Church IMMERSION, cont.

Sunday, the Non-Resident Beeson Pastors and several other pastors from Colorado and Ohio attended worship at three different churches. Below are my thoughts on each one... later, I'll post some pictures.

Lakewood: Joel Osteen.

We rolled up at about 8:00 a.m. for their 8:30 service at the Compaq Center (or former Compaq Center, not sure how that works). Needless to say, the place is huge. We were greeted at the door by someone, not sure what his job is, who ushered us to the ushers, they took us down to the floor and seated us on the fourth row. I was right in the middle. The music was loud, I mean loud! The band was amazing, a huge collection of professional musicians and singers. The style??? I guess you would say it was a fusion of different styles. Several of the songs were familiar, others were obviously written in-house as they reflected the main themes of Joel Osteen's positive, lift-you-up theology and message. Joel delivered an excellent sermon consistent with his overall message that God is on your side and wants you to experience the best and he wants you to influence others with your positive attitude (a little more nuanced than that, but not much). The service was long... about an hour and forty-five minutes. The overall experience was very positive, no pun intended. The volunteers and congregation were very, very warm and welcoming. We really got the sense that we were wanted there.

Windsor Village UMC

Kirbyjohn Caldwell, the senior pastor, was on vacation, and their youth pastor was preaching at the service we attended, the noon service. WVUMC is the largest UMC in the U.S. Over 10,000 people are in attendance every weekend. Their service is held in a huge "gymnatorium." The church is majority African American and this is reflected in the music, call and response preaching style, and length of service, about one hour and forty minutes. The men's choir led the music, along with their band, who were seated off to the side, really kind of hidden away. The music was great. The men's choir was really amazing as they were led by a few soloists, two of whom were actually women (not part of the choir, but there to lead a couple of the songs). The youth pastor's sermon was about praise, based on Paul and Silas' experience in the Philippian jail. The service was very high energy and engaging. The congregation was very involved. You could not use the word "passive" about anything concerning this service.

Ecclesia

Whiplash. From the earlier two services, you really couldn't experience anything more culturally distant. This is a large church that reaches twenty-something, mostly white, college and young professional crowd, in a "cool" part of downtown. The service is muted, along with the lights. Their band had a guitar, bass, drums, and acoustic guitar. The songs were mostly slow and introspective. There's a coffee shop attached to the worship space, and the worship space also serves as an art gallery. The message was given by one of the secondary preachers on staff and was a little disorganized, although his main point was pretty clear: use your youth to find out what God is calling you to be and do. They had an infant dedication and they serve communion every Sunday. The place was pretty packed at this 5:30 p.m. service and they also have two morning services, all identical.

Well, it was quite an experience and I need some time to process everything and think about how God is working in all these different environments. One clear commonality to everything is that the leadership has clear vision about what God is calling them to be and do. That one take away is definitely important.

Check back for pics and more, later.

Comments

[Patti Money]

I look forward to hearing more of your reflections...particularly about Lakewood. I'll confess to being very skeptical of Joel Osteen and the prosperity lite/rose-color-lens worldview he seems to espouse and share. While I have no doubt that God wants us to be fulfilled, joyful, and have a sense of purpose in life, how does Osteen and his church work through "the junk" in this world and in our lives? Anyway, it would just be nice to hear the perspective of someone who's experienced Lakewood AND whose opinion I respect. :)

[James Petticrew]

Remember enjoying this experience