Church Visit - Non-Denominational

Since leaving the pastorate last year, we have been visiting various churches as we have opportunity and am, once again, blogging about our experiences. I did this one other time before getting involved in another church. 

This is a continuation of a series of blog posts I am doing on our experiences visiting churches of various denominational labels, sizes and different styles of services. It is not my intent to be critical, but rather to be real and honest in our experiences. We have established criteria we are looking for at all of the institutional churches we are visiting. I do not intend to mention the church specifically by name.

I have blogged in the past about Christians who have left and are leaving the institutional church in large numbers. They are leaving for their own spiritual welfare. Most still love God but have become disillusioned or fed up with the institutional church today. I believe this is a timely series. May it open our eyes and our hearts to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus.

CHURCH CRITERIA

~DENOMINATIONAL LABEL - According to their website this church has had a number of denominational affiliations over the years. 

~TYPE OF SERVICE

*Traditional 

*Contemporary XXX

*Blended 

~SIZE OF CHURCH - This church has three services. They have a Saturday evening service as well as two Sunday morning services.We attended the Saturday evening service. There appeared to be around 300 in attendance that evening. I do not know how the Sunday morning services are attended so I can only speak to the Saturday evening service. 

~FRIENDLINESS - We were greeted by a greeter and given a bulletin upon entering. Wasn't greeted by anyone else once inside the sanctuary.

~AVERAGE AGE OF CONGREGATION - Ages ran the spectrum. I would say the average age was in the 30's.

~DRESS ATTIRE - Casual

~GREETING - None

~MUSIC - Praise & Worship led by a worship team. They had a six piece band with three people singing. They did a good job.

~BALANCE OF MUSIC VS WORD - 30 minutes of music including worship and offering. Pastor preached just over 30 minutes

~TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED - They utilized PowerPoint. You also have the option for online giving.

ALTAR CALL/INVITATION - Pastor prayed pausing for a time of silent prayer then he concluded with prayer.

~ACTIVITIES/PROGRAMS OFFERED - Sunday School, nursery, Bible studies, classes, life groups, sports, youth services (Kids & Students). They are very involved in the community. They make meals twice a month for the homeless at Contact Ministries and at the Bread line. Other programs they offer are Single Mom's group andRooted (to get rooted in the church). They appear to be involved in a good deal of mission type work.

~BIBLE VERSION USED - NIV

~PREACHING STYLE - Pastor's preaching style was conversational. He had a good and relevant message. It was very timely. I found it challenged me, personally.

~USE OF SCRIPTURE - It was an expository sermon. Used one passage of Scripture. They provided a sermon handout with Scripture and key points of the message.

~RELEVANT MESSAGE - It was a relevant message for our daily journey as we enter the new year.

~LENGTH OF SERVICE - 1 hour 15 minutes

~OBSERVATIONS/COMMENTS - This was a good sized church. People actively sang and worshiped. Overall this was a good experience at what appears to be a good church. 

I think offering a Saturday evening service is a great option for a church. 

We will most likely return for a follow up visit at some point, perhaps on a Sunday. 

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward  a link or use the icons below to repost or forward this blog.

Church Visit - Non Denominational

Since leaving the pastorate last year, we have been visiting various churches as we have opportunity and am, once again, blogging about our experiences. I did this one other time before getting involved in another church. 

This is a continuation of a series of blog posts I am doing on our experiences visiting churches of various denominational labels, sizes and different styles of services. It is not my intent to be critical, but rather to be real and honest in our experiences. We have established criteria we are looking for at all of the institutional churches we are visiting. I do not intend to mention the church specifically by name.

I have blogged in the past about Christians who have left and are leaving the institutional church in large numbers. They are leaving for their own spiritual welfare. Most still love God but have become disillusioned or fed up with the institutional church today. I believe this is a timely series. May it open our eyes and our hearts to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus.

CHURCH CRITERIA

~DENOMINATIONAL LABEL - This church was formerly a Baptist church. They recently dropped the Baptist designation from their name. I see on their website where they refer to themselves as a Non-Denominational church

~TYPE OF SERVICE

*Traditional 

*Contemporary XXX

*Blended 

~SIZE OF CHURCH - This church has three services. We attended the middle service which started at 9:30 am. 750 people were in attendance at this service plus kids and staff we did not see.

~FRIENDLINESS - We were greeted by a greeter and given a bulletin upon entering. Wasn't greeted by anyone else once inside the sanctuary until a brief greeting time.

~AVERAGE AGE OF CONGREGATION - Ages ran the spectrum. I would say the average age was 35-40

~DRESS ATTIRE - Mostly casual

~GREETING - Less than a minute

~MUSIC - Praise & Worship led by a worship team. They had a six piece band. They did a great job.

~BALANCE OF MUSIC VS WORD - 30 minutes including worship, offering and brief greeting. Pastor preached just over 40 minutes

~TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED - They utilized PowerPoint. You also have the option for online giving.

ALTAR CALL/INVITATION - At the end of the service the prayer team came forward and pastor said if anyone needed prayer or needed to talk with a member of the prayer team they could come forward.

~ACTIVITIES/PROGRAMS OFFERED - Sunday School, nursery, Student programs on Sunday and Wednesday evenings. They have Connect Groups as well as various classes for those interested in the church

~BIBLE VERSION USED - ESV though the pew Bible was NIV

~PREACHING STYLE - Pastor's preaching style was conversational. I recall thinking the message was good and timely but the delivery was rather boring for my taste.

~USE OF SCRIPTURE - Very good. You had to follow in your Bible as they didn't put many verses on the screen. 

~RELEVANT MESSAGE - It was a relevant message for the new year

~LENGTH OF SERVICE - 1 hour 15 minutes

~OBSERVATIONS/COMMENTS - This was the largest church we have attended to date. This church has three services on Sunday morning. I am unsure how many attend the first and last service. Lots of staff. At least three pastors who, as I understand it, rotate preaching/teaching responsibilities. 

Due to the parking lot being so large, the church does offer shuttle service to and from the front door. I thought that was a nice feature. There were ample handicap parking spots in front. 

While I did not find this church to be particularly friendly, their follow up was great. A lady delivered a pie to us that Sunday afternoon. I received a follow up e-mail thanking us for our visit and one asking if I would complete a four question survey - which I did. We also received a card thanking us for our visit. Overall, very good follow up.

We may or may not return for a follow up visit at some point. 

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

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MICRO-MANAGING

Have you ever been in a situation where someone wants to micro-manage you? It happens frequently, unfortunately. For me, at least, its not a pleasant experience. In fact, it can be down right frustrating.

Micro-managing can happen anywhere and in any setting. It happens at work when your boss gives you a project or an assignment to complete. Then they come around to check on you and begin to tell you how to do the task they gave you to do. I found that to be quite frustrating in the work place. I dealt with it by listening the boss and then doing it my way. I got the job done and most of the time more efficiently than the way the boss wanted to micro-manage me to do it. 

I don't know if you realize it or not but micro-managing has made its way into the organized church. The structure we see in what passes for church these days is certainly foreign to the New Testament Church. 

Today, many pastors or board members want to control - even micro-manage what goes on in the services. They appear to give no thought to what the Holy Spirit desires to do. Frankly, the institutional church today is in a sad state. 

While the New Testament Christians were participants, today's congregations have been lulled into being nothing more than spectators. Sadly, those in the congregation have come to not only expect this but most like it this way. It takes the responsibility off of them. 

We wonder why we don't see today's church having the impact the early church had. Too often God is not given freedom and liberty to do what He desires. Christians have stunted growth because they are not given opportunities the early church had to be involved in the services - to ask questions, to give their thoughts. In essence they are not permitted to participate - only to watch while the pastor or a select few control all that goes on. 

Let's break free and enjoy the liberty God has given us! Let's be "doers of the Word, not hearers only". Let's not be mere spectators. Let's get involved!

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward  a link or use the icons below to repost or forward this blog.

Church Visit - Southern Baptist Church

Since leaving the pastorate earlier this year, we will be visiting various churches as we have opportunity and will, once again, blog about our experience. I did this one other time before getting involved in another church. 

This is my ninth blog post in a series I am doing on our experience visiting churches of various denominational labels, sizes and different styles of services. It is not my intent to be critical, but rather to be real and honest in our experiences. We have established criteria we are looking for at all of the institutional churches we are visiting. I do not intend to mention the church specifically by name.

I have blogged in the past about Christians who have left and are leaving the institutional church in large numbers. They are leaving for their own spiritual welfare. Most still love God but have become disillusioned or fed up with the institutional church today. I believe this is a timely series. May it open our eyes and our hearts to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus.

CHURCH CRITERIA

~DENOMINATIONAL LABEL - Southern Baptist Church in a small community south of Springfield, IL 

~TYPE OF SERVICE

*Traditional XXX

*Contemporary

*Blended 

~SIZE OF CHURCH - There were 35-40 present in this service

~FRIENDLINESS - This was a very friendly church. We were greeted by a greeter and given a bulletin upon entering. Several greeted us once we were seated. 

~AVERAGE AGE OF CONGREGATION - Based on my observation I would say 65-70 on average

~DRESS ATTIRE - Mostly casual

~GREETING - No formal greeting time during service

~MUSIC - The music consisted of a keyboard. There was a song leader along with three others in the praise team.

~BALANCE OF MUSIC VS WORD - There were four congregational songs, in all, before the sermon. Pastor preached for 37 minutes.

~TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED - They utilized PowerPoint. You also have the option for online giving.

ALTAR CALL/INVITATION - This is one of the few churches we have visited where there was an altar call/invitation at the end of the service. 

~ACTIVITIES/PROGRAMS OFFERED - Sunday School, nursery, TeamKid and Youth IGNITE

~BIBLE VERSION USED-NIV 

~PREACHING STYLE - Pastor's preaching style was fairly monotone. There were points when he did get a little excited. Overall, he was not able to keep my attention.

~USE OF SCRIPTURE - Very good. This was an expository sermon so he expounded upon the passage he was preaching on.

~RELEVANT MESSAGE - Very relevant passage of Scripture and he had some thoughts that were pretty good.

~LENGTH OF SERVICE - 1 hour 20 minutes

~OBSERVATIONS/COMMENTS - This was a traditional church that was very friendly. People continued to trickle in as the service went on.  

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward  a link or use the icons below to repost or forward this blog.

Church Visit - Non Denominational Christian

Since leaving the pastorate earlier this year, we will be visiting various churches as we have opportunity and will, once again, blog about our experience. I did this one other time before getting involved in another church. 

This is my eighth blog post in a series I am doing on our experience visiting churches of various denominational labels, sizes and different styles of services. It is not my intent to be critical, but rather to be real and honest in our experiences. We have established criteria we are looking for at all of the institutional churches we are visiting. I do not intend to mention the church specifically by name.

I have blogged in the past about Christians who have left and are leaving the institutional church in large numbers. They are leaving for their own spiritual welfare. Most still love God but have become disillusioned or fed up with the institutional church today. I believe this is a timely series. May it open our eyes and our hearts to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus.

CHURCH CRITERIA

~DENOMINATIONAL LABEL - Non-Denominational Christian Church in a small community southwest of Springfield, IL 

~TYPE OF SERVICE

*Traditional 

*Contemporary

*Blended XXX

~SIZE OF CHURCH - There were around 100 people present: 80 adults and 20 children

~FRIENDLINESS - This was a friendly church. We were greeted by a greeter and given a bulletin upon entering. Some greeted us once we were seated. 

~AVERAGE AGE OF CONGREGATION - Based on my observation I would say 45-50 on average

~DRESS ATTIRE - Casual to dress

~GREETING - No formal greeting time during service

~MUSIC - The music consisted of a keyboard, piano and drums. There was a song leader along who led from the keyboard. The music was a combination of old choruses and hymns

~BALANCE OF MUSIC VS WORD - I believe the music was cut short a bit since there was a baptism at the end of the service. The sermon was good and on point backed up with a good amount of Scripture.

~TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED - They utilized PowerPoint. You also have the option for online giving.

ALTAR CALL/INVITATION - None

~ACTIVITIES/PROGRAMS OFFERED - Sunday School, they were accepting donations of hygiene items for Lewis Memorial Christian Home, and shared about the upcoming senior event at the Christian campground.

~BIBLE VERSION USED-NIV 

~PREACHING STYLE - Pastor's preaching style was somewhat conversational. He was able to keep my attention throughout the entire message. 

~USE OF SCRIPTURE - Very good. He had started a series on water baptism the week before. 

~RELEVANT MESSAGE - Very relevant message on water baptism.  This was a very good and balanced sermon.

~LENGTH OF SERVICE - 55 minutes including the baptism

~OBSERVATIONS/COMMENTS - This was a rather large church in a small community. The people were friendly. Pastor communicated his message in a way that kept my attention - and that is no easy task. 

This is a church we will go back and visit.   

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward  a link or use the icons below to repost or forward this blog.

Church Visit - Baptist

Since leaving the pastorate earlier this year, we will be visiting various churches as we have opportunity and will, once again, blog about our experience. I did this one other time before getting involved in another church. 

This is my seventh blog post in a series I am doing on our experience visiting churches of various denominational labels, sizes and different styles of services. It is not my intent to be critical, but rather to be real and honest in our experiences. We have established criteria we are looking for at all of the institutional churches we are visiting. I do not intend to mention the church specifically by name.

I have blogged in the past about Christians who have left and are leaving the institutional church in large numbers. They are leaving for their own spiritual welfare. Most still love God but have become disillusioned or fed up with the institutional church today. I believe this is a timely series. May it open our eyes and our hearts to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus.

CHURCH CRITERIA

~DENOMINATIONAL LABEL - American Baptist south of Springfield

~TYPE OF SERVICE

*Traditional XXX 

*Contemporary

*Blended 

~SIZE OF CHURCH - There were 15-20 people in this particular service.

~FRIENDLINESS - We were greeting upon entering and given a bulletin. We found a seat and sat down. Another lady came and chatted with us for a bit. She was the song leader for the service.  We didn't find the church all that friendly before service.  However, after the service we were greeted by most of the people in attendance. They were very friendly. 

~AVERAGE AGE OF CONGREGATION - This was an older congregation with an average age of 68-70

~DRESS ATTIRE - Casual to dress/casual

~GREETING - There was no formal greeting time during the service

~MUSIC - The music was traditional and out of a hymnal. Pastor told us when she greeted us that one of the musicians passed away in February and one remaining one gets one day off a month and this was that Sunday. They utilized piano by track.  

~BALANCE OF MUSIC VS WORD - It was about a 55 minute service. Sang two congregational songs, offering, time of praise reports and prayer requests, reflection and prayer led by pastor, special song, then a 40 minute sermon. There was another hymn sang after the message.  

~TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED - They utilized PowerPoint. 

ALTAR CALL/INVITATION - None

~ACTIVITIES/PROGRAMS OFFERED - Sunday School. Additionally, they are taking donations for back to school items as well as nonperishable items for the food pantry that can be used in school lunches.

~BIBLE VERSION USED- NIV

~PREACHING STYLE- Very much conversational. Topical sermon

~USE OF SCRIPTURE - Very good. Utilized Scripture to go with each point of the sermon.

~RELEVANT MESSAGE - Very relevant message for the Christian life

~LENGTH OF SERVICE - 55 minutes

~OBSERVATIONS/COMMENTS - The first thing I noticed was the congregation had a genuine "family" atmosphere. They were genuinely concerned for those on the prayer list and the situations that needed prayer. 

This is an older congregation. Pastor is a very pleasant lady.

We will most likely return to visit this church at a later time. 

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward  a link or use the icons below to repost or forward this blog.

Church Visit - Non-Denominational

Since leaving the pastorate earlier this year, we will be visiting various churches as we have opportunity and will, once again, blog about our experience. I did this one other time before getting involved in another church. 

This is my sixth blog post in a series I am doing on our experience visiting churches of various denominational labels, sizes and different styles of services. It is not my intent to be critical, but rather to be real and honest in our experiences. We have established criteria we are looking for at all of the institutional churches we are visiting. I do not intend to mention the church specifically by name.

I have blogged in the past about Christians who have left and are leaving the institutional church in large numbers. They are leaving for their own spiritual welfare. Most still love God but have become disillusioned or fed up with the institutional church today. I believe this is a timely series. May it open our eyes and our hearts to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus.

CHURCH CRITERIA

~DENOMINATIONAL LABEL - Non-Denominational

~TYPE OF SERVICE

*Traditional 

*ContemporaryXXX

*Blended 

~SIZE OF CHURCH - There were 25-30 in this particular service. The pastor told us upon greeting us that many were out of town on vacation. He said they usually run around 40-50.

~FRIENDLINESS - Pastor was very friendly as was a lady who sat and visited with us before service. They offered coffee. You were welcome to take your drinks with you to your seat.

~AVERAGE AGE OF CONGREGATION - They had both young as well as older folks in attendance. I would say an average age was 40's,

~DRESS ATTIRE - Very casual

~GREETING - Yes. We were greeted by several during the greeting time.

~MUSIC - The church had a two piece combo with worship leader playing guitar and pastor's son played a cajon box drum. The music was all contemporary. They played and sang songs that we didn't know. In this case, there was a lot of repetition and some, in reality, didn't make a whole lot of sense. 

~BALANCE OF MUSIC VS WORD - It was about a 50 minute service. The worship time lasted less than 10 minutes. 

~TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED - They utilized video PowerPoint. They also offer you an online giving option. In regards to the message, you can follow along on the screen, on your phone or with the paper notes that are provided. 

ALTAR CALL/INVITATION - None. Not even a dismissal prayer.

~ACTIVITIES/PROGRAMS OFFERED - We was informed they have cell groups.

~BIBLE VERSION USED- NLT

~PREACHING STYLE- Conversational. It was an expository sermon

~USE OF SCRIPTURE - Good

~RELEVANT MESSAGE - It was somewhat relevant

~LENGTH OF SERVICE - 50 minutes

~OBSERVATIONS/COMMENTS - We went to this church expecting to hear the pastor preach. Instead, they provided a video sermon from one of the 3 church elders who pastor churches around the country. This particular pastor was from Colorado. Quite honestly, it was rather boring (not only for me, but for my wife and the two friends who were with us). My wife noticed one guy sleeping. The pastor told us before service he takes off one Sunday about every six weeks to be "spiritually recharged". Sometimes he will attend somewhere else, while at other times he is at the service but has someone else preach.

This is a rented community center and was somewhat echoey.

We knew none of the songs. We stood the entire time of worship.

The kids are in a separate part of the building. We never seen them.

They do not "pass the plate" to receive an offering. They have a can you can put your offering and "Connection Card" in as you leave. 

This most likely not a place we will return to visit. 

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward  a link or use the icons below to repost or forward this blog.