So the last time I had to find a church, I was in England, and my primary concern was finding a place where people under 82 actually attended. I guess that's still near the top of the list as Robert and I look for a church in Macon, but there are a few other things that are key this time around:
1. This time, there's another person! And I guess Robert's opinion counts, too.
2. We'd like the preacher/pastor/minister to have a good preachin' based on the Bible.
3. We'd like to get involved and serve somehow.
4. We want to make friends and connect in a small group.
5. No way am I wearing a hat to church.
So, we tried our first Macon church today. We'll call it NW Macon church...because it was in northwest Macon. Also because its initials are NW. Anyway.
First thing I noticed: there were three HUGE video screens. First thing Robert noticed: the band members had in-ear monitors. "This church be rolling in greenbacks," is what he (more or less) said. Between the giant TVs and the earpieces, the service was pretty polished and professional. There were well-made videos before the service and before the sermon, and during the worship, there was concert-like video of the band.
We sang four songs: one by Kristian Stanfill, one by Eternal somebody, and two by Chris Tomlin. I love hearing their songs on the radio! But this band...the songs sounded exactly like they do on the radio. Phrase-for-musical-phrase, note-for-note, etc. And that's just...fine, I guess. Not my thing. I like personality, not imitation. Also, I like more singing.
And I like the singing to connect to the sermon! You know what the link between these songs was? Jesus. I mean, His existence. Or His power. His love. But really just the word Jesus. You know what the link between the songs and the sermon was? Um...God. I think. Where is the continuity?
One thing I did like A LOT was that on the PowerPoint with the lyrics, they included a verse that the lyrics applied to. Like, "light of the world forever reign" and "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.--Exodus 15:18." I think all churches should do that.
Another thing I noticed was that the communication card spiel was the exact same as the one at FBC-NKC. Maybe pastors are given a list of phrases to use, like, "we'd love to have a record of your attendance," and "we commit to pray for you during the course of the week." The only difference is that this pastor had a Southern accent. And, let's be real now, he didn't have an iPad with News and Notes like Spencer Stith does.
The people at NW Macon church were nice enough. Maybe this was the Sunday when everybody new came, or maybe we sat in the new-people-only section, because no one seemed very involved in the service or interested in the other people around them. The pastor's sermon was well-presented, but maybe didn't quite dig in enough for us to be inspired or challenged. And, not to be blunt here, but we liked this: the church wasn't all white. Holla!
So, NW Macon church seemed like a good church. I don't think we'll go back, but not because they did anything wrong. We just weren't engaged by it. We're not polished people, so the polished service felt weird for us. That's my theory, anyway.
On the upside, we passed like eight churches (not kidding) on the 15-minute drive to NW Macon church, so we'll have plenty of options. Next week, Robert gets to pick the church! Update to follow.
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