The Road Test: How does visiting other churches affect one's faith?

You're on a vacation or a business trip and attending a church of your own faith isn't possible. Do you:

A. Skip church altogether, or

B. Go to a different faith's service?

"You always go to the local church, whatever it is," said the Rev. Neal Humphrey of Fruit Heights' Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Denominational differences are increasingly becoming a non-issue as many Christian faiths are more and more alike, he said.

"We're getting nondenominational," the Rev. Humphrey said.

He's also happy when his parishioners attend a different faith. That's because they come back with programs and bulletins from the other churches, making for an excellent sharing of ideas and programs.

The Rev. Steve Goodier of Salt Lake's Christ United Methodist Church says he tries to visit other churches when he is on the road.

"I want to understand other people," he said.

He recently attended a Quaker service when he was out of town.

"I've gone to just about everything," he said. That includes many smaller and lesser-known churches.

The Rev. Goodier believes it is important that a person attend a church he likes, so flexibility is important.

According to Richard Wolf, an elder in the North Salt Lake congregation of the Jehovah's Witnesses, church members are advised not to attend meetings of other faiths.

"We stick to our own," he said, adding that church doctrine stresses staying away from untruthful things.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no official stand on this subject. However, members are encouraged not to attend meetings that would supersede their own church meeting times when they are at home. However, when out of town, there's no LDS Church directive on visiting other faiths. That's left to personal choice. (The LDS Church's official Web site has a meetinghouse locator that help visitors find the nearest ward or branch.)

The Rev. Art Ritter of Salt Lake's First Congregational Church said there's nothing wrong with going to another church if yours is not available.

He asks his church members to bring him back a printed bulletin when they visit another faith.

"It's almost like an assignment to do that," he said, because he gets ideas from other faiths.