Spiritual Food

As I've written before, I am having a struggle in my heart over my church. S and I took a bold step today by attending a different church. Wow! What a difference!. This place was so alive with the Holy Spirit! One could not help but feel it. I can see why it attracted our friends who go there. This place is alive!

The music was relaxed and casual, and very well done. They have a praise band and a worship leader who knows what she's doing. There's a tremendous emphasis on prayer (duh!) that I'm not used to seeing in my own or any of the other Methodist churches I've been to. In observance of Pastor Appreciation Month, several went up to pray over the pastors (who definitely need prayer always). I believe I even detected an altar call - imagine that! Worshippers are encouraged to come up front after church for further prayer needs.

We happened to visit on Family Sunday there. The children's choir sang and did a pretty good job of it (I especially enjoyed their rendition of Shout to the Lord). I could tell S was enjoying it, too (she used to lead children's choir at our church). There was also a puppet show that really was uplifting. And today the associate pastor preached a message which was very well-delivered and to the point.

What impressed us both the most was the cross-section of age groups; it was more like what you see in the non-Christian world. Our church has a much higher median age, and definitely not as many children and younger adults. I felt that we were at about the median age unlike our own church where no matter how much older we get, we seem to be in the younger age bracket.

I was also impressed with the friendliness of the people there. We had struck up conversations with at least a couple of strangers. And I did manage to talk to all the men from that church who attended the recent Walk to Emmaus (including T from my table).

A church is not a building - it is the people who call themselves a church. This was what we experienced today. This is a church where the people are engaged. I could hear it in the prayers. I could hear it in their singing. I could see it as they gave praise to the Lord (there was no doxology - but the praise was constant throughout the service). It is reflected in the messages given. This a a church where the people bring their Bibles unlike our church where the Bibles collect dust in the pews. Whenever the pastor mentioned a particular verse, I was amazed and delighted to hear the sound of people flipping the pages of their Bibles. It was not a distraction in the least - it was an affirmation!

All in all, it was a great experience. I was moved nearly to tears several times. "What a church!" I thought. "I wish our church could be more like this," I also thought. That in itself makes it all the more difficult for me to stay where we're at - a church that seems to be more on life-support than anything else. There is much left to be resolved, though, before we make any move. But just as much as I've felt in my own church, today I felt I was at home. Today I was spiritually fed. Lord, please close some doors in our life so that others will be opened.