 |
| www.bethesdanw.com |
As re-purposed office space the meeting room is utilitarian and functional. Black curtain screens are set up around the perimeter to create a little more intimate setting. Lighting is provided by strings of light bulbs hung from the ceiling around the room. Seating is for about 350 people and this week it was near capacity. The sound system was surprisingly well balanced for the space and a projection screen was used solely during the music time. Music was provided by five instrumentalists, including 2 vocalists. During the opening music hour people were invited and encouraged to come to the front and join in, easily over a hundred did so.
All age groups were well represented, with plenty of families and young children. Children were encouraged to stay during the music hour and then given the opportunity to leave for the children's class time. Our direct interaction with others was pretty limited, said "hi" to a greeter at the door and visited briefly with one person sitting near us. No printed material was provided so it was difficult as a visitor to know what was going on and what Bethesda is about.
As the music hour came to a close two young people came forward to give testimony on how they saw God working through them; at a laundry mat and a local coffee stand. In addition an elderly congregant came forward to speak a "word from God" that she had been given. In preparation for the offering the congregation read aloud an offertory proclamation about God's greatness.
The message, by the husband and wife pastor team, was a topical study of "Blessing" delivered in a two-way conversation, coffee shop, format. Drawing from Genesis 1:28 and Galatians 3:5-9, 26-29 they took us through a discussion of what "Blessing" is and what this means for an individual. Some of their key takeaways included "sometimes we embrace things as normal when they're not," "the Blessing assures success in all areas of life," "I'm not waiting on a move of God, I am a move of God," and "we are walking in the Blessing right now."
At the end of the service people were invited forward who needed additional prayer and ministering, many went forward. The rest of us were free to go and enjoy a potato feed fundraiser for the youth summer camp program.
Dear L and L,
ReplyDeleteWhat you didn't tell us is what you thought about it. It was a description, but no more. Did you enjoy it? Where your hearts moved? Did you feel the presence of God there? More than just observations, I would love to hear what you really thought. In Christ, blessings on your journey.
Thank you for your question. You are right, our posts are more descriptive than reflective. This is a conscience decision we made early on in this journey. We recognize that each of our visits is really just a snap shot of a single moment in time. As such it would not be fair to categorize any single community based on this single moment in time. Of course it is impossible to keep all opinions out but those that creep in are mostly in the areas of environmental and social.
DeleteWhile this project is for our benefit we recognize that there might be someone who will find this blog and use it as a resource to look for a church in our area. With that in mind we don't want to discourage them from exploring a specific church because it didn't "connect" with us on some level. As we are discovering finding a church home is a very personal thing and no two people are going to have the same experience. The two of us haven't been impacted by the same things in the churches we have visited so far.
What has been fun however is meeting some great people who are very serious about their walk with God and demonstrate it in many different, yet also common, ways.
Since we are coming up on the half way mark of this journey we have been talking about doing a more reflective post of our experience to date.