Last fall I earned a Guinness World Records™ title for Visiting the Most Places of Worship in One Month. It was truly the adventure of a lifetime – exciting , rewarding, and also challenging in many different ways. While I have attended services at various places of worship for over a decade, it was a unique experience to visit so many different sacred spaces in such a short amount of time – often in a single day. It’s also given me some insights into how others might also visit places of worship. So, if you’ve got a place in mind, wait no more. My approach makes it both easy and enjoyable!
My Guinness World Records™ Adventure – the Short Version
A few years ago, I read an article about someone in Delhi, India who established a Guinness World Records™ title by visiting 76 places of worship in one month. I was pretty sure I could beat that, especially if I moved to a big U.S. city for that time period. I chose Chicago – partly because there’s a lot of religious diversity in a relatively small geographical space and partly because I grew up in IL, making Chicago a bit more familiar to me than other potential locations (e.g., NYC).
Guinness required 3 things from each place: a time-stamped selfie of the exterior, a time-stamped video of the exterior, and someone willing to sign a verification form with the date/time of my visit. In addition, I could NOT use a personal vehicle, so I traveled around via bus, “L” train, and my two feet. I felt like I had a pretty good plan, with about 90 or 95 visits scheduled over the course of the month. It occurred to me that it might be pretty cool to reach 100, but that seemed like a stretch.
At the end of the first week of my attempt, Guinness emailed to say that the current record had already been broken. The new record was now 111. 😲
Now, 90 or 95 or even 100, was nowhere near enough to break the record. In a small panic, I decided to change strategies. I began just showing up at places of worship when I knew people would be there. It worked incredibly well, and I crushed the previous record with a total of 185!!
I thoroughly enjoyed my journey, and it’s been a great honor to lift up religious diversity in the U.S. I was able to visit spaces from all the world’s major religious traditions, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. I was also able to delve into the immense diversity found within Christianity by visiting places from a variety of mainline Protestant denominations, as well as places that were Adventist, Greek Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, Christian Scientist, and Ukrainian Orthodox to name just a few.
The entire experience also gave me some ideas about how others might visit places of worship in their own communities. However, unless you’re trying to break my world record, I wouldn’t recommend my “just show up and hope for the best” approach. Instead, I would suggest something a bit more intentional, and I’ve created some easy-to-use guidelines to get you started.
How You Can Visit Places of Worship
Visiting places of worship can be a bit nerve-wracking – even when you’re a reasonably outgoing and fearless person (like me). That’s partly because new worship spaces, especially if they aren’t part of your “home religion/s,” are unfamiliar. You can look at photos or videos, but the bottom line is you can never be entirely sure what to expect when visiting in person. Exploration always has an unknown element to it. That’s what makes it fun! But, it can also be a deterrent if we feel unsure about how to move forward.
My acronym P.L.A.C.E.S is a great way to begin because it offers an outline with easy-to accomplish steps. Here’s how it works:
P = Plan
L = Listen
A = Ask
C = Clarify
E = Enjoy!
S = Summarize
Plan
Start by sending an email (or making a quick phone call) to find out when you might schedule a visit outside of worship times. The faith leader might be the one to offer a tour, but it’s also quite possible that someone else will be able to help you – perhaps an administrative assistant or community volunteer.
This is also a great time to find out if there’s anything you need to know beforehand. Are there dress code guidelines? Are photos allowed? How long should you plan to be there? Etc. Most places of worship are happy to share their spaces with visitors, and they do so regularly, so don’t feel like you are the one-and-only person making this type of request.
Guinness World Records™ required that someone sign a verification form at each place I visited, so I became really adept at planning visits (and asking for signatures)! If emailing doesn’t get a response, resend it or switch to a phone call. Everyone is busy, so try to remain gracious and give them the benefit of the doubt.
Listen
Most people who handle visits are very proud of their places of worship and deeply invested in their religious tradition. So, take a deep breath and just listen to what they have to say. Absorb it. Try to see the space from their point of view. Channel your “deeply appreciative” demeanor, even if they say something that doesn’t sit quite right with you.
If you’re a person who likes to ask questions along the way, that’s OK, but try to let them share what they want first. (I’m not very good at this, but I’m trying to get better!) Some of my best tours in Chicago were from building managers who knew every nook and cranny of their places of worship. They were so excited to have a rapt one-person audience!
Ask
Most people who handle these types of visits are also quite skilled at answering questions. Peruse the website beforehand, see what questions crop up for you, and jot them down. Or, as you’re listening, think about what seems striking, interesting, or even a little bit odd. Just remember to ask your questions with a sense of compassionate curiosity, keeping any judgments you might have to yourself.
If they have agreed to let you visit, then they are assuming you will have questions, and they will be more than happy to answer them. I am one of the most curious people on the planet, so I ALWAYS have questions. At some point, your “tour guide” will run out of time, but you might be amazed at how much they appreciate your interest.
Clarify
Religion shows up in the news cycle every single day. And many minority religions in the U.S. struggle with accurate representation in the media. If you’ve heard certain things about the place of worship, or even the religious tradition it’s associated with, then chances are, so have they! It’s totally fine to say something like, “I’ve recently heard about X, and I’m wondering what your thoughts are on that or how it’s affecting your community.”
I was in Chicago earning my Guinness World Records™ title just as ICE was entering the city to begin performing mass raids. I frequently asked, especially at Catholic churches with large Hispanic populations, how that was affecting their parishioners. The answers were both varied and insightful.
Enjoy!
Remember…you are visiting a new place and meeting someone new! And, until robots take over the world, they are likely to be humans! Keep in mind that they don’t know you, and they can’t predict exactly how the visit will go either, so enjoy making a new connection in your community.
Honestly, this was the best part of my Guinness World Records™ adventure. I simply never imagined all the amazing interactions I would have with so many different people around the city. I heard people’s faith stories, commiserated about security issues, and sympathized with technology woes. After all, in the end, it’s not about the places, it’s about the people.
Summarize
It can be difficult to keep track of everything when you’re in the moment. So, once your visit is complete, jot down a few notes as soon as you can. I’ve created a worksheet to help with that. It doesn’t need to be time-consuming or complicated, but it’s nice to have a record of your visit and your immediate impressions.
Simply jot down some of the most interesting things you noticed, how this visit compares with others, how you might share your experience with students, and any additional questions you might still have. If you took photos, now’s the time to put them in a folder somewhere.
You might be surprised at how quickly memory fades, especially when you add more and more places to your list.
That’s it! Plan, Listen, Ask, Clarify, Enjoy, and Summarize. The P.L.A.C.E.S. approach to visiting places of worship is really as simple as that.
Summary
Visiting places of worship takes some courage and a bit of planning, but it is incredibly rewarding. You will experience something new, broaden your connections in the community, and expand your knowledge base. And, if you’re a teacher, you’ll gain valuable insight into how people live into their religious tradition which you can then share with your students. Be sure to let me know about your adventures!
About the Author
Rev. Vicki Garlock, Ph.D. is the founder of World Religions 4 Kids, a company dedicated to improving religious literacy in children and their adults. She recently earned a Guinness World Records™ title for visiting the Most Places of Worship in One Month — 185 in the beautiful city of Chicago!
She is also the author of We All Have Sacred Spaces and ABCs of the World’s Religions, both of which received multiple awards. Geared to kids age 5-10, the books offer insights into numerous religious traditions in a single volume, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism.
Vicki earned her Ph.D. in Psychology with dual specialties in neuroscience and cognitive development. Over the years, she has written extensively for both The Interfaith Observer and Multicultural Kid Blogs. She also regularly works with educators (especially social studies teachers), parents, and faith communities around the country. Vicki and her husband live in Asheville and have two almost-grown children. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, X, or TikTok (@teachworldreligions).
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