Church Hopping (even though I’ve found my church)
Sunday, August 22, 2004
I’ve discovered that, at least for now, church hopping is my form of being social.
Almost all the people I’ve met here so far are church goer. They’re not necessarily SDA, and so they have lots of options when it comes to which church they want to attend. As for me, I’ve got my church – it’s the SDA church called Advent Hope. I’ve been there once, but I think I’ve already joined the choir. I’m pretty excited about that.
In any case, I checked out this Bible study for the church Redeemer which is apparently really big and wonderful. Their pastor is famous and preaches very well. He, however, is gone til September, so I won’t be heading there until he is back.
Today, I went with Joe, Jen, and Norm to Times Square Church (TSC). Now that is a church. It meets at a theater and packs in about 8000 people. There are annexes just to house those who can’t actually obtain a seat. I’ve included a picture of the stage so you can get an idea of what it was like.
The choir was huge, their voices were wonderful, and the place was buzzing with energy! Everyone was into it, clapping, swaying, singing. The word “vibrant” comes to mind. The pastor, who I suppose is also famous, was David Wilkerson. He had a powerful talk about not compromising the Bible principles just because we’re afraid of offending someone. “Don’t spread a watered-down Gospel!” he boomed. I really appreciated his message. It’s funny because he used the same verse that the Redeemer Bible study group discussed on Friday night (Gal. 2:11-14).
In any case, after the service, the newcomers were herded into a smaller room where we were greeted by the church’s Hospitality Team who fed us refreshments, small talked, and prayed with us. I asked them how one finds one’s niche in such a large church. Hilory, our Hospitality Team member told us that we could join a ministry, but that one could not join until we had been attending church for about 6 months. I later found out more details from Jen who goes to TSC regularly. Not only must you wait for 6 months, but you also have to apply to be a part of a ministry team. That involves a filled form and an interview to see if you are fit to serve. THEN you can begin to find your niche. I have no idea what happens if they find that you are NOT fit to serve.
I really had beef with that concept, and I think I might have laid into Jen a little much considering I just met her this morning. :S I think she might have been offended. But really, come one, you have to QUALIFY to serve God? Gimme a break! So needless to say, if I want a high energy, Broadway-production-like service, I’ll go there, but for actual fellowship, I’m glad I have my small cozy church.
Church hooping is fun. Reminds me of the good ol’ FoC days, especially the one performance with Trey and Stephangoloki. Were you there for that one?
Posted by leslie on 08/22 at 01:34 PMYeah… that sounds a little weird at first… interviewing peeps to serve God? O_o!!
There was one scenario though, where Abundant Life interviewed people for ministry… which was the Children’s ministry. We actually had to get fingerprinted and interviewed in order to serve. In that particular case, it’s pretty clear to see that it was purely for the protection of the little ones. So I was gladly willing to go through the process. There’s actually a story behind it all… and I was there for the first instance that prompted all the hoopla… I’ll tell you about it later… but maybe TSC has similar reasoning behind their interview process… except… for the protection of big kids
I guess it really depends on how they handle the whole thing… no matter their intentions…
Posted by Slim on 08/22 at 05:54 PMKathy...to think that you ever had any doubts that you’d thrive wherever you went. Congratulations! Between churches and shoes, the church is the far more difficult selection to make.
Posted by on 08/24 at 04:11 AMThat is one very large church. New Yorkers do it real big.
Posted by on 08/28 at 10:14 AM(^_^) God’s got your niche. Or He will *be* your niche. Look out, New York...!
Posted by on 08/29 at 08:14 PM