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Since ancient times (ok, 1998), Ship of Fools has been sending Mystery Worshippers to churches worldwide. Travelling incognito, they ask those questions which go to the heart of church life: How long was the sermon? How hard the pew? How cold was the coffee? How warm the welcome?
The only clue they have been there at all is the Mystery Worshipper calling card, dropped discreetly into the collection plate. |
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| If you would like to become a Mystery Worshipper, start here. |
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| See our archive of reports |
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Famous/infamous
UK & Ireland
USA
Oz & NZ
Canada
Elsewhere |
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Editors wanted
We're looking for volunteer editors to help edit Mystery Worshipper reports. If you have editing skills and would like to be involved in producing one of the Web's most intriguing religious projects, we'd like to hear from you.
Our 2000th report
> Independence Day in First Congregational, Los Angeles
Latest reports
> Sermon with a smile, First Presbyterian, Erie, PA, USA
> Divinely formal worship in Hereford Cathedral, UK
> Reverence and modesty in West Portal, San Francisco
> The haunted organ of St Paul's, Milwaukee, WS, USA
> Balcony choir delights in St George, Bloomsbury, London
> Soaking up the phat worship of Willowfield, Belfast, UK
> Tatty furnishings in Auckland Baptist Tabernacle, NZ
> Politically correct hymns in Ascension, Blackheath, London
> Adam, Eve and dino in Holy Trinity, Ocean City, NJ, USA
> To-the-point sermon in St Francis, Gulf Breeze, FL, USA
> Opera and shorts in Rutgers Presbyterian, New York
> Night Prayer, Taizé-style, in Portsmouth Cathedral, UK
> English-Welsh confusion in St John, Llanystumdwy, UK
> Keep your legs together! Glenabbey, Glengormley, UK
> Tears in the final hymn: Priory Church, Leominster, UK
> Welcomed (but not swamped) in Cheddar Valley, UK
> The Rev Adam Smallbone scores minus 1 for his sermon
> Congregational domino effect in St Mary's, Painswick, UK
> Excellent altar boy, St Mary of the Nativity, Scituate, USA
> Weak hymn singing in Trinity Church, Boston, MA, USA
Special reports
> Queueing to see the Holy Shroud, Turin, Italy
> Martyrdom of Oscar Romero: Westminster Abbey, London
> Installing the 11th Archbishop of Westminster, UK
> Shrill music, friendly people at St Pixels Internet church
> Honoring the martyrs in Lowndes County Courthouse, AL
Comments, corrections and removals
For the latest comments on and corrections to Mystery Worshipper reports, please go here. Reports over two years old can be removed at the request of the church reviewed. Please email here for further details.
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| We rely on voluntary donations to stay online. If you're a regular visitor to Ship of Fools, please consider supporting us. |
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| Easter 2010 |
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| From Yunnan in China to Louisville in Kentucky, we report on Easter services, 2010. Read here. |
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| The Mystery Pilgrim |
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| One of our most seasoned reporters makes the Camino pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Read here. |
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