I also prefer the short way, although I see your point about it being quicker the long way. But for those of us still in the "obsessively counting" stage, 15 or 21 is a lot easier to keep track of than 99, LOL! And I think it is easier to learn on regular needles than on circular, which is what I believe it would take for doing it the long way.
It's nice to plan to do those church projects, but I think you're smart to keep it to yourself until later, maybe even until they are done. I would be interested to see what kind of patterns you're reviewing for this.
I will do scarves until I get really, really good at them, and I'm ready to move on to shawls.
Once you get comfy with the straights, you will find circulars are even nicer, cause you are even less likely to drop stitches with them, and they seem to distribute the weight better. I almost never use single pointed needles any more. Mostly I use circulars and double points.