A Church Update

Hey kiddos-
Life is good here. My cousin's wedding was this weekend and it kept us very busy. I wanted to update you on our church search. It has been...interesting to say the least. We've been to three in the past couple of weeks, so I'll describe them for you.

1) The Rote Memorization Church

Alex and I went to this one because my grandmother said that they were a socially active church. We showed up and sat on a pew. The pastors were wearing big robes and they had acolytes. The service was one of those where the pastor reads something from the bulliten and the congregation responds. So, we did that for about ten minutes, sung some Psalms, and then read some verses outloud in the typical church drone tone. The sermon was okay but we think that "socially active" really means that they are "open minded" which means that sin isn't confronted, but accepted. After the service, the pastor came up to us and asked if we were new. We then had a mildly awkward conversation about their ministries (which seemed mostly financial giving, which is fine, but Alex and I are more hands on ministry kinds of people) and then he told us to wait to talk to the Associate pastor. We just wanted to get out so we snuck out of the church building (teehee). Overall, the service felt completely dead.
Decision: NOT THERE

2) The Recovery Church

After our first efforts, I decided we should try a different route. I found the Dallas International Street Church located near Downtown Dallas online. We showed up for the service at 11 to find ourselves in a bunch of old couches and walls covered in wrapping paper. The building looked like a big room with Christmas lights strung from the ceiling. There were homeless people milling about. The minute we walked into the door people were asking our names and where we're from. I was introduced to a woman named Mia and she introduced me to everyone we saw. We sat down and the associate pastor sat down and told us about the church. Essentially, it began as a rehab for drug and alcohol addicts who were seeking help. Their program is faith based and is about focusing on replacing their need for addiction with Christ. They emphasize mercy and grace, which is wonderful. The people around us were asking fellow churchgoesrs how life was. There was definitely a family feeling. The service got started late. There were no powerpoints or pianos or even enough Bibles to go around. The service was SO fun. We sung for about 30 minutes- acapella. My personal favorite was "Ain't no party like a Holy Ghost party cause a Holy Ghost party don't stop". We sung "If you're happy and you know it, say Amen!" "Amen." The pastor (a woman!) asked people for their testimonies and we heard about how people had been clean for a week and two days and they were thanking the Lord for that and talking about how they felt whole again. That was very encouraging because we could tell that God was moving in the shelter. The sermon was about being intentional (one of my favorites!) and there was the opportunity for the laying on of hands. The offering was great because people were putting in pennies and nickels, which is great because even that small offering is faith based giving. The only thing Alex and I were unsure about is that the pastor would break into uninterpreted tongues for brief periods in her prayers but that was to be expected because the church had a pentecostal feel to it. The goal of the church is to do outreach in the Dallas streets. When Alex and I left, we felt refreshed, like we had had an experience with God.

Decision: MAYBE. We would love to give our money there and do ministry there, but we wanted to keep looking.

3) The Circus Church!
Alex wanted to go to this church that was closer to us and he had heard good things about from a coworker. We got there a little late and huge parking lot was jam packed with people. We got a spot and walked in. The music was so loud and we were only in the crowded foyer. We walked into this huge sanctuary and we had ushers tell us where to sit. We were directed to a pew near the front. We were sitting down and the ushers kept asking us to move towards the middle. That was the only time that we were spoken to by a member of the church. It was Mission Sunday. The front of the church was covered in huge posters with countries of the world($), a full on orchestra ($$), two giant screens that had videos from the pastor ($$$), and a screen that rose from the middle of the stage ($$$$). I already wasn't impressed. Then they had this large theatrical dance and costume show that showcased the countries that the congregational support was going to. It was entertaining but I was cringing when I thought about the cost. They had missionaries visiting but they didn't get to speak; instead they waved. In short, I never really figured out what the money was going to (the glossy magazine I was handed was very brief) but I heard alot about how necessary it was to give to missions (above and beyond the tithe because the tithe "needs to stay in the local church!!" Where the heck is that in the Bible?). The pastor talked about himself and it seemed that he placed alot of importance on human work, rather than God working through people (i.e. the missionaries were "top citizens" because they were good people, not because God had decided to use them). They asked for first time visitors to follow a lady with a sign to the "reception room" but Alex and I didn't reveal ourselves. It took us so long to get out of the parking lot because people were so rude. Overall, it was a megachurch and not what we were looking for.
Decision: DEF NO.

We'll keep looking. So, no worries. I wish our house church could have just moved with us. Oh well, I'm sure God has a reason for this. :)