“I’m asking for a very personal set of multi-dimensional snapshots at a variety of congregational types”
I just remembered something similar from the distant past. Maybe this can serve as a starting point [place emotive here]:
CHANGING A LIGHT BULB THE CHURCH GOER’S WAY
How many does it take to change a light bulb?
Charismatic: 1
Hands are already in the air.
Pentecostal: 10
One to change the bulb, and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.
Presbyterians: None
Lights will go on and off at predestined times.
Roman Catholic: None
Candles only.
Baptists: At least 15
One to change the light bulb, and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad and fried chicken.
Episcopalians: 3
One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks and one to talk about how much better the old one was.
Methodists: Undetermined
Whether your light is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or tulip bulb. Bring a bulb of your choice to the Sunday lighting service and a covered dish to pass.
Nazarene: 6
One woman to replace the bulb while five men review church lighting policy.
Lutherans: None
Lutherans don’t believe in change.
Amish: n/a
What’s a light bulb?
Unitarians: n/a
We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, you are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, 3-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.
Mormons: 5
One man to change the bulb, and four wives to tell him how to do it.
Woo hoo!