church #5
i don't know why i'm reviewing all of these on here for you girls. probably because i have nothing else going on. i've felt quite uninspired of late.
the sermon wasn't bad, though the pastor twice used 'commendation' when he meant 'condemnation,' which means something quite different. the music was a little loud, and all songs i don't know, and i must say, it greatly bothered me that one of the guys on the worship team had his pant legs rolled up and bare feet. that's just not respectful. so this one's a no.
the sermon wasn't bad, though the pastor twice used 'commendation' when he meant 'condemnation,' which means something quite different. the music was a little loud, and all songs i don't know, and i must say, it greatly bothered me that one of the guys on the worship team had his pant legs rolled up and bare feet. that's just not respectful. so this one's a no.
posted by melilotnfosco | 2:54 PM
13 Comments:
Yeah, that's just weird. Plus, it's not even summer! What in the world? Back to the drawing board, huh? I take it this was the later of the two you were considering when we chatted last night?
I liked the one I went to, I think (as you know). :) The people looked normal, and although many came up and introduced me (I think it was obvious I was new, as there weren't too many people there), I felt comfortable and not too bombarded somehow. I think because of the small and humble feel? I dunno. And it's a beautiful brick building with orange leaves covering the sidewalk in front of it, so pretty. Not a good reason to choose a church. But it is an added bonus.
One thing though, one of the ladies I talked to told me about a post-college/young adult group thing going on this evening, that I was welcome to join. That it was mostly out of high school and people in the 20s. While it's flattering she thought me in my 20s, I don't like it so much when they group people according to that because not everyone fits into those groups. I told her so. Oops. Probably shouldn't be so blunt right off the bat! She looked a tiny bit taken aback for a second, but recovered, told me there are other Bible studies too. I think it was because it was that day that she was telling me about it. But yeah, I think I liked it. Even with the one guy on the worship team singing too loudly. :)
Here's the outside of the church: http://gfdesmoines.com/about-us/
(Isn't it cute?)
And here's the inside (there were slightly fewer people there today): http://gfdesmoines.com/worship/
oh this one! yes it's quite cute. :) i want to go with you to check it out. :)
Mel: There's something about first impressions/gut feelings that we have to trust and sometimes can't ignore. Hope you can find a good one before you hit Church review #10!
Chelley: That's what I think churches should look like :-D Not that God ever said so, but it's just the prototypical church hehe. Also cute that it's small and reminds me of Dan's parent's church in Melbourne. In fact, just last night I complained to Dan about how our church segregates small groups by gender, age, and marriedness (bc as I mentioned in your blog, they had a sermon on small groups in the early church and then plugged their own). Ugh. Give me a multigenerational, mixed gender, mixed life-circumstances group any day.
That was confusing, Auto. I was thinking that you were quoting us, and I was like, when did we say that?? And then when I got to the Dan part, I realized I had misunderstood something. ;)
And amen re: groups! Perhaps I need to help them while they're small and convince them not to go that route...
there you go!
Oh. my. goodness. Thank you for the laugh!
And bare feet!
Are you sure it was a church?
I don't know, maybe some people need a church like that, but I like a little learning and a little reverence.
And yes, Chelley- you should certainly encourage them to go another route. Our church is still working on that- interestingly it's our seniors that don't want to mix!
At my current church, my previous small group leader told me once that the leaders of all the different small groups had considered changing their current make-up to mix it up more, but there were more votes (including hers) to keep it according to age/life stage. I suppose people who fit in more think that. But people who don't might not. Or maybe it's just me? But wait, I think you guys are all agreeing with me too. :) (And some of you DO fit in with where you're supposed to be!)
Kimberly, do the seniors give reasons why they don't want to? I'm just curious.
Just that they've been a group for so long that they don't want to lose that support group. They had to change their name though- now they're the 55+ group and have to include any new older people and are not considered part of the home groups. I think a few of them are now involved in both.
And yes, why in the world would I want to hang out with only people whose lives are exactly like me. That being said, our current home group is the "needing babysitting and are available on a certain night" home group so we are mostly families and we all chip in to pay a few babysitters. That isn't my first choice, but it was getting ridiculous being part of home groups that weren't based on a certain night and things just falling apart because we could never all meet. There must be some way to get the best of all of it.
Our church has small groups for ages/life stages as well as small groups for the area you live in (we are all spread out in location), so that way people can choose which they prefer....
And mel, did the congregation laugh when he said commendation? My church would have laughed with my pastor at something like that...
i don't know that they noticed. i don't remember him noticing actually.
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