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Church and Concentrating

N

Nellie

New Member
I've always found it hard to go to church and listen to the sermons... I used to have meltdowns when I was younger just because we had to go. I think part of it is that I can't pay attention AT ALL!!! I usually try to volunteer with the younger kids but the church and my parents won't let me do it every week, which, I guess is understandable... :) I do bring colouring to do during the sermon but it doesn't really help. I also have trouble with one of our pastors, because he says 'um' ALL THE TIME... It might just be my ADHD, but does anyone else have this problem? And do you have ideas of how to help it?
 
My husband brings a little pad of paper and a pen. He gets a lot of work done during church. He doesn't try to pay attention. If the topic interest him he'll listen, otherwise he keeps himself well occupied.
 
I have trouble concentrating too as my mind wanders. I also find noise distracting as I can't filter it out.
If your parents will let you, you could try a different type of church. If the one you attend is very free so you don't know what's going to happen next, you could try somewhere with a set liturgy; it needn't be in archaic language, most churches these days use up-to-date liturgy. It might help you focus.
On the other side of the coin, if your current church is very liturgical, you might like to try somewhere with no set pattern of service, so you have to stay alert in order to keep up with what's going on. Bear in mind though, that such churches may have extremely loud, head-banging music, though not necessarily! Shop around a bit. If you have Christian friends in other churches, you could ask them what their churches are like and see if you can go along with them.
 
I attend church regularly and during the sermon I'll read my missal (Book that contains readings from the church service) or the weekly bulletin.
 
Sorry, I didn't read the article properly; it's sermons you have a problem with, not the service per se! I think you'll find a lot of people have the same problem, especially if sermons are very long. If that's the case, you could try a church where the sermons are shorter; or take a notebook and pen and take notes, which will help you stay focussed. If the sermons are recorded, you could order a weekly recording, then listen to them at your convenience, a little at a time. Maybe the vicar/pastor will let you have a transcript of his/her sermon which you can read at home. Just a thought.
 
Katherine Rawstron said:
Sorry, I didn't read the article properly; it's sermons you have a problem with, not the service per se! I think you'll find a lot of people have the same problem, especially if sermons are very long. If that's the case, you could try a church where the sermons are shorter; or take a notebook and pen and take notes, which will help you stay focussed. If the sermons are recorded, you could order a weekly recording, then listen to them at your convenience, a little at a time. Maybe the vicar/pastor will let you have a transcript of his/her sermon which you can read at home. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Ya, my mom takes notes and I have been thinking of trying too...
One thing about finding a new church is that we've been going there for probably 7 years and my best friend goes there... We are pretty good friends with the pastors too. Thanks for the ideas everyone!!
 
I will second the idea of taking notes, it might force you to think through what is being said, rather than just listening...
 
I've always had some difficulties. Our current pastor is I think not long out of school and uses some obvious devices that annoy me. Like creating emphasis on syllabels, to avoid sounding monotonous, whether it belongs there or not, and repeating statements he wants to stress. My best way of coping is realizing he's human and has flaws just like me.
 
Taking notes, as words or pictures,
is a good idea. Illustrating the concepts/story,
with stick figures or simple circle/stick connectors
could be useful.
 
I think too many pastors get too theological in their sermons and even NTs have trouble following what he or she is saying. I am a certified layspeaker and right now I am filling in at a Baptist church every other Sunday. I do my best to keep my sermons understandable. There is no greater compliment than when a child comes to me after the service and indicates that they were able to understand the message. I always try to help the congregation apply the scriptures in a practical way to their every day lives. My point is that your brain may not be the problem, but the pastor who went to seminary and learned all this high church theological stuff and preaches above the heads of all the members.
 
This is perfectly normal for aspies. The fact that you've spotted it so young and are looking for ways to solve the problem is amazing and will get you to a good place as an adult. You see this doesn't go away, as a kid, you're subjected to lessons and sermons, as an adult you're subjected to boring meetings.

Therefore, you can build up your bag of tricks as you go along. My favorite way of coping is notepads and pens, I have dozens, I really like a make called Paperblanks. What I do is pretend to take notes, look up every few minutes and nod my head like I'm listening. In the meantime, either doodling, sketching or writing stories in my notepad. If it's an "important" meeting with a few people, I even keep a fake page of notes, so that if anyone looks over my shoulder it will seem genuine. Then I quietly flip to my sketch page and continue.
 
I had difficulty with Sermons when I was younger. In general, I don't any more, but the sermons that I have heard relatively recently haven't been that long, so I guess maybe I just haven't been tested much recently.

For me, the difficulty with Church is what happens after: Coffee. It's supposed to be about "fellowship", but for me it's about feeling awkward for a while, and then being the first one to leave.

While I do still consider myself to be a Christian, I rarely actually go to Church any more because the service itself doesn't line up that well with my beliefs, and I don't get any fellowship out of it.
 
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