Thank you!
I'm almost out of churches to visit in our area. This was about the sixth place I found and since DS decided he actually wanted to participate I just settled in.
It is a very large church, as were all of the others I visited, and I'm starting to think that Arizona may be a somewhat conservative state.
I honestly thought that most of the punitive/backward religious thinking would only be pervasive in tiny cultish churches nowadays. Shows what I know!
I will try the last church I've found and hope it works out better than this one! I don't enjoy any aspect of the service and I feel like I'd get over-involved trying to change everything if I even put a toe in to volunteer. Obviously this strategy is rarely successful.
DS can still be involved with the youth activities if he wants to without having to attend that church.
ETA: The kids did not hear this sermon because they were in Sunday School. That's why I was wondering how much it could matter if I could manage to blow it off. But after reading all of the replies I actually thought about why I go there, and there is no compelling reason outside of DS's interest in the activities for his age group.