Jaybrams.com

At this point we have eliminated all of the easily visible churches in our immediate area - i.e. - within a few block radius of us - either through visiting, website, or general understanding about a particular denomination. Dionna jumped online to scour for other nearby possibilities and found one about seven minutes from our house that looked promising. The website was a bit fruiffy (fluffy/fruity mix) but nothing that turned me off theologically or aesthetically. Unfortunately there were no recent sermons posted, but all of the calendar items seemed to be up to date.

The initial impression of the church once inside was similar to that of the website. You could tell they spent time on keeping the place presentable without going over the top to try and impress. It had a bit too much feminine touch in some areas but wouldn’t make an average Joe feel uncomfortable. Our first interaction with humanoids was pleasant as well. I’m not sure if they knew we were new, but they acted natural and inviting.

We found our way to the toddlers area and we were treated with pleasant surprise #1 of the morning: Mac didn’t cry! She just walked in, albeit solemnly, and looked for someone to play with. The helper was great in getting a slightly older girl to “show her around” the room. It helped that they built a castle into the wall which even called my name (seriously, castles are awesome). I think we were in so much shock at Mac’s willingness to go without crying that we lingered a little longer than expected.

After we snapped out of it, we walked around the corner to Tristen’s area. I guess we were a little early and they were still having Sunday School (i’m not sure what they call it, but essentially that is what it is), which i found odd because we were only like five minutes early according to the times on the website. This made for quite an awkward exchange between us and the teacher (who we later found out is the children’s director). After we sorted it out and interrupted him far too much, we just kinda left her there in hopes she’d have a good time.

Now it was our turn. Walking into the back of the auditorium, we found ourselves in the proverbial coffee shop: donuts, tables, literature, and a catchy name (which escapes me now). We decided to go ahead and have a seat near the middle of the main seating section. Interestingly enough, the center aisle and the far left / right aisles were removed for more tables and chairs, inviting people to bring their coffee or other beverage of choice right into the main service, but allowing enough traditional seating room for others.

Enough about the atmosphere. I hate to say it again, but I have to… the worship fit right along with the website and the atmosphere: Very well put together, up to date, with a balance of tradition, solid musicianship, but nothing showy… This is a very good pattern I’m seeing here… There was a break in the middle to highlight the ongoings of the recently finished VBS through song, dance and video (+1 family focus). The end of VBS week was capped off with the kids putting packages together for missionary contacts in Chile (+1 missions).

Then came the message. The story of this church visit isn’t really what the message was about or even who spoke. The pastor was there, but taking a break and letting a member of the congregation preach before he heads off to the Philippines for six months. Rather it was what the pastor said in the introduction when he stated that the speaker had been learning under the pastor for the past couple of years. The church not only encourages their staff to take on mentors (which i’ve heard before) but *gasp* they actually do it!! (+1 Discipleship). To top it off, they had a meeting afterwards to discuss further involvement in Chile and another country (+2 missions).

There were several other pluses to this church and only one evident “minus,” but it is such an insignificant thing that it would never keep me from coming back (they need a lot of help in the A/V department). But it is still far too early to tell seeing as we haven’t heard the pastor preach and have only experienced one week’s worth of the people. But by far, church # 4 has had the most promise of any of the other places we’ve visited. We’ll definitely be back soon and often to get a better feel for everything.

This past Sunday we saw more familiar faces and enjoyed visiting a church we used to serve at. I’ll be back at some point to let you know how it went. Thanks for journeying with us.

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Category : Church, Culture, Empyreal, Enabling, Family, Friends, Pastoral, Sundays