Week 10 - St. Andrew Lutheran Church

www.salcvan.org

This week took us back to the "High Church" side of Christian tradition. Lest one thinks this is a pejorative be at ease, it is simply a term that identifies a church or denomination that follows and practices a liturgical and ritualized form of worship. 

Like our previous Lutheran visit St. Andrew Lutheran Church follows the same structure in their service. This was nice because we had a better idea of what to expect and, hopefully, consequently had less of a bewildered look about us. We are quick learners but it did help that St. Andrew's provided a detailed guide to the morning's liturgy, including all songs, responsive readings, and instructions for communion. Speaking of communion, they practice an open communion so we were able to partake this time. 

We entered through a spacious, well-lit, lobby into the main meeting room. Plenty of natural light is available from the lobby and a large skylight located above the altar-area in the front. This Sunday the lobby was set up to display hand-crafted items that were being silent auctioned off to support the St. Andrew Preschool. The auditorium itself is a unique modern design that accentuates the beautiful pipe organ set off to one side. This might be blasphemous but, in Loren's opinion, a pipe organ beats a six piece band on any given Sunday. The use of technology was limited but provided an alternative to following along in the printed booklet. One little criticism has to do with the sound system. There were times when the ambient noise in the room made it difficult to hear the speaker even though they were mic'd. That being said the acoustics of the room allowed for the voices of congregants to be easily heard, raised in unison during the singing of hymns. 

The theme of the message was "For the sake of witness." Drawing from scripture passages in the liturgy we looked at the call of Jeremiah and the story of the prodigal son to see how when we put aside our fears we open up opportunity for being a witness. Jeremiah put aside his fear of rejection by the people and the prodigal son put aside his of rejection by the father. In doing so they demonstrated a great witness of God's loving and gracious nature. The pastor's message was short and to the point. He didn't delve much into the scriptural basis of the message but rather offered clear, everyday, examples of how it might look to put aside fear like the two biblical examples. 

Starting on this project we knew that we would encounter things that contrasted with our conservative Evangelical church upbringing. This week was probably the biggest contrast to date. St. Andrew's has an Associate Pastor and Assistant Minister, both of whom are women. Now if you're a life-long Evangelical you probably felt a shiver go down your spine right about now. We call women "Director of ..." all the time, but "Pastor," not on your life. Of course for many in the Protestant tradition women pastors are nothing new. The reality is that in the Evangelical tradition women have functioned in pastoral roles for decades we just don't acknowledge it as such.

One thing was abundantly clear about St. Andrew's; they are a vibrant community that cares about "the least of these."

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 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.

Week 4 - Vancouver First Friends Church

www.vffc.org

We set out on this 52 week adventure with an intention to experience different ways of meeting with God. This week at Vancouver First Friends Church we left feeling like we had experienced something truly different. First though, if you are not familiar with the "Friends Church" think "Quakers." If that rings a bell but doesn't really mean much think George Fox, as in George Fox University; an influence in the Pacific Northwest for over 125 years. Not exactly the new kid on the block, but one that neither of us has any memory of ever meeting.

VFFC is a small congregation that originated in downtown Vancouver before relocating several decades ago to its current location. They are also going through a transition as they recently brought on a new, energetic, lead pastor. Pastor Peter made a point of seeking us out before and after the service, offering a small gift to enjoy at a later time; got to love Starbucks. We were approached by a number of people once they recognized we were visiting. Very warm and authentically welcoming, and according to one older gentleman they have "great potlucks." Ages ranged from children to elderly with the exception that we didn't notice any teenage or young adults. 

The meeting (in proper Quaker parlance) was a typical church service with the exception of a couple of elements. First though, after a welcome and prayer there was a time of singing both contemporary and traditional songs. VFFC is also looking for a music pastor so this week was a friend of Pastor Peter's from Newberg, OR. Musical accompaniment was with an amplified acoustical guitar for singing and organ for prelude and offertory. An overhead screen was used to project the words to the songs and the main points of the pastor's message. Hymnals were available in the pews, along with bibles for visitors. 

One of the exceptions we noticed was just prior to the Pastoral Prayer congregants were asked to publicly share a praise or prayer request from where they sat. A microphone was passed around to facilitate the speaker being heard. If you think about it, with so many of today's carefully choreographed church services the last thing you do is let someone not in on the plan have an opportunity to speak out. 

The next exception was the "meet and greet" immediately after the prayer. Most of us are familiar with the quick "say 'hi' to the person next to you" greeting time. Well, that's how it started so we dutifully stood, did the 360 degree turn to shake hands, and returned to our forward facing stance. About five minutes into it we realized that people were still "meeting and greeting." Looking around we were amazed to see full on conversations taking place all around the room, even out into the front lobby area. This lasted for about 10 minutes and left us intrigued with the idea that this much meeting time could be devoted to just catching up, but isn't that what "friends" do?

Just prior to beginning his message the pastor brought the children forward to pray for them and then dismiss to a children's class. We then participated in a responsive reading from a collection of bible passages woven together around the theme of the days message, "The Journey from Me to You." On a side note we had been told several times by various people that they were starting a new series based on the book Soul Shift. Later we realized that doing a "series" was a new experience and people were pretty excited about it. People have been encouraged to read the book and during weekday meetings they will discuss it. During the Sunday meeting the pastor's message provides a scriptural foundation. This Sunday the message was from Mark 9:30-35 with a focus on taking our eyes off ourselves and actually considering that everyone we come in contact with is struggling with their own stuff. That as followers of Christ we are charged with putting others before our-self. That I am to shift my focus from "me to you."

At the close of the service the pastor then once again opened the floor for anyone to share a word that they felt lead to share. This portion of the meeting is what they call "Open Worship" and was one of the elements we found new and unique in our experience. A second time, a microphone was offered to anyone who wanted to share something that they had learned during the message, whether it be by prayer, song, or word. Once again we were left with the feeling that as a congregant we were active participants in the meeting.

Week 3 - City Bible Church

http://www.citybiblechurch.org/

Well here we are three weeks into our adventure and already a little change of plans. One of us forgot they were going to be out of town for work this weekend so today was a solo excursion. Best laid plans right? Undoubtedly, over the remaining 49 weeks there will be other unexpected (or forgotten) events that we will just role with.

The first thing that stands out from our first two visits is that City Bible is located in a re-purposed commercial building along the Mill Plain corridor. This is a common strategy for churches locating in established urban areas; rather than finding build-able land and going through an expensive development process re-purposing vacant commercial buildings can be very cost effective. In addition using an established site often provides easy access and ample parking. 

Upon entering the building any evidence of its prior use is long gone. A tastefully decorated, warm, lobby greets you, including a coffee stand with seating suitable to meet with friends before or after the service. Greeters are at the door to welcome everyone and point visitors in the right direction.

There were many young families with children, and adults up through early middle age. Being that this was the early service it is possible that the later service might have an older demographic.
With some of the upcoming activities that were promoted it is safe to say they have an active youth ministry as well. From the leadership to the congregation attire was casual so visitors should feel comfortable coming as they are.

The auditorium is laid out with stadium-style seating arranged in a way that any seat feels comfortably close to the stage. The stage is simple, providing ample space for the six vocalists and four instrumentalists that led the music. Common in many contemporary churches, large screens are located above the stage to project the words of the songs and the bible passage and main points of the message.

The service began with about 20 minutes of rousing praise music with the type of contemporary songs you might hear on the local Christian radio station. Following the music visitors were greeted, new members were acknowledged and prayed for, and a large area wide event was promoted. After this was the offering followed by the message, and since the senior pastor was away the youth pastor spoke in his place.

The message was more of a topical study drawing from 1 Kings 18: 41-44. They are in a series entitled "seeking God" and today's message was about being persistent seekers. Drawing from the passage the pastor focused on the following four main points that persistent seekers: live with expectation (41); don't get discouraged (43); stand on the promises of God (42); don't despise small beginnings (44). In the end the pastor challenged seekers to not limit God and stand on his promises. One thing that stood out on this visit is that the congregation participated throughout the message with spontaneous remarks of approval for key points and responding when the pastor prompted with "say amen."

In some ways today's visit was a reminder of the environment of our recent church home in the style and format. Along with the initial warm greeting, a friend I met up with introduced me to a few of her family and friends who are regular attenders. The pastor's message however was uplifting and encouraging, giving a sense of hope about the upcoming year.