The Search for a Church

CHURCH G


Service Attended: 9:45 a.m. service

Welcome/Friendliness Rating - 4
 We knew quite a few people here, but even so, we were greeted warmly by the greeters, one of whom identified himself as the "Candy Man" and gave the kids a piece of candy.  Made us feel right at home and missing our good friend Frank S. at the same time.  Lots of smiles even though Kian was running amok around the foyer and climbing things that shouldn't be climbed on while we tried to focus on conversation with these kind people.
Service/Sermon Rating - 4
Children sit in the service with parents until 10:30, at which time there is a 5 minute break for middle schoolers to go to the youth room and younger kids to check in at Sunday School with parents.  The worship music was loud, but not overbearing.  The mood of worship was incredible.  Lots of raised hands, even  a couple of folks kneeling in the aisle.  I was raised in a very non-showy kind of church, where if you felt the Spirit move you, you might tap your foot, or sing a little louder, but that's it.  We attended today's church 10 years ago, for a period of 2 years, and though the pastor is still the same, the atmosphere is decidedly different....dare I say a little out of my comfort zone.  Which is not a bad thing.  It's just hard to adjust to being in a place where I am almost in the minority for being a more conservative worshipper.  In actuality, I'd rather not be a conservative worshipper.  This service inspired me because I really felt the sense that we were worshipping God and not just singing songs.  I liked it.  And I was out of my comfort zone.  And I'm still mulling it over.

The 3rd service at this church is called a "Prophetic Service."  Not sure what this is all about....but definitely have some questions about it.  I'm curious how many folks are considered to have the gift of prophecy, and what that means to them.  All of this is pretty different for a Baptist Church.  This church also has "Life Groups" which are groups of families who meet together once a week to build each other up.  We were in one of these groups 10 years ago, and we are curious to see if things still run the same.  The life groups take the place of adult sunday school.  The sermon was part of a series....today focused on entertainment and sports and how they can become overly important in our lives....then tied in the sports imagery with several Bible verses.  The pastor is a very engaging speaker.

Based on a scripture: Several

Did we learn something new/see something in a different way:  Somewhat

Were we inspired to action by the sermon: Um, Maybe Roger was....I tuned out a bit when the talk turned to sports. 


Did it lead to further discussion: No....but the worship time did.

Length of Service: ~ 75 minutes

Length of Time Before Looking at my Watch:  Didn't look.
Children's Church and Sunday School Rating - 4
The sunday school classrooms were well marked. I opted to place Kian in with the toddlers instead of the preschool-1st graders as I didn't want to take him in the service, and they were totally fine with that.  They gave us a pager number.  Kylie and Kara had multiple friends at the church.  Kara enjoyed the middle school class.  The high schoolers sit in the adult service, and then get together on Sunday nights for youth group.  Kylie was happy to have girls her age to sit by, though.  Kelsea didn't like her class because she was in a "baby room" (it's also used for younger children at the church's daycare).  But she is fixated on one church she likes and is looking for something bad now at every other church so she can give it a bad rating.

Adult Sunday School Rating - N/A

Youth Group Rating - 5
A good sized youth group, divided up into middle school and high school, though some activities are together.  Lots of kids they know, and even some friends.  Fun, regular activities as well as Bible Study.  This is the church the older girls have been begging to go to, and so the "5" rating was no surprise.

Building - 5
Not too big, not too small.  No air conditioning......NOT COOL for Erin (pun intended).  Is part of a school campus (o.k.-that gives it away, but most of you knew anyway!) so has a gym, cafeteria, etc. that are used by the church.  We felt quite at home since we were already familiar with the building.

Personal Ratings
Kylie: 5
Kara: 5 (she actually said 10, but that's not allowed)
Kelsea: 3 (because all they did was color)
Roger:  3
Erin:  4?