An Ode to Church Shopping

Christmas Eve Church Service 2011:
Brian's first, and sadly, perfect comment for the evening when we walked through the church doors was, "Is it Halloween?" 

The church lobby was dark but "decorated" with fake snow (which was the same sorta cotton used to make spiderwebs on Halloween), multi-colored lights, props of Christmas (like presents and christmas trees), and a person in a Grinch outfit.  All the kids cringed when they saw the green monster standing front and center. It felt like I walked into a mall...or a haunted house?  I was so confused...we were in church, right?  ...where one learns about Jesus?

My inner monologue consisted of "just get in the auditorium...just make it to worship...you're almost there..."
And of course, the auditorium was FULL of those "Christers" (the people that only attend church on Christmas and Easter).  The first fifteen minutes of church were met with in-house announcements and handing out toys in a loud crinkly plastic wrapper for kids to play with during the service.  For those fifteen minutes, Piper was a little angel...after that, the church service finally got into the nitty gritty, and by then, Piper was ready to leave.  The timing did NOT work.

So in a nutshell, I missed a lot of the Christmas service, but I felt like I gained a lot of knowledge about how churches like to worship...and how the attendees of the church like to worship...(where I fall into the attendee category)

For example: In a church's quest to be a part of common culture, does the church have to incorporate society into church?
Like, why was the Grinch in the entryway?
Why do people make an effort to fill up the seats on Christmas and Easter?
tradition? or guilt?
OR gasp...how close am I to turning into a "Christer" when I get so easily annoyed and judgemental with how some preachers preach or how many things can distract me from talking to God at church?  And if I'm so distracted at church from God, and that's the overall purpose why I'm there, why should I go?  And if I don't go, I run the risk of defining my own Christianity - and doesn't THAT sound like an enticing snare!?
I could go on but I'll spare you the magnitude of my endless questions...

All of these questions make it even more important for me to embark upon a PROJECT this next year.  With it being 2012, I think it's time I sit down and research THE CHURCH.  What its purpose was Then and what its purpose is Now in my life...especially because our military life of moving is So non-traditional - and yet, Jesus was soooo non-traditional.  Just like Jesus, sometimes we have no place to lay our heads (either because the movers lost our bed or because we are in between locations and we haven't found a home yet...)

So my project will be an Ode to Church Shopping - I have so many thoughts, and not a lot of conclusions - so I look forward to the research.