What takeaways does David Boice have from attending more than 104 churches? The author and host of 52 Churches in 52 Weeks will tell us, and also tell us what ideas he has for a future project. Check out our conversation….
Takeaways from 104 Churches
Interview
GT 00:28 Are there any other takeaways? Has your spirituality increased, decreased, going to these 100+ churches?
David 00:38 Yes, I will say, when I did it, the first time I compare it to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Daniel Chapter 3) I felt like my faith was on fire when I was doing it. One of the tricky things that happened, when I stopped doing it the first time, was then I started to go–I was so high, with all the novelty of it, that when I stopped, then things went down.
GT 01:02 Right.
David 01:02 And I think one of the biggest takeaways from that is the importance of church community. Because I’m seeing all these different churches I am observing. But I’m not really getting the full church community. And so afterwards, with this current 52 Churches in 52 Weeks, that was one thing I was looking more for: Let me plug into a church afterwards. Let me get that church community and get a better sense of that. That is a lot more difficult than I thought, especially from my faith background.
GT 01:41 Especially from the LDS, we’re always like, are you going to join? Are you going to join? Do you have any affinity towards any of these, Baptists, Pentecostal, Episcopal, anything like that? Catholic?
David 01:51 It’s interesting after doing this now, because before, I termed myself as inter-denominational. So, with all these different denominations, I want to be as open and welcoming as possible. Now, after completing this, I feel like this blender of appreciation for all these different types of churches, for those that I found a lot of appreciation with. Now, I’m like, what am I? Am I 70% Protestant, 20% Latter Day Saint, 10% Catholic, maybe 1% Seventh Day Adventist? I don’t know. It a mix…
GT 02:39 Well, you didn’t say Lutheran in there. I thought that would be in there.
David 02:41 I guess, with Protestant. I’m just grouping in all the Protestant denominations.
GT 02:46 Uh huh.
David 02:46 But it’s interesting after completing that, because I see something really, really good, like from LDS, from a family aspect. But then I look also at maybe a different church over here, with Roman Catholics, I see the appreciation that they have for all these senses, and how that impacts spirituality. Then, I see all these different types of Protestant views, with the Pentecostals and the snake handling. I’m not saying I’m going to turn [to] snake handling or hold a snake anytime, ever, ever. Yeah. {Rick laughing}
GT 03:26 You’re like Indiana Jones?
David 03:27 Yeah. But you see different things. And then you also empathize with some of the struggles that some of these churches are going through, as well. And I feel like with my channel, especially for those that may be going through a faith crisis, I at least hope that it helps people just to see what else is out there. Because it’s easy for me, as a first-time visitor, of course, as a newcomer, it’s going to be a positive experience for the most part, because you’re not seeing the warts. You’re not seeing the bad. You’re seeing everything good. But I don’t know where I was finishing with that thought. You become a little bit of everything, I feel, when you see so much.
GT 04:09 So are you going to continue with a third 52 weeks? Or are you just going to your Lutheran Church? Or what are you doing now?[1]
David 04:16 That’s a big question. With a third one, I’m playing around with different ideas. Because it is expensive, it takes up a lot of time. I basically have to throw away my personal life. I can’t watch football on the weekends, with all the traveling. I’d like to live. And with the amount of effort that goes into it, if I did it a third time, I’d have to be a little bit more nuanced about it. I’ve played around with different ideas. I’ll share it with you.
GT 04:48 Okay.
David 04:48 Okay.
GT 04:49 Is this breaking news?
David 04:50 Well, maybe breaking news, {Rick laughing} but this is just me brainstorming if I did a third 52 Churches in 52 Weeks. One idea is just like I’ve always done it: just go to a different denomination each week. Another idea I’ve had is to do a 52 Churches in 52 Weeks that would be specifically all Book of Mormon believing churches.
GT 04:52 Oh.
David 04:52 Where it would start off with the four corners churches, Palmyra (NY) area and just follow the track of the pioneers.
GT 05:05 Now wait a minute, the four corners, you’re talking, because, there’s a Presbyterian Church, Baptist, Methodist. I can’t remember what the other one is.
David 05:27 I don’t know what those are. Yeah, but I’ve seen….
GT 05:30 You would go to those first and then go into the Book of Mormon.
David 05:33 Yeah.
GT 05:33 Okay.
David 05:34 Just see and go through the pioneer….
GT 05:37 So restoration, 52 Restoration Churches.
David 05:40 And see different Restoration Churches, as well, that broke off after the succession crisis.
GT 05:44 I want to tag along, but this is a lot of work. I know it is.
David 05:47 Yeah. It’d be a ton of work. I don’t live in the area, to really make it work. But that has been an idea I have had. Another one would be like 52 Churches in 52 Weeks that would look into the different presidents of the United States. So, right now we’re at 46 with President Biden.
GT 06:06 Right.
David 06:07 But that could be something where I would have to do: Church one, would be any church that was affiliated with George Washington, or church 16 with Abraham Lincoln. What church is he most associated with? So, I’d try and find some type of link to the different presidents. And then another a fourth idea…
GT 06:29 Richard Nixon was a Quaker. Have you been to a Quaker church yet?
David 06:32 I’ve been to two of them.
GT 06:33 Oh, okay.
David 06:34 Yeah. So very interesting, because it’s very, very quiet.
GT 06:37 Yeah.
David 06:37 I didn’t know that, that’s interesting.
GT 06:41 Hmm.
David 06:43 But obviously, what we’ve only had 46 presidents. So, if I would complete the 52 churches, it would probably be another 20 or 30 years, before I could complete it. And, you know, if by that time the country hasn’t blown up.
GT 06:58 Maybe.
David 06:59 Right, And then the last one was to do like a 52 Churches in 52 Weeks, centered on all churches that MLK (Martin Luther King) spoke at.
GT 07:08 Oh.
David 07:10 I don’t know. I’ve done no research on this to even know what churches he would have attended. But I have to research just to figure out here’s what happened. Here’s this church…
GT 07:21 You’ve got Atlanta, Memphis for sure. Right?
David 07:25 Memphis would have to be up there. Yeah. Those are a couple of ideas I’ve played around with if I would do a third one.
GT 07:32 Wow, well, very good. What else are we missing? Oh, temples. You could do 52 Temples in 52 Weeks. {Both laughing}
David 07:46 That’d be, yeah, well, I’m in Wisconsin. Wisconsin doesn’t have a temple anyway.
GT 07:50 Are you sure?
David 07:51 That would be very difficult.
GT 07:52 I think there’s going to be one in Madison. If not, I’m surprised.[2]
David 07:57 Oh really, I have not heard.
GT 07:58 Yeah. Have you been to every state?
David 08:04 No.
GT 08:06 You’ve missed Alaska and Hawaii.
David 08:08 Yeah.
GT 08:08 But any others? You’ve been to a lot of states.
David 08:12 I’ve been to several. Yeah.
GT 08:13 Do you have any idea how many? In the 30s?
David 08:19 I’d say probably close to 30. Between 25 to 29. But that’s close.
GT 08:25 Oh, okay. There’s got to be one in Milwaukee. We could look for that. We’ll look that up later.
David 08:32 Yeah.
GT 08:35 What are your overall thoughts about Restoration Churches? It sounds like you like them.
David 08:40 Yeah.
GT 08:41 Are they your favorite branch?
David 08:44 I wouldn’t say favorite, but I’ve gained so much appreciation for Restoration Churches. Because that was one of the things that I found most interesting was the people. Whether it was my very first LDS Ward visit, or if it was the Strangite Church, or if it was the Church of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon Rally, meeting members with Community of Christ, especially with JWHA and those that I’ve engaged in different talks just outside of the channel, it’s the level of the kindness, the genuine appreciation from members. I’ve gained a lot of respect for. I hope with my videos, it had a huge influence on my videos, because I could be very judgmental or critical in the early days, but it fine-tuned me. In a weird way, Restoration Churches changed my channel….
GT 08:45 Oh.
David 08:45 …to make it much more engaging, much more thoughtful, much more understanding of what other people believe, even though it may be different beliefs. It’s that acceptance and that’s where I really found much, much appreciation with any type of Latter Day Saint, whether it was LDS, whether it was Strangite, or whether it was Community of Christ, that’s why I really found to appreciate it.
GT 10:06 Well, that’s cool. I think, this applies not just to the LDS community, but Community of Christ and these other Restoration groups. I don’t know how much knowledge you have of our history; we have a very persecuted history.
David 10:24 Oh yeah.
GT 10:25 So, the fact that a Protestant is nice to us, we’re like, “I like this guy!” We’re seeking validation so much. Have you had a lot of pushback from Protestants or Evangelicals saying, “Why do you care about that Book of Mormon church? They’re not Christians.”
David 10:46 Yeah. Typically, in the comments, you have those persecution type of statements. The frustrating thing, sometimes, that I’ll see is the blanket cliché, insults. “It’s a cult. Run away!” All that kind of stuff. But there’s no nuance. There’s no thought behind it. Sometimes you may have other critics, or they’ll just throw out their ammunition of Bible passages. And “God has spoken. Now I’m going to leave the room and leave the comments.” I see that happen, as well. And I think, especially learning Latter Day Saint history, especially with the pioneers and the persecution, and everything that happened with Joseph Smith, and everything with Nauvoo, and the killings and all that, you start to see just how negative that persecution can happen. I think one of the things I noticed is just the resolve, especially seeing it now, what 200 years later, since the movement first started, is just the people do not lower themselves. Latter-day Saints do not lower themselves to the same type of insult. It was interesting at General Conference. We haven’t visited that. We haven’t even brought that up.
GT 10:49 That was one of your big ones. Yeah.
David 12:09 Yeah, we haven’t even brought that up. Because with General Conference, I saw all these street preachers. On Saturday, I walked in as a Latter-day Saint. On Sunday, I was walking around in my street clothes, just to see what was happening. And with the street preachers, it was the insults of people walking in. The first day, especially walking with Latter-day Saints, they’re getting insulted at. They’re getting told all these terrible things about their faith and who they are. And no one muttered anything mean. And I think that was a big takeaway for me. And to see that persecution still exists today. As a Protestant, we can do so, so much better. How do you treat your neighbor? Golden rule! How do you treat others? In that General Conference video, (we were talking about this at JWHA) is like in the Bible with Jesus Christ, he’s about to be taken away from his persecutors, from his enemies. Simon Peter takes out his knife, takes out his sword, and in defense, he cuts off the ear of the servant. And it’s like, how are you supposed to preach? How are you supposed to talk about the good news, if you’re cutting off other people’s ear? Because we do that with our tongues, our tongues can be those weapons.
GT 13:39 Mmhmm.
David 13:40 And I think with General Conference, that really showed me and again. I gained new appreciation, because from what I’ve seen, with all these different Restoration Branches, what I’ve seen, what I saw at General Conference, I didn’t see that. I didn’t see that retaliation. When from my background, oh, yeah. There’d be some retaliation. It makes me ponder more.
GT 14:11 Very good. What else do you have? Any other thoughts you have on your channel?
David 14:19 Oh, boy.
GT 14:19 And how it’s changed you?
David 14:20 Well, nothing really too much. I guess, I always like any type of requests. If there are any type of church visits that I could do in the future, I already spilled the beans on different brainstorm ideas I have. Obviously with Gospel Tangents, I’m sure we’re going to have to put much more of a restoration audience. I’m sure that’s going to be the number one request, but if you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear it.
David 14:47 Have you considered non-Christian churches? We talked a little bit about synagogue and Baha’i. Have you visited Islam yet?
David 14:58 No.
GT 14:58 No.
David 14:59 I’m curious as I’m not doing the third 52 and 52 right now, I may do a couple visits that aren’t technically Christian.
GT 15:10 Off camera?
David 15:10 Yeah, that aren’t Christian churches and just explore: Here’s what happens at a different faith type of service. With everything going on in Israel, in Palestine, it’s a little tricky of a time to do that now.
GT 15:25 Yeah.
David 15:27 I’ll have to see what else is out there and maybe consider it.
GT 15:30 Because, you know, there’s Hindu, Sikh, there’s so many other ones, Japanese, all sorts of religions, Confucius, all of that.
David 15:37 Yeah, It would be an entirely different exploration, that’s for sure. {Rick chuckling}
GT 15:46 Well, David Boice from 52 hurches in 52 Weeks, I think I’ve asked you 52 questions or so.
David 15:52 Close. I hope someone was counting. {Rick laughing}
GT 15:58 Well, thank you so much for being here on Gospel Tangents. I’m excited to go to St. George with you tomorrow. And we’re going to check out the St. George Temple. If you haven’t checked out his channel, 52 Churches in 52 Weeks, and hopefully I can ride your coattails up the view list at YouTube.
David 16:16 Yeah, fingers crossed, Right?
GT 16:20 All right. Thanks again, David, for being here on Gospel Tangents.
David 16:23 Alright. Thanks, Rick.
[1] About 6 months after this interview, David joined the LDS Church. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIkgY7QwyYM
[2] On October 6, 2024, President Nelson announced a new temple would be built in Milwaukee. It will be the first LDS temple in the state of Wisconsin. See https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/milwaukee-wisconsin-temple/
