Church Hopping (King of the Hill)

"Church Hopping" is the 197th episode of the Fox animated series King of the Hill. The episode was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award.^[1]

Plot

When the Hills arrive late for church one Sunday, they find that a large family of new members has taken their usual seat in the sanctuary. Annoyed over losing what he considers to be his personal place, Hank leads his family out of the Methodist Church and begins searching for a new parish to call home.

Their first stop is a Pentecostal church held in a tent, where Buck Strickland worships; Hank is quickly put off by their wild fervor. Next they visit a Roman Catholic church with Hank's colleague Enrique, but the service is conducted in Spanish and the Hills (particularly Hank) can never figure out when to stand, sit, or kneel. From here, they try a New Age/Progressive church built entirely of steel and attended by Donna, another of Hank's coworkers. However, they get no farther than opening the door (and hearing "Day by Day," from Godspell, being played inside) before they immediately leave.

While visiting a local MegaChurch, Hank encounters Rev. Stroup at its coffee shop. She is dismayed that the Hills have changed churches over the issue of their usual pew being taken, as well as Peggy's (rejected) suggestion for having open mic sermons. As Stroup storms out, she tells Hank that the new family has sat in the disputed pew every week since the Hills left.

As the Hills join the MegaChurch and settle in, Hank and Peggy each get what they want: assigned seating in the enormous sanctuary and plenty of chances to help out and suggest improvements. However, they gradually find themselves spending more and more time on church activities, being constantly alerted to them by a restaurant-style pager/buzzer given to Hank, and Rev. Nealey soon tires of Peggy's intrusions on his work. To take a break from the church, Hank tries Lucky's style of "worship," which consists of drinking heavily in a bar on Sunday morning.

Once Hank has recovered from this binge, he finds that Peggy has brought Nealey over in an attempt to revive his faith. He decides that he would be happier at a smaller church, but does not want to embarrass himself in front of Stroup by asking to come back. His solution is to tell the new family about the MegaChurch, which they promptly join, and the Hills come back to the Methodist church with Stroup's grudging acceptance: "Please take...your seat."

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