Something new
Aug. 12th, 2018 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kayreI have quite a few Sundays off-- 6 per year. Sometimes I just go to some other similar church and enjoy sitting in a pew, listening and singing; but I try to use a few of those Sundays to check out something different. This morning I went to LifeChurch Albany, and it was about as different from traditional Presbyterian as possible!
I've been intrigued by LifeChurch after going through their website and discovering that the... denomination? organization? chain?.... is not as conservative as many of the churches that embrace a contemporary music worship style.
The entry doors were staffed by greeters in jeans and matching t-shirts; all young women, today at least. There's a refreshments stand in the lobby, serving assorted beverages; I don't know if they were free, I bypassed it. I went straight into what turned out to be an auditorium-- polished concrete floor, comfy chairs, 1 floor-to-ceiling video screen and two other large screens, dark walls and ceiling, absolutely no religious trappings of any sort. Smaller than I expected; probably seats around 200, maybe 250. Several rows of chairs missing this morning to make room for an above ground pool (no slide!) for a group baptism tonight.
We began with the praise band-- 4 singers, 4 instruments-- doing a cover of Don't Stop Believing, as a sort of prelude. The pastor (a woman) gave a brief welcome, and then we went into a quite long set of praise music-- 20 minutes? Nothing familiar to me (and I do follow such music a bit). To my amusement, there was less singing in the crowd during this than there had been during the Journey cover (and not much then).
Pastor spoke again, briefly. There was a moment that my churchy friends would recognize as passing the peace-- "Everyone say hello to the people around you, let them know you're glad they're here." This was far less awkward than in my own church-- every single person near me shook my hand and spoke to me, unselfconsciously. Then the pastor introduced the sermon-- which was a video by the organization's founder. With no audio I would have no trouble convincing anyone it was a TED talk-- plain stage, white board, founder wearing jeans and sneakers, and a blue button down shirt untucked, open at the throat, sleeves rolled up. There was even a gently off-color joke at one point-- but overall it was a good sermon, a solid examination of the first chapter of Habakuk. The only negative to me was that it was presented entirely in terms of personal, individual faith. The end of the talk segued straight into an 'altar call' sans altar, done by the local pastor- with the video still providing background music (meditative organ chords with some guitar).
After that, some more talking by the pastor, explaining the local structure-- newcomers are encouraged to sign up for a sort of orientation dinner, regular attenders to join a small group, and explanation of online resources available for all. Then the offering-- a brief video about the new church app was shown while ushers (all men, more tshirts) started a bucket down each row, and collected them at the other ends.
Then, to my surprise, a very brief benediction and we were done! No closing music set, just recorded music as we all headed for the exits.
My reactions are quite mixed-- but what was good, was good enough that I may go back. Partly to gather more data, and partly to enjoy the parts that were good.
I've been intrigued by LifeChurch after going through their website and discovering that the... denomination? organization? chain?.... is not as conservative as many of the churches that embrace a contemporary music worship style.
The entry doors were staffed by greeters in jeans and matching t-shirts; all young women, today at least. There's a refreshments stand in the lobby, serving assorted beverages; I don't know if they were free, I bypassed it. I went straight into what turned out to be an auditorium-- polished concrete floor, comfy chairs, 1 floor-to-ceiling video screen and two other large screens, dark walls and ceiling, absolutely no religious trappings of any sort. Smaller than I expected; probably seats around 200, maybe 250. Several rows of chairs missing this morning to make room for an above ground pool (no slide!) for a group baptism tonight.
We began with the praise band-- 4 singers, 4 instruments-- doing a cover of Don't Stop Believing, as a sort of prelude. The pastor (a woman) gave a brief welcome, and then we went into a quite long set of praise music-- 20 minutes? Nothing familiar to me (and I do follow such music a bit). To my amusement, there was less singing in the crowd during this than there had been during the Journey cover (and not much then).
Pastor spoke again, briefly. There was a moment that my churchy friends would recognize as passing the peace-- "Everyone say hello to the people around you, let them know you're glad they're here." This was far less awkward than in my own church-- every single person near me shook my hand and spoke to me, unselfconsciously. Then the pastor introduced the sermon-- which was a video by the organization's founder. With no audio I would have no trouble convincing anyone it was a TED talk-- plain stage, white board, founder wearing jeans and sneakers, and a blue button down shirt untucked, open at the throat, sleeves rolled up. There was even a gently off-color joke at one point-- but overall it was a good sermon, a solid examination of the first chapter of Habakuk. The only negative to me was that it was presented entirely in terms of personal, individual faith. The end of the talk segued straight into an 'altar call' sans altar, done by the local pastor- with the video still providing background music (meditative organ chords with some guitar).
After that, some more talking by the pastor, explaining the local structure-- newcomers are encouraged to sign up for a sort of orientation dinner, regular attenders to join a small group, and explanation of online resources available for all. Then the offering-- a brief video about the new church app was shown while ushers (all men, more tshirts) started a bucket down each row, and collected them at the other ends.
Then, to my surprise, a very brief benediction and we were done! No closing music set, just recorded music as we all headed for the exits.
My reactions are quite mixed-- but what was good, was good enough that I may go back. Partly to gather more data, and partly to enjoy the parts that were good.
no subject
Date: 2018-08-12 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-08-12 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-08-13 01:14 am (UTC)It sounds as if there was no pastoral wincing about it?
no subject
Date: 2018-08-13 12:42 am (UTC)