2nd Visit to Church A

After our first visit, we realized that it would not be fair to write off a church when we did not get a "typical" Sunday with that congregation. On our first visit to Church A, the student pastor gave the message. So we decided to visit the following week in order to hear the lead pastor present the message.

Again, there were some initial disappointments. The "greeters" were not greeting. We strolled past several people before anyone noticed. Finally, one man introduced himself and offered us coffee.

We walked into the meeting area and took our seats. Background music was playing, (Violent Hill by Cold Play: good call) and there were new band members getting ready to play.

The music was not as good this week. The songs may have been difficult, or they may have had too similar sounds, but there was something lacking. The band was talented, but there was a glaring distraction. First, let me tell you that I am a bass player, and I have a good time when I play. I also do not know the heart of the musician, but the bass player seemed as if he was performing. Many of his actions were distracting and over-played. This was a turn off for me. The worship band should be lead worshippers not just musicians playing.

The message was decent, but seemed like it was lacking. I understand that there is a trend to simplify the Bible so that the average person can understand and apply it, but there has to be a fine line between simplicity and biblical study. If we, as ministers only simplify, then we are not instilling disciplines of study. We are instilling feel good messages.

As we left for the day, I doubted if I would find what I am looking for.

It should be noted that I had emailed the website of Church A and received a response from the Community Development pastor. I replied to this message before we visited the second time, but have yet to hear from him again. This is as frustrating to me as greeters not greeting. I would have to say that at this point I was disappointed. Perhaps Church B will give me something more.

The Search Begins…again

Two years ago, Michelle and I felt that we had to leave a church congregation that we had been part of for nearly five years. This was a difficult decision, but one that needed to be made. Over these past two years, we have both finished our degrees, take life-changing trips, and bought our first house. We soon realized that we needed something more. We needed to once again be plugged into a larger church community.

We visited a few churches before we bought our house and moved, but found them to lack the theological, social, or cultural aspects that we have felt called to. They either had little external focus, were “watered down”, or were trying too hard but falling too short.

So, after we made the move, we started looking again for a church home. The local church landscape is littered with congregations who have little or no positive influence in the community as a whole. Outreach, community service, and external focus are seemingly unimportant to some groups. Add to these internally focused congregations an ever-present variable: denominational affiliation.

In our city and surrounding area, there appears to be three times as many Baptist churches and two times as many Pentecostal churches than any other type of congregation. Since Michelle and I are not affiliated with any denomination, we tend to look for nondenominational congregations: and our options seem to be few.

We did, however find a handful of congregations that caught our attention. So, over the last three weeks, we have visited two churches near our home. I am going to critique the experiences in an effort to more specifically understand what we want/need in a church community. I will be evaluating the experience through several lenses: first impressions, music, lesson, overall atmosphere, and final thoughts. I will not use the real names of the churches, instead I will elect to call them Church A and Church B.

Church A is a nondenominational congregation of about 300-400 people. We found Church A via their website and concluded, through information on the site, that they were outwardly focused and involved in the community. We found the building easily, and as we entered the doors, we noticed that there were no greeters to welcome people. If there were any, they weren’t doing their jobs. We passed 7-8 people before anyone took notice of us. Finally someone stepped up. He was obviously a staff member and his name take confirmed this fact. There was no clear signage to give direction once in the building, but there were coffee and pastries.

We entered the meeting area and took a seat. Although the people seemed friendly, they lacked the initiative to make an impact on us. The worship music was upbeat, modern, and well played. They utilized a full band: drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboard, and several vocalists. However, the leader’s speaking and mannerisms seemed forced and awkward.

The day we visited was the last day of the lead pastor’s sabbatical (a minister’s way of getting an extended vacation), so the student pastor gave the message. It was engaging; utilizing multimedia and participation of many people. However, it was obviously crafted by someone who spends his time teaching and mentoring 13-18 year olds. Overall, the message was simple; easily taught by any first year seminary student. Communion was made available throughout the service at tables along the sides of the room. Offering was collected via drop boxes as people exited.

Overall, the visit was pleasant. We understand that no church congregation will meet all the expectations that we have. The outward focus of the church is its real attraction for us. The biggest disappointment was the lack of responsive greeters at the doors. Any church consultant will stress the importance of the first 5 minutes of a visitor’s experience. Based on the other variables, I would rate our first experience at Church A as a B-. Although it lacked in some areas, it was a far cry from the hymn singing, suit wearing bore-fests of my childhood. We also realized that things would most likely be different on a Sunday with their lead pastor. So we decided to give it another shot the following week. That critique is for our next post.