I was raised Christian and went to Christian schools all my life up until the end of grade 10. The beginning of gr11 I moved provinces and lived with an aunt for a couple of months who attended the Church of Christ, and it was very different from any other Christian church I've been to. I'm not exactly 100% sure of their views/beliefs but here are some things I thought were strange: - They only sang hymns, and didn't use any instruments. My old school and church had bands and being able to connect to God through worship was really emphasized, and I thought it was weird we just sang hymns all the time. At most churches I've been to, we've sang Hillsong, Elevation Worship, etc. but at the COC it was almost dreary and like there was absolutely no desire to expand their ways to the modern world of Christian music. - I thought it was weird that there was no actual church. For the few months I was there with my aunt, we moved churches maybe 2-3 times and I didn't really understand what the donation baskets were going around for, when we didn't even have a physical church to contribute the money towards. - Another thing that I found out was through an experience, so my aunt has 2 kids and when my mom finally moved to our new province I didn't move in with her yet b/c I was still in school, but my mom and siblings came over for a playdate. During lunch, me and my little siblings were gonna sing Johnny Appleseed for prayer, and when we started singing, my aunt's child started screaming "NO! NO! THAT'S NOT HOW YOU PRAY!" so we stopped all confused wondering what was wrong. After her kid prayed his way, she told me that at their church they don't sing prayers for children and try to teach them to speak from their heart. It's like they completely condemn all types of entertaining ways to still worship God. I've learned lots of fun prayer songs and Bible-based songs through Christian school and Bible camp, and it just seems like they're missing out. It's as if they don't want to progress. - Another thing that was interesting was that they used the word "date" very loosely. They would hang out with someone of the opposite sex but call it a "Date" but say they're just friends and have no romantic meaning to it at all. In campus houses, they would rotate and "date" each other, so basically hang out. It was just strange how they used a romantic word in a non-romantic sense. - One thing that really bugged me, was how you had to go through an almost "training" to be baptized and an actual part of the church. My aunt and I had a heated debate about this one time. She also advised me to not take communion because I wasn't baptized as a Christian yet (even though I've grown up in Christian schools/churches and am just waiting to find the right church for me). She tried to get me to do exclusive Bible studies with her and another church member, to get me on the path to being baptized and I was happy to the studies but I wasn't sure why it was necessary to complete all of those studies to be baptized. I just don't think it's right for there to be a specific almost university course for me to get through just to be baptized. Although I do believe you should declare the Lord as your Saviour and have a moderate amount of knowledge on what it means to be a follower of Christ before you get baptized, I just don't think there should be a set of actual rules. - Another thing that was interested was how there was a hierarchy. The children of pastors or the people who have been born and raised in the Church were given specific names (I forgot what they were called), but I thought this was kind of divisive. Anyways, through my short time in the Church and youth group, these were just a couple observations. Feel free to expand/explain, I'd love to gain more knowledge on this church especially since it's worldwide with hundreds of locations.