...and we're hoping week LAST! If you've read the past few weeks of our church posts, you'll know that there were 2 churches we were struggling between....the smallish church and the more Covenant-sized church (our church in Asheville). Well, the other night when Jeremy and I were driving to get dinner, we were discussing which church we wanted to try and connect with. We kept asking each other, "Which one do YOU like better?" "No, which one do YOU like better?" So we decided to say it on 3..."1, 2, 3...." and we both said the same one. :) So, my friends, I introduce you to our potential new church home, New Charlotte Church! We've asked for information about small groups, and I talked to the worship pastor today about possibly becoming involved with the music ministry. So...I guess we'll see! It kinda feels good to no longer be searching for a church, but now we get to start searching for connections (which is probably going to be harder than what we've been doing!).
We really need friends down here. I mean, we do have a few, which has definitely helped the transition, but we're kinda lonely. I mean, we're pretty big homebodies, but sometimes it's nice to do things with other people. :)
Anyways. We'll keep blogging about this adventure, as it is FAR from over! And, this may not be the place for us, but unless we try to connect, we'll never know :)
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
finding a new church...week 9
Well, here we are at week 9! I must say I was definitely more tired this morning than I have been because my first week at work wore me out! We had a brief moment of "maybe we should just sleep" but we both sucked it up and got ready. We decided to go back to the church we posted about on week 4, as it's the other church we like a lot. We're pretty much trying to choose between this one, and the one we went to the last 2 weeks (week 7 and week 8).
We apparently got there a little bit late, as the music had already started (even though the clock in my car said we were a minute early :)). This time, as far as song selection goes....we only knew 2 of the 5 songs. We all know this is a small pet peeve of mine. But I do have to say that the two songs we DID know are two of my favorites, so that almost made up for it :) (get an idea of what songs I love by clicking here and here!!) Another redeeming factor (and this one might be considered a little shallow) is that the guy who lead worship both on week 4 and today has an AMAZING voice. Much like my dear Scotty, I could listen to this guy sing allllllll day long. He's also a great worship leader, knows when to say things between songs, just very very awesome.
We both enjoyed the sermon. (And the sound guy(s) or gal(s) know how to keep the volume under control, which is one of the things that we have a problem with at the other church....the pastor there has a naturally loud voice, and the sound person keeps him loud the entire time....feels like you're being yelled at the entire time)
So.....basically, we're just as confused about which church is right for us as we have been :) There are pros and cons to each one. While week 7/8 church has been more welcoming as far as speaking to us, etc, week 4/9 church has more people in our age group that we could connect with if we decided to stay there. It's just going to be a touch decision. Good news is, if we are quiet and still, God will let us know where to go! We'd like to think it'll be one of these churches but, at the same time, know that it could be somewhere else. At least we really feel like we're making progress still. :)
We apparently got there a little bit late, as the music had already started (even though the clock in my car said we were a minute early :)). This time, as far as song selection goes....we only knew 2 of the 5 songs. We all know this is a small pet peeve of mine. But I do have to say that the two songs we DID know are two of my favorites, so that almost made up for it :) (get an idea of what songs I love by clicking here and here!!) Another redeeming factor (and this one might be considered a little shallow) is that the guy who lead worship both on week 4 and today has an AMAZING voice. Much like my dear Scotty, I could listen to this guy sing allllllll day long. He's also a great worship leader, knows when to say things between songs, just very very awesome.
We both enjoyed the sermon. (And the sound guy(s) or gal(s) know how to keep the volume under control, which is one of the things that we have a problem with at the other church....the pastor there has a naturally loud voice, and the sound person keeps him loud the entire time....feels like you're being yelled at the entire time)
So.....basically, we're just as confused about which church is right for us as we have been :) There are pros and cons to each one. While week 7/8 church has been more welcoming as far as speaking to us, etc, week 4/9 church has more people in our age group that we could connect with if we decided to stay there. It's just going to be a touch decision. Good news is, if we are quiet and still, God will let us know where to go! We'd like to think it'll be one of these churches but, at the same time, know that it could be somewhere else. At least we really feel like we're making progress still. :)
Sunday, September 18, 2011
finding a new church...week 8
So, week 8! 2 months......C-R-A-Z-Y!! Nothing *terribly* exciting to talk about this week, as we actually went back to last week's church today. It's definitely the one Jeremy likes the best so far, and I'm a little torn between it and one from a previous week (I can't remember the week right now, there've been a few!). Not to mention we were both curious about this week's worship leader candidate (we mentioned last week that they were conducting a search for a new worship leader, and we happened to come in during the search process).
So, we got there a little later than last week, so we sorta flew in and found seats. The congregation was introduced to the candidate(s?) for the position...it was a husband and wife duo, and I'm not sure which would be taking the job should they be chosen. I'm not going to get too deep into this, because I don't want to be mean, but it was NOT a good worship experience where the music was concerned today. Not at all. To the point that, if they chose these folks, I'm not sure that I could continue going to this church. And that's all I'm going to say about that!
One of the ladies who talked to us last week said hi again today...boy is she PERKY!! I had forgotten her name, and thought she was someone else, so I'm glad she had a nametag on or I definitely would have called her another name. :)
Not sure what we'll do this coming Sunday, but it's probably safe to say we'll go back to see the next candidate (I think there's one more week, but today *might* have been the last one, I can't remember). We'll update you guys next week. Who knows? This could be the one! (Or we might go back to the one I mentioned above! We shall see......:))
Sunday, September 11, 2011
finding a new church...week 7 (for real)
It's *actually* week 7 this week, unlike last week when I accidentally claimed it. :)
We debated this week over whether we should go to the church we had liked the best up until this point, or try a new one. After some very scientific methodology--aka writing "new church" and "________ church" on pieces of paper and making Jeremy pick a hand--we decided to try a new church!
I did a little more research, this time specifically for UMC churches, and found 3 or 4 that we hadn't visited (that have contemporary service(s)) and sent an email to Jeremy. He looked around at them, picked one, and that's where we went!
We both got the impression that this was going to be a medium - large sized church, and were surprised when we got there and found that the sanctuary was probably only set up to hold 100 or so people (there were probably 70-80 at the service we went to, they have two of them). it was also a little awkward, because they're in the process of searching for a director of music/worship, and one of the candidates was there leading worship today.
Several people came up and said hi to us, which is rare (as I touched on last week). But, with the size of the congregation, it was easy to see that we stuck out like sore thumbs. (In fact, at one point when the pastor was talking about how good it was to see old and new faces, I swear he looked right at us, lol) It was very nice, though, to feel like we might belong instead of feeling like just a couple more faces in the crowd.
The music was pretty good...we recognized every song, though I couldn't tell if the whole congregation knew the songs. Some of them are songs that I love but hadn't heard sung in church in a while (this and this). One thing that was most interesting to me was that this week's candidate was female. That simple fact isn't the interesting part, just that it made me realize that I can't even remember the last time (before today) that I had been in the congregation worshipping with a female worship leader. Considering I was really the only chick who lead songs at Covenant, I am used to dudes. :) And our search has proven to be the same (except for the church on week....2 or 3? A chick lead one or two songs, but not the whole set). At any rate, she did a good job overall, but definitely had a moment of completely going "rock star" one one of my favorite songs to sing, which was distracting, but otherwise quite talented.
The sermon was pretty good...they just started a new series (and opened with this video, which almost made me cry). I was a little distracted by the sound (even during the music) because they really kept the pastor's mic HOT and at some points I felt like I was being yelled at, but overall it was good.
We met the pastor for a few minutes afterwards, and were a little shocked to find out that he grew up in Asheville! So, we talked about that for a few moments and headed out. On our way out, one of the ladies who talked to us before the service actually remembered our names, and said goodbye to us by name. You know, I've known for a LONG time how much people love to hear the sound of their own name, but today was the first time in a long time that it actually had such an impact on me.
Seems like this church really could be a place we could stay. We're not entirely sure yet, and I think we want to visit one of the other churches again, and of course this one again, but we just might be on to something. Thanks, God. :)
We debated this week over whether we should go to the church we had liked the best up until this point, or try a new one. After some very scientific methodology--aka writing "new church" and "________ church" on pieces of paper and making Jeremy pick a hand--we decided to try a new church!
I did a little more research, this time specifically for UMC churches, and found 3 or 4 that we hadn't visited (that have contemporary service(s)) and sent an email to Jeremy. He looked around at them, picked one, and that's where we went!
We both got the impression that this was going to be a medium - large sized church, and were surprised when we got there and found that the sanctuary was probably only set up to hold 100 or so people (there were probably 70-80 at the service we went to, they have two of them). it was also a little awkward, because they're in the process of searching for a director of music/worship, and one of the candidates was there leading worship today.
Several people came up and said hi to us, which is rare (as I touched on last week). But, with the size of the congregation, it was easy to see that we stuck out like sore thumbs. (In fact, at one point when the pastor was talking about how good it was to see old and new faces, I swear he looked right at us, lol) It was very nice, though, to feel like we might belong instead of feeling like just a couple more faces in the crowd.
The music was pretty good...we recognized every song, though I couldn't tell if the whole congregation knew the songs. Some of them are songs that I love but hadn't heard sung in church in a while (this and this). One thing that was most interesting to me was that this week's candidate was female. That simple fact isn't the interesting part, just that it made me realize that I can't even remember the last time (before today) that I had been in the congregation worshipping with a female worship leader. Considering I was really the only chick who lead songs at Covenant, I am used to dudes. :) And our search has proven to be the same (except for the church on week....2 or 3? A chick lead one or two songs, but not the whole set). At any rate, she did a good job overall, but definitely had a moment of completely going "rock star" one one of my favorite songs to sing, which was distracting, but otherwise quite talented.
The sermon was pretty good...they just started a new series (and opened with this video, which almost made me cry). I was a little distracted by the sound (even during the music) because they really kept the pastor's mic HOT and at some points I felt like I was being yelled at, but overall it was good.
We met the pastor for a few minutes afterwards, and were a little shocked to find out that he grew up in Asheville! So, we talked about that for a few moments and headed out. On our way out, one of the ladies who talked to us before the service actually remembered our names, and said goodbye to us by name. You know, I've known for a LONG time how much people love to hear the sound of their own name, but today was the first time in a long time that it actually had such an impact on me.
Seems like this church really could be a place we could stay. We're not entirely sure yet, and I think we want to visit one of the other churches again, and of course this one again, but we just might be on to something. Thanks, God. :)
Sunday, September 4, 2011
finding a new church--week 6
Pretty sure it's week 7, at least. I didn't check before I started writing the post :) (ETA...it's week 6. Changed the title to reflect :))
So, today we visited a church that had been recommended to us by some friends. Another church that has both a traditional service and a contemporary service. (And of course we opted for contemporary, thank you very much!) We "accidentally" found the church a few days back because I just KNEW I knew where it was. We were driving around, it was dark, and I resigned myself to the fact that I had botched directions again, decided to turn around in the next parking lot......which happened to be this church! So, it's the first time we went to church without having to use a GPS :)
But, I digress. We get there, and were thankful they had a sign pointing people in the right direction, as the contemporary service is held in what appeared to be a rec hall or something, as opposed to the sanctuary. (There were some of those basketball nets that will "fold up", for lack of better phrase, towards the ceiling so that they're out of the way when not needed. Greeters were nice as always, and we walked in and found a seat and hung out until the service started (since we got there a little early). Then the pastor (or associate pastor? We keep missing the "actual" pastors at these churches since it's still summer) greeted, a video played, and the music started. It's one of those things where I don't want to be mean....but the music just wasn't good. I'm definitely a "music snob" in some ways, as I've gotten so accustomed to the AMAZING musicians at Covenant. (The sound wasn't mixed well, people were having a hard time recovering from mistakes, etc...just distracting...)
The first song was something neither of us had heard before. I glanced around at the congregation and we weren't the only ones! Only around 5-10 out of the 150 or so people who were there were actually singing. So, we made it through that song, and then there was one we knew. Finally got into the worshipping spirit, and then once that song ended, it was time to greet people. What?!? Why would you interrupt a time of worship with that? It was almost as abrupt as if the pastor had stopped his sermon in the middle and said, "Ok, this is the point in my sermon where i stop mid-sentence and you greet each other". But, ok. So, we greeted people, and, as is sadly the norm, no one really said anything to us. Sang the 3rd song, sat down, and then it was time for the offering while the band sang a mediocre version of "Manic Monday" (it fit with the sermon theme).
It was then that things changed a bit...the guy next to us actually said hi, and asked us if this was our first time visiting. This hasn't happened at ANY other church we've visited. (Well, we've had church staff talk to us at other churches, but this was the first time that an "average church member" bothered to take an interest in us). (Oh, and not to mention that this fella knows sign language. During the first song that no one knew, I kept seeing him sign out of the corner of my eye, but couldn't make any of it out because he was sorta turned away from me. Turns out he has a degree in ASL. He works with computers. Go figure :))
Sermon.....eh. Nothing revolutionary. Nothing satanic either. High point (other than the people being nice) was that we finally caught a church doing communion! Hallelujah! Though they didn't explain intinction, which we are familiar with, but I can see other visitors being confused. Then, after all that, some prayer and byebye. I just wasn't feeling the flow of the service. So then the nice people next to us were telling us about the church, and different groups, and different ways the church is active in the community, and just in general being super-nice. It was refreshing. Then they were going to lead us to the visitors' table, but apparently the church is in a big hurry to take everything down after service on Sunday because the table was gone. Oh well.
I don't reckon this was our favorite. Jeremy did express interest in possibly going back to hear their main pastor preach, and hear the rest of the praise team (their normal leader was on vacation this week, apparently along with a few other people). So, we might re-visit. We both still have a favorite of the ones we've been to that we want to re-visit as well. So, not sure if next week will be new or will be a repeat. I'll let you know, though :)
So, today we visited a church that had been recommended to us by some friends. Another church that has both a traditional service and a contemporary service. (And of course we opted for contemporary, thank you very much!) We "accidentally" found the church a few days back because I just KNEW I knew where it was. We were driving around, it was dark, and I resigned myself to the fact that I had botched directions again, decided to turn around in the next parking lot......which happened to be this church! So, it's the first time we went to church without having to use a GPS :)
But, I digress. We get there, and were thankful they had a sign pointing people in the right direction, as the contemporary service is held in what appeared to be a rec hall or something, as opposed to the sanctuary. (There were some of those basketball nets that will "fold up", for lack of better phrase, towards the ceiling so that they're out of the way when not needed. Greeters were nice as always, and we walked in and found a seat and hung out until the service started (since we got there a little early). Then the pastor (or associate pastor? We keep missing the "actual" pastors at these churches since it's still summer) greeted, a video played, and the music started. It's one of those things where I don't want to be mean....but the music just wasn't good. I'm definitely a "music snob" in some ways, as I've gotten so accustomed to the AMAZING musicians at Covenant. (The sound wasn't mixed well, people were having a hard time recovering from mistakes, etc...just distracting...)
The first song was something neither of us had heard before. I glanced around at the congregation and we weren't the only ones! Only around 5-10 out of the 150 or so people who were there were actually singing. So, we made it through that song, and then there was one we knew. Finally got into the worshipping spirit, and then once that song ended, it was time to greet people. What?!? Why would you interrupt a time of worship with that? It was almost as abrupt as if the pastor had stopped his sermon in the middle and said, "Ok, this is the point in my sermon where i stop mid-sentence and you greet each other". But, ok. So, we greeted people, and, as is sadly the norm, no one really said anything to us. Sang the 3rd song, sat down, and then it was time for the offering while the band sang a mediocre version of "Manic Monday" (it fit with the sermon theme).
It was then that things changed a bit...the guy next to us actually said hi, and asked us if this was our first time visiting. This hasn't happened at ANY other church we've visited. (Well, we've had church staff talk to us at other churches, but this was the first time that an "average church member" bothered to take an interest in us). (Oh, and not to mention that this fella knows sign language. During the first song that no one knew, I kept seeing him sign out of the corner of my eye, but couldn't make any of it out because he was sorta turned away from me. Turns out he has a degree in ASL. He works with computers. Go figure :))
Sermon.....eh. Nothing revolutionary. Nothing satanic either. High point (other than the people being nice) was that we finally caught a church doing communion! Hallelujah! Though they didn't explain intinction, which we are familiar with, but I can see other visitors being confused. Then, after all that, some prayer and byebye. I just wasn't feeling the flow of the service. So then the nice people next to us were telling us about the church, and different groups, and different ways the church is active in the community, and just in general being super-nice. It was refreshing. Then they were going to lead us to the visitors' table, but apparently the church is in a big hurry to take everything down after service on Sunday because the table was gone. Oh well.
I don't reckon this was our favorite. Jeremy did express interest in possibly going back to hear their main pastor preach, and hear the rest of the praise team (their normal leader was on vacation this week, apparently along with a few other people). So, we might re-visit. We both still have a favorite of the ones we've been to that we want to re-visit as well. So, not sure if next week will be new or will be a repeat. I'll let you know, though :)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Finding a church...week 5
Week 5! Last Sunday in August. And somehow, we've managed to miss communion at every church! A little disappointing, I must say. Maybe we'll hit it next week. :)
Anyways, we went to church today with some friends of mine from college and their adorable daughter. The contemporary service for this church is at 9am (at least until the flip-flop in another 2 weeks) so it was definitely an early morning for us. But, the promise of breakfast afterwards and a nap was all it took to get Jeremy on board with the plan.
The church itself has definitely got the contemporary look to it....pews, stained glass, etc, but they really did a good job with contemporary music. I could tell that they've been doing it for a little while. We recognized all but one song (which is a beautiful song, by the way) so that definitely helped.
I have to admit that I halfway expected things to be kinda "stuffy", but it was quite the opposite. Even though most of the people were dressed up quite a bit more than Jeremy and I, all of those we encountered were extremely nice. (And people actually raised their hands in praise--didn't expect that :))
Now for my attempt at comedy. I truly believe that God gives Baptist preachers louder voices than any other people on earth! I tell you what, that guy spoke powerfully! Pretty good sermon on the 9th commandment (bearing false witness) and a realization that lies ABOUND in this world......not always blatant un-truths...but people putting a "spin" on things, saying things to lead you to an assumption about someone/something....etc.
Don't know that this will be our new church home, but it was definitely good to go with friends :)
Anyways, we went to church today with some friends of mine from college and their adorable daughter. The contemporary service for this church is at 9am (at least until the flip-flop in another 2 weeks) so it was definitely an early morning for us. But, the promise of breakfast afterwards and a nap was all it took to get Jeremy on board with the plan.
The church itself has definitely got the contemporary look to it....pews, stained glass, etc, but they really did a good job with contemporary music. I could tell that they've been doing it for a little while. We recognized all but one song (which is a beautiful song, by the way) so that definitely helped.
I have to admit that I halfway expected things to be kinda "stuffy", but it was quite the opposite. Even though most of the people were dressed up quite a bit more than Jeremy and I, all of those we encountered were extremely nice. (And people actually raised their hands in praise--didn't expect that :))
Now for my attempt at comedy. I truly believe that God gives Baptist preachers louder voices than any other people on earth! I tell you what, that guy spoke powerfully! Pretty good sermon on the 9th commandment (bearing false witness) and a realization that lies ABOUND in this world......not always blatant un-truths...but people putting a "spin" on things, saying things to lead you to an assumption about someone/something....etc.
Don't know that this will be our new church home, but it was definitely good to go with friends :)
Sunday, August 21, 2011
finding a new church--week 4
I honestly can't believe that we've been down here for 4 weekends. Yesterday marked 1 month since we moved...it's been a difficult journey to say the least. To say Jeremy and I are social butterflies would be inaccurate, but we are definitely missing time with our AVL friends. Thankfully our friends in the CLT area have treated us well! Just can't wait to start meeting people! I'm still jobless (prayer request!!!!) and Jeremy's working like a dog at O'Charley's. (If you're in the area, he's at the O'Charley's in Monroe, and works lunches. He'll take right good care of ya! :))
OK. So we visited another church this week. I let Jeremy pick since none of the ones that I have chosen up until this point turned out to be "good fits". So, Jeremy used some of his best reasoning skills--which one has the latest service time? Just kidding....well, it *did* end up being the one with the latest start time, but he chose it for other reasons. This one is fairly close to where we live, so it only took us 10-12 minutes to get there, which was nice.
It was a little confusing when we got there, because the church's name wasn't prominently displayed on the building, but we found the entrance (only because there were people standing in it :)) and went in. The front lobby area was pretty small, but the sanctuary was rather large. We went in to find seats and no one really talked to us, but, then again, we've gotten kinda used to that. Once the music started, we knew we at least recognized the first song! (I must say that I think 3 of the 4 churches we've visited have all done "Our God"...popular song!) Turns out we knew every song they did! What a welcomed change from the other churches we've attended! I did have to pop out to use the restroom during the 3rd song ("How He Loves", one of Jeremy's favorites--or "How He Loves" if you want to hear the original artist singing it). It was then that I figured out where the rest of the church "space" is....it appears that the church shares space with a gymnastics studio. Seemed like a very good place to have children's activities! But the restrooms were so far away that by the time I got back, I was VERY confused, as the band was playing this little ditty. Apparently I had missed the prayer for the offering and this was their fun way of taking it up. While playing some late '70s rock (ish?). I can definitely see some way(s) you could use that song in a religious setting, but it was definitely a surprise after leaving when I did.
Moving on. The sermon was really good. Jeremy and I both said afterward that it was something we needed to hear this morning. The pastor was relatable and funny, and a very good speaker. As I have alluded to, the band was really good as well. All men (I always have to think if I could "fit in" since music is my thing) and all kinda rocker-looking (several of them with shaved heads). Lead singer had an awesome voice, and the band was spot-on.
So.....this one is a possibility. Jeremy and I both noticed that there wasn't a "greet your neighbor" time, which we both like, and again...no altar or "altar-like" location. I know there are some things we'll have to compromise, and I'd rather compromise that than anything related to beliefs or scripture :)
All-in-all it was a good service, and I can see us visiting again down the road!
Now I've got to convince Jeremy to pick next week, too, since he seems to be having better luck :)
OK. So we visited another church this week. I let Jeremy pick since none of the ones that I have chosen up until this point turned out to be "good fits". So, Jeremy used some of his best reasoning skills--which one has the latest service time? Just kidding....well, it *did* end up being the one with the latest start time, but he chose it for other reasons. This one is fairly close to where we live, so it only took us 10-12 minutes to get there, which was nice.
It was a little confusing when we got there, because the church's name wasn't prominently displayed on the building, but we found the entrance (only because there were people standing in it :)) and went in. The front lobby area was pretty small, but the sanctuary was rather large. We went in to find seats and no one really talked to us, but, then again, we've gotten kinda used to that. Once the music started, we knew we at least recognized the first song! (I must say that I think 3 of the 4 churches we've visited have all done "Our God"...popular song!) Turns out we knew every song they did! What a welcomed change from the other churches we've attended! I did have to pop out to use the restroom during the 3rd song ("How He Loves", one of Jeremy's favorites--or "How He Loves" if you want to hear the original artist singing it). It was then that I figured out where the rest of the church "space" is....it appears that the church shares space with a gymnastics studio. Seemed like a very good place to have children's activities! But the restrooms were so far away that by the time I got back, I was VERY confused, as the band was playing this little ditty. Apparently I had missed the prayer for the offering and this was their fun way of taking it up. While playing some late '70s rock (ish?). I can definitely see some way(s) you could use that song in a religious setting, but it was definitely a surprise after leaving when I did.
Moving on. The sermon was really good. Jeremy and I both said afterward that it was something we needed to hear this morning. The pastor was relatable and funny, and a very good speaker. As I have alluded to, the band was really good as well. All men (I always have to think if I could "fit in" since music is my thing) and all kinda rocker-looking (several of them with shaved heads). Lead singer had an awesome voice, and the band was spot-on.
So.....this one is a possibility. Jeremy and I both noticed that there wasn't a "greet your neighbor" time, which we both like, and again...no altar or "altar-like" location. I know there are some things we'll have to compromise, and I'd rather compromise that than anything related to beliefs or scripture :)
All-in-all it was a good service, and I can see us visiting again down the road!
Now I've got to convince Jeremy to pick next week, too, since he seems to be having better luck :)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
finding a new church--week 3
So, week 3! (Which means that we've been here almost a month, and that tomorrow marks 1 month of not having a job....but that's not what I'm here to talk about!)
We decided this morning to make a 2nd attempt at the church we got lost trying to find last week. (After eating dinner with some wonderful friends last night who were in town for a concert, we scouted out the church location so that we could for SURE get there this morning :))
The area where the church holds their services reminds me a lot of the Biltmore Park area in Asheville--living, shopping, eating, movies. Very interesting little area, though it didn't look very busy when we were there. Anyways. The church right now meets in the movie theater (though we found out today that they're moving to a new location in the next month or two). It's one of 3 campuses, so we had another "pastor on the screen" experience. When we walked in, we must have looked lost because one of the pastors came to talk to us and let us know about the church, etc.
We walked into the actual theater, the music was just getting started, which was startling because there were SO MANY PEOPLE still in the lobby of the theater. The music was recognizable (soooo important to us) and the band was kinda small and cute, and actually quite talented. Felt the closest to Covenant that we've found so far. What wasn't good was the fact that people were walking in during the entire time of worship music. (In fact, and I promise I'm not exaggerating, the last people who walked in late were 40 minutes late for a service that lasted around an hour. Talk about rude, and almost pointless.
After 2 songs, it was sermon-on-the-screen time. I'm honestly not sure if this sermon was broadcast live or if it was pre-recorded, but we both found it harder to get into it at this church than last week at the other church. The head pastor was apparently out of town this week, so another pastor preached, and while he did a good job and had a good message, it just didn't convey as well as we would have wanted it to.
After the sermon, there were some announcements and they had the offering, during a slow reflective song (which was a little odd). This time, pretty much as soon as the singing started, some people started leaving. And again it was quite disruptive. But, the music was good again. As far as being recognizable and not being over-the-top, I think this week's music was the best of the 3.
At any rate. It was an alright experience. We said we might want to try them again once they get into their new location and when the head pastor is back (I read somewhere that he's an awesome speaker). But, back to the drawing board again. It's not gotten TOO frustrating yet, but I can see how it might if we're still doing this in October.
I'm letting Jeremy pick next week :) We've both said we would like to try a church that isn't part of a "campus" system, so we might actually have a "live" pastor experience!! :)
We decided this morning to make a 2nd attempt at the church we got lost trying to find last week. (After eating dinner with some wonderful friends last night who were in town for a concert, we scouted out the church location so that we could for SURE get there this morning :))
The area where the church holds their services reminds me a lot of the Biltmore Park area in Asheville--living, shopping, eating, movies. Very interesting little area, though it didn't look very busy when we were there. Anyways. The church right now meets in the movie theater (though we found out today that they're moving to a new location in the next month or two). It's one of 3 campuses, so we had another "pastor on the screen" experience. When we walked in, we must have looked lost because one of the pastors came to talk to us and let us know about the church, etc.
We walked into the actual theater, the music was just getting started, which was startling because there were SO MANY PEOPLE still in the lobby of the theater. The music was recognizable (soooo important to us) and the band was kinda small and cute, and actually quite talented. Felt the closest to Covenant that we've found so far. What wasn't good was the fact that people were walking in during the entire time of worship music. (In fact, and I promise I'm not exaggerating, the last people who walked in late were 40 minutes late for a service that lasted around an hour. Talk about rude, and almost pointless.
After 2 songs, it was sermon-on-the-screen time. I'm honestly not sure if this sermon was broadcast live or if it was pre-recorded, but we both found it harder to get into it at this church than last week at the other church. The head pastor was apparently out of town this week, so another pastor preached, and while he did a good job and had a good message, it just didn't convey as well as we would have wanted it to.
After the sermon, there were some announcements and they had the offering, during a slow reflective song (which was a little odd). This time, pretty much as soon as the singing started, some people started leaving. And again it was quite disruptive. But, the music was good again. As far as being recognizable and not being over-the-top, I think this week's music was the best of the 3.
At any rate. It was an alright experience. We said we might want to try them again once they get into their new location and when the head pastor is back (I read somewhere that he's an awesome speaker). But, back to the drawing board again. It's not gotten TOO frustrating yet, but I can see how it might if we're still doing this in October.
I'm letting Jeremy pick next week :) We've both said we would like to try a church that isn't part of a "campus" system, so we might actually have a "live" pastor experience!! :)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
crazy morning (aka finding a new church--week 2)
What started out as a disaster ended up being pretty alright. We had picked out a church to try this week, I had the general idea on how to get there, and we were ready to roll! I decided to double-check that I knew where I was going, and turn on the GPS to get it ready in case we made a wrong turn....and the GPS didn't have the road listed. Great. So I just wrote down the directions from Google Maps (I tried MapQuest, but it didn't recognize the address either) and we went about our merry little way.
We followed the directions....and I tell you, that church was NO WHERE to be found. We drove up and down the road, looked for signs, nothing. (Once we were back home, I looked up the directions again, and it looked like we followed them, but that the church is in one of the shopping center areas that we passed. But there weren't any signs. Maybe next week...)
At this point, we were already 5 minutes late for this church, so we decided to try heading back towards home. We knew there was a church near home, and hoped that they had a service around the time we'd get there (11:00ish). Sure enough, we saw a ton of people walking around in the parking lot, so we decided to give it a shot.
There was a sign as we were driving in asking first time visitors to turn on their flashers. We debated over whether we should or not--we're not ones to deliberately draw attention to ourselves--but I decided to give it a shot. The fella directing traffic stopped us, came to the window and let us know to drive towards the front and someone would get us parked close to the entrance. (Then Jeremy heard him say "We have VIPs coming to the front"--that's what they call first time guests--so he started joking around saying things like, "Yep, let's grab 'em and bag 'em". So cynical.) We got parked, and someone actually came over to us to give us information, walk us inside, show us around and tell us about the church. There were people greeting us EVERYWHERE...very different than the church last week. (Jeremy said "It was a little scary at first...." lol)
We got in, and we were in for a ride! I could go on and on and on about all sorts of things, but here's the summary:
We followed the directions....and I tell you, that church was NO WHERE to be found. We drove up and down the road, looked for signs, nothing. (Once we were back home, I looked up the directions again, and it looked like we followed them, but that the church is in one of the shopping center areas that we passed. But there weren't any signs. Maybe next week...)
At this point, we were already 5 minutes late for this church, so we decided to try heading back towards home. We knew there was a church near home, and hoped that they had a service around the time we'd get there (11:00ish). Sure enough, we saw a ton of people walking around in the parking lot, so we decided to give it a shot.
There was a sign as we were driving in asking first time visitors to turn on their flashers. We debated over whether we should or not--we're not ones to deliberately draw attention to ourselves--but I decided to give it a shot. The fella directing traffic stopped us, came to the window and let us know to drive towards the front and someone would get us parked close to the entrance. (Then Jeremy heard him say "We have VIPs coming to the front"--that's what they call first time guests--so he started joking around saying things like, "Yep, let's grab 'em and bag 'em". So cynical.) We got parked, and someone actually came over to us to give us information, walk us inside, show us around and tell us about the church. There were people greeting us EVERYWHERE...very different than the church last week. (Jeremy said "It was a little scary at first...." lol)
We got in, and we were in for a ride! I could go on and on and on about all sorts of things, but here's the summary:
- The music was good, but VERY loud.
- They did some original songs (like last week's church) but there were 2 main differences: a) they put a mainstream, familiar song towards the beginning and b) I thought their original songs were really good quality and easy to follow
- The pastor was VERY engaging (even though we were watching him on a screen--he was live at another campus) and used some very contemporary examples--comparing the way that some people follow Jesus to pressing the "follow" button for someone on Twitter...and that we need to be more than that.
- They had a huge baptism event today, and the pastor really did a good job of explaining what baptism is, and how you don't need classes or an appointment to be baptized. They had thought of EVERY excuse that someone would have to not get baptized spontaneously, and had: t-shirts, shorts, boxers, women's underwear, towels, hair products, feminine hygiene products, etc so that no one could say "well, I would get baptized IF..."
- It was a pretty large church, and we're not sure if that part will be a fit for us
- I feel there's NO WAY I'd ever fit in with the music team, and that's something that's important to me, as I'd really love to get back into worship leading once we can find the right church
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Finding a new church--Week 1
Well, one of the things I'm simultaneously looking forward to and dreading is finding a new church. After being with our "old" church for around 8 years, I haven't had to do this in a long time. Today, we started with a very contemporary church 15ish minutes away from us. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that this is not the church God is calling us to.
A few of the good points:
If anyone has any suggestions for contemporary churches (or churches who have a contemporary service) in the Mint Hill/Matthews/Charlotte area, let us know! We're looking for a place to try next week :)
A few of the good points:
- Parking "attendants"--there were several people in the parking lot helping direct the flow of traffic
- Greeters--they did have folks at the front door and the door to the auditorium to say hello and hand out bulletins
- The building itself is rather modern, and seemed to be very clean
- The preaching was alright. Nothing that made me say "wow" or anything.
- About 30 seconds before the band started playing, they started a fog machine. Really? A fog machine? Is that truly necessary for worship? I personally think not.
- It seems 4 of the 5 songs that were played were original songs (as in, I believe the people at the church wrote them). Now, I am all for original songs. Several people at Covenant wrote songs, and they were played in worship every once in a while. But for a person who really worships through music, it was very hard to get into the spirit of worship. They finally played a "mainstream" song at the very end, and I could get into that, but at that point, the service was over.
- The music was L-O-U-D. And when Jeremy and I say that, you KNOW it's loud. All we could hear was the band and the lead singer. Those poor backup singers could have been mouthing the words, or even singing a completely different song, and no one would have known the difference
If anyone has any suggestions for contemporary churches (or churches who have a contemporary service) in the Mint Hill/Matthews/Charlotte area, let us know! We're looking for a place to try next week :)
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