Bob’s thoughts:
When we travel country roads to where God wants us to worship, I think I expect a small country church. Today I was surprised when we came to the multiple buildings of East Union spaced over a multi-acre site.
We were early and found our way to the worship area, but would have appreciated some signage. This was a contemporary service held in the fellowship hall/gym. We easily found restrooms there which were large, bright, and clean.
There were three people near the entrance that I thought might be there to welcome visitors, but we were observed and welcomed by a few women. One of them passed my card to the pastor, and I was impressed that she would act as his eyes and ears.
Because of the setting and the large speakers being set up, we chose seats that were off to one side away from the anticipated audio blast. I thought it was a smart move, but the speakers were never turned up so there was a lot we couldn’t hear. I noticed when the pastor spoke I could only hear him when he faced our way.
I noticed there seemed to be more “gray hairs” than young people at this contemporary service. It was hard to tell if we were to sing with the praise team as I couldn’t tell if the congregation was singing. They sounded remarkable on “Wings of a Dove.”
Because of my poor “choice” of seating for audio, I used some of the sermon time to pray for the church and pastor. It is fulfilling to lift the pastor in prayer while he is preaching. What came to me during the sermon was, I believe, from the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” when they chose the plain chalice as being Christ’s, the old knight on guard offers, “You have chosen wisely.”
I believe we have only one choice: we can choose NOT to follow Christ. If we choose wisely there, then all other choices are best left to Jesus Who chose us.
Jan’s thoughts:
We pulled into the parking lot and found a parking spot near what looked like the main entrance. However there were no signs of life inside, so we looked around outside and noticed people entering another building, the Community Center, so we checked it out.
As it turns out, this campus is very large and the contemporary service is held in the fellowship hall/gym in the Community Center. The foyer of this building made a striking first impression with sky blue walls and a Biblical quote about love repeated all around toward the tops of the walls. It stirred a warm, welcoming ambiance.
The people were friendly, although some manning a table when we walked in did not greet us, but others did before, during, and after worship.
The acoustics were confusing. Knowing how sensitive our ears are and how loud most contemporary worship services seem to us, we sat in a space that looked to be out of the direct “line of fire” of the huge speakers. As it turned out, there were three people leading the singing…they sounded marvelous together, especially on “Wings of a Dove,” but the volume was nowhere near the point of being an issue for us. Also, I could just barely hear the liturgist, and at times I had trouble even hearing the sermon. It was more likely my ears, but still confusing.
The words to songs were projected onto the wall in front. Unfortunately we were sitting toward the one side and could not see the words due to the size. It would be helpful if the words were 2-3 times the size they were today.
The bulletin is well done and arranged cleverly for two services. When we first entered the building near the Sanctuary, we picked up a bulletin from the stack in the Narthex. This bulletin contained the Order of Worship for the later service and an insert with announcements, etc. After we located the contemporary service we were given a bulletin which turned out to be almost identical to the insert from the later service bulletin. Generally speaking, most contemporary service attendees are accustomed to worshiping without a printed Order of Worship, but it can still be confusing for visitors.
The sermon was based on John 15:12-17 and Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and was called “Choosing Life.” The pastor pointed out that “living is not enough – we are called to be lively.” And if we are to be lively, we must “keep God in mind when making choices” in our lives. Ultimately, “choosing life means choosing love.”
It was that “lively” thing that caught my attention. I’m hoping for a dose of lively with the coming of Spring.
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