Greek families. Similarly, I’ve been told that even where the language is different, it is more than possible for an Orthodox person to attend an Orthodox church in another language and still be able to follow the service.

If you are not looking at these churches as to what they teach and believe that would be a good start. The Old Covenant was not as you know, lets find a temple that makes us feel welcome, rather lets fulfill our requirement to give to God what it is we need to as a result of the Old Covenant. Recall the Samaritan woman, we worship on this hill…we worship what we know,you worship what you don’t know.

Major thing is that in the times of the Old Covenant, there was ONE Temple and ONE Temple service, which everyone knew and was able to follow, and so it was easy for someone coming from even the furthest parts of Israel to come to Jerusalem and come to the Temple. And because everyone followed the same service, everyone could understand.

It’s the same now if you go to any Orthodox Jewish service. There are minor differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardi services, but these are usually so minor that they make little or no difference, and these services have remained largely unchanged for a few centuries at least.

Now there’s a 1001 different church service types and if you’re not familiar with that specific church and service type, it can prove a frustrating and ultimately disheartening experience and it will ultimately turn people away.

Also, I once heard a preacher say ‘90% of the work of the church is done by 10% of the people’’. I cannot speak with all churches, but in the case of one church I attended some time ago, this sort of situation happened because the small group of (IMO anyway) self-righteous attendees took it upon themselves to do everything, mostly to make themselves look ‘pious’ and any attempt to get involved in that church by an outsider was met with harsh criticism. I was particularly disheartened because I felt at the time called to serve in some way, in my case in the worship team. But it seemed easier to join the Secret Service.
Fact is that if a person attending a church feels that they are not part of a body of worshipers, they will simply not go to church, and if a church is both insular in nature but also the nature of the worshipers is also insular, then ultimately a worshiper is lost to the practicing body of Christians.