Week 8 - Living Hope Church

livinghopechurch.com

This weekend we had plans for a family picture on Sunday (only day we could get all ten of us together) and so we had looked around for a Saturday evening service to attend. Saturday is not new to us as we started attending the Saturday evening service at our previous church many years ago. There are some nice benefits to Saturday evening so we are not the least bit opposed to the idea. A while back, as Loren was looking for potential visit sites near our house, we came across one that was located just down the street and they met on Saturday evenings. Perfect!

You know that thing about "best laid plans?" Apparently that church is no longer in existence. Fortunately right across the parking lot is another church that also meets on Saturday evening, and no we didn't confuse the two. There actually did used to be a church that met in the building we first went to.

Our backup church was Living Hope Church that meets in a former Kmart store. Unlike other re-purposed commercial building churches we have attended, this one still has vestiges of its former use. Using black curtain walls in the main meeting area they are able to accommodate a variety of audience sizes and uses, very functional in that way. On this night the room was set up for about 350 people and there were approximately 100 in attendance. Most likely Sunday mornings draw a larger crowd. Two large projection screens and several flat screen monitors provided easy viewing of the speakers and musicians from anywhere in the room.

As soon as the service started the lights were turned off, with the exception of the well lit stage, and six instrumentalists/vocalists played 20 minutes of rousing songs. Following this the service leader led in prayer, announced several upcoming opportunities, showed a couple of videos and introduced a guest speaker. LHC has recently gone through a major disruption and is currently without a lead pastor so they are utilizing christian leaders, both from within and from outside the church, to provide teaching for weekend services. Lights were raised briefly during a short meet-n-greet just prior to the speaker. Upon reflection, that was the only time we interacted with another person in the room.

This week we had the privilege of hearing Mike Miller, Executive Director of the evangelism ministry Common Ground/Dare to Live. Mike shared the powerful story of how his family came to an understanding of who Jesus is and the gift of  redemption he offers. He connected his story of meeting Jesus to the ministry that LHC has provided to people in the community that are seeking what he did as a young person. Part of Mike's message was to be an encouragement for this community that has recently been knocked down by the former pastor's financial misdealings. In doing so he implied that LHC is the only church in Clark County that is bringing in people seeking Jesus, however they come, without judgement. We took a slight offense to this claim. While we are less than 10 visits into this journey we can say that we have been to several communities that are reaching out to people, where they are at, to help them grow in their understanding of Jesus and his gift to them.

If there is one thing we have learned after a lifetime of living with the body of Christ, it is that no one church community has a lock on reaching people who need to know Jesus. Mike's story was about how several churches his family had reached out too were not able too meet them where they were, one was, and they began their walk with Christ because of that one church. Nothing about his story categorically negates the work that those other churches were doing. We just never know who God is going to work through to see his purpose achieved.

Week 7 - Northcrest Community Church

northcrestchurch.com

Having lived so long within the bubble of a megachurch it is easy to lose perspective of how much of the Christian Church functions. Small, yet dedicated, communities are more the norm and yet the multi-site, or multi-thousand, communities are often the ones that get the attention. Northcrest Community Church is one of the many small but dedicated churches in Clark County. If you have ever been to the Living Bethlehem Village on Mill Plain during Christmas time then you know the church we are talking about. This is no small feat undertaken by a surprisingly small community of believers, truly a labor of love to the bigger community.

The auditorium is well lit with both natural and artificial light. Just in case you are wondering what the big deal is with the "natural light" thing, well I'll (Loren here) tell you. After years of attending church in a building that doesn't have any windows in the main auditorium, and the lighting is controlled up and down to "set the mood" throughout the service, it is easy to lose the perspective of an environment that isn't illuminated by halogen or florescent light. "Whatever!" you say. Well, truthfully I hadn't really given it any thought until our first visit way back on January 3rd. Partway through the service I realized that there hadn't been any "mood lighting" and began to look around, realizing that there were actually windows to the outside world. A small thing maybe, but I liked it.

Aside from the lighting, the auditorium was comfortable, seating about 90, with a stage for the music team of four instruments and two vocalists. Technology was used for the music lyrics and to show a couple of videos. Like with another visit no projection screen was used, just the back wall. There is something kind of aesthetically pleasing about not having either a blank screen staring at you or some kind of moving graphic filling the blank screen. Coffee, in a real mug, was available, along with a variety of baked goodies in a pink or heart-shaped motif in honor of Valentine's Day. We were encouraged to grab our treats and take them right to our seat to enjoy as the service got underway. Our interaction with others was minimal, we said "Hi/Bye" to the pastor on our way in and out, and visited with a long-time friend who attends NCC.

The service overall was simple and straightforward. The music consisted of a mix of traditional and contemporary songs. No time was devoted to the traditional meet-n-greet, but other than that very typical. The pastor opened his message with a couple of short videos, one to introduce the week's message based on the theme "The Story," and one that explains a current focus of Evangelical churches, that of being "Missional." 

The message was based on I Kings 18 where the prophet Elijah goes head to head with several hundred prophets of Baal. Kind of an unusual passage considering that it was Valentine's Day. Typically the message would be all about God's love for us, our lack of deserving it, and what it cost him, you know, a classic John 3:16 message.  Surprisingly the message was about God's love but with a twist. We were challenged to reconsider the purpose of the prophets in God's plan. As the pastor explained, often we think of the biblical prophets as those angry guys that go around preaching hell-fire and brimstone. Using examples from nearly all the major and minor prophets named in the old testament, he challenged us to view their lives and ministries as God's means of communicating his love for his people. An interesting twist and yet it rings true.

The pastor's missional spirit was evident in his teaching and NCC is located in an ideal place to have a real impact on their immediate neighbors. While it easy to think that bigger is better there are innumerable stories in church history where faithful, yet small, can have a lasting impact. 

Week 6 - Turning Point Christian Center

www.turningpointcc.org

At the outset of this adventure we intentionally tried to put in place as few restrictions as possible for selecting churches to visit. This week is an example of having to really stick to this intent. Typically Loren does a quick internet search of churches close to home, to find out service times, address, affiliations, etc. The affiliations part is where it can get tough; for Loren in particular and Laurie to a lesser degree. 

Turning Point Christian Center is affiliated with Assemblies of God. If we were not on an adventure of simply getting out and meeting fellow believers where they gather it would have been very easy to say "pass" on visiting TPCC. To be honest it would have been easy to pass on the Lutheran church we visited the second week, based on stereotypes we have grown up with. Fortunately we stuck to our intention of few restrictions and met nice people who are enthusiastic about their walk with God.

One word that would encapsulate the service at TPCC would be "energetic." From the opening song to the closing invitation the room was full of energy. The congregants were actively involved in the service with shouts of praise and "amen" from the back to being individually engaged by the pastor from the stage. The environment was very relaxed with people moving to be near the stage during times of singing. We noticed several special needs individuals who moved about the room and actively participated in the service. We were approached by several people, both coming and going, that gave us warm welcomes and chatted with us for a few moments.

Speaking of coming, this was the first time we have attended a church service by entering through a coffee shop located in business center. Coffee Revolution is the lobby for TPCC. Not a bad deal really, great coffee with a nice place to chat with friends. The auditorium seats a little over 100 people and on this weekend was pretty much at capacity. The music was moving with active audience participation. Prayers were frequent and everyone was encouraged to vocally offer up their prayer from where they sat.

This week the teaching portion of the service was led by the group Dream City Leadership Network. Using poetry, skits, video, and traditional teaching from Romans 12:1-2 they challenged the audience with the question of "What if." What if we truly understood what God has done for us. What if we actually chose to live according to his word. What if ... . 

The real question for us this week is what if we had allowed stereotypes to control our attitudes and actions? What if we had passed on visiting TPCC because of preconceived notions? Well at the least we would have missed meeting a community that is very enthusiastic about meeting with God. Probably, more importantly for us, we would have inadvertently started down the road of prejudging specific churches and limit what God has in store for us this year.

Week 5 - Living Water Community Church

www.livingwatercc.org

Whew! We made it over a month in this little adventure. This may not seem like much to some but for those of us (Loren) who avoid new social situations like the plague, this is BIG!

One aspect of this has been finding new church communities tucked away off the beaten path. Living Water Community Church is located just off a major thoroughfare, but enough that it is unlikely you will find it driving by. In fact we discovered it only after we discovered last week's church, Vancouver First Friends.

LWCC is located in a re-purposed bingo hall that has been tastefully refurbished and decorated to provide an inviting environment. If one of the members hadn't mentioned this bit of trivia we would have been none the wiser. The front lobby provides plenty of room to stand and chat with others, there was plenty of this going on when we arrived during the break between the first and second service. They even have a coffee kiosk that offers a number of specialty coffee drinks featuring BJ's coffee, a local roaster that does a lot for non-profit organizations. For the bookworm there is small selection of books available to purchase as well.

The auditorium is artificially lit with comfortable seating that is spread wide and only about 10 rows deep with space for about 250 people. You should feel comfortably close to the stage just about anywhere in the room. The stage is taken up by equipment for the five instrumentalists and two stand alone vocalists in the music team. One nice touch was their use of overhead technology. At first it wasn't apparent that they use projection, but after realizing that there weren't any song books for attendees to use it raises the obvious question, "how do we know what to sing?" Simple, just project it onto the walls, even though they are painted in a soft color like the rest of the room. No big screens needed and nothing to clutter the vision when not in use. Projection was used very minimally for the songs and briefly throughout the message. For those who come ill prepared there are bibles available to follow along in the scripture readings.

Speaking of the music, it was a nice blend of old and new. For the older congregants there were familiar hymns presented in a contemporary way that might appeal to younger congregants. Music was used sparingly throughout the service and definitely was a lesser part of the program. 

Like last week, LWCC's meet and greet time was extended up to about 10 minutes. This provides ample time to have a more meaningful conversation with one or two people than what we have been accustomed to. Following this fellowship time the children are excused for Sunday School for them. They were invited back at the end of the service to participate in communion and the closing song. Unlike the Lutheran church we visited, LWCC practices Open Communion, available to any who profess a relationship with Christ.

The pastor offered an animated and energetic message entitled "I am not ashamed of the Gospel" based on Romans 1:15-17. Beginning with an extended introduction, drawing from historical anecdotes of past leaders of the Christian faith, he laid the foundation for the expository portion. Cross referencing a number of scripture passages he demonstrated Apostle Paul being unashamed because (1) the Gospel is the power of God, (2) the Gospel produces salvation, and (3) the Gospel is for every person.

LWCC was very inviting with several people coming up to welcome us and share a bit about their church. While they may be off the beaten path and a relatively young community (15 years), LWCC has drawn a congregation that includes all ages.