Yup, I'm engaged in another great church hunt. Over the past year or so, I've pretty much quit going to church. Most churches seem to be set up for "normal" people, those who sleep at night and get up in the morning. My screwy schedule makes it difficult to get up at 10 or 11 for anything, much less church, where I'm usually just sitting there trying not to nod off. On nights I work, I rarely get to bed before four in the morning. It's usually closer to five or six.

We've been running six and seven days a week at work now for a couple of years. I'm getting a might burned out. I find myself becoming more and more disorganized, depressed, and irritable. I have a harder and harder time keeping interested in the things that interest me. Classic signs of depression.

So I'm taking my own advice. One of the things I always try to encourage people in jail to do is get involved in some kind of supportive community. That could mean church or AA or whatever. For me, the easiest way would be to find a good church. (With emphasis on the word good.)

I've been to lots and lots of churches over the years, so I know there are good churches out there. Other churches, the best I can say is they're not bad. I've even been to a few that I would have to say were downright evil. The trick is figuring out which is which.

I'm still fairly new to Newport, so I don't know the churches around here very well. There are a couple I've heard good things about, but haven't been to check them out yet.

I'd like to find a church within walking distance. I'm usually in a rather thoughtful mood afer church, and I seem to do my best thinking and praying when I'm walking. So I'm planning to start with the churches closest to me.

Of course, the odds of finding a really good church within walking distance are pretty slim.

I suppose what I'm looking for most of all is a place where I can feel safe just being myself. To a large degree, trust is more important to me than doctrine. I'm basically a Baptist at heart, but have found that once you get past the semantics and denominational idiosyncracies, most churches teach pretty much the same things.

Inclusiveness and outreach are high on my list of priorities. Odds are, I'll have to settle for one or the other. Seems like the churches going into the jails and out into the streets lean toward the so-called religious right. And the more inclusive churches rarely seem to have programs for reaching the people that really need to hear their message the most.

Well... we'll see what happens. I'll try to keep you updated on my progress. If anybody out there knows anything about churches in Newport, Kentucky, I'd love to hear about them.