Another Church Visit

Before the sabbatical began, I contacted a variety of denominational officials and seminary professors for recommendations on small churches to visit. Most of the replies were not that helpful. These professionals couldn't think of any healthy or unique small churches worth visiting. One professor said it like this: "It is rare to find a small church in the lower mainland that is not experiencing much disappointment." Wow. That's a pretty serious statement.

Even though it was hard for these church leaders to think of churches to visit, there were some recommendations. One of those is the church we visited this morning--Living Waters Church in Fort Langely. Our experience here was mostly positive. The church facilities were quite nice and very clean--right from the outside of the building to the inside. This created a very good first experience. First experiences are important. That one of the big reasons I'm always harping about keeping weeds out of our gardens, and our parking lot cleaned, and the road-litter collected, and the front door free up its dust build up, and etc. Not only is our building a big gift from God that needs to be well-cared for, but it also creates a big impression for who visit and also for those who are just driving by.

The good experience continued inside the building. While there were only a handful of people in the sanctuary, somebody was immediately there to show us where the kids program was held. Impressive to Heather was the fact that the gentleman didn't just tell us where the kids go, but actually took us there and explained things.

The explaining was good all throughout our time there. This is a Pentecostal church, and we we're unfamiliar with how they do things. But from the front, everything was well organized and explained well. That was good.

While there were only a handful of people in the sanctuary when we got there, it quickly filled up to about 100 people--and half of  them were under 30! You could really tell that they worked hard at Living Waters to be very welcoming and geared to those young people. The music was (a bit too) loud, but tasteful. The worship experience was rambunctious, but still reverent. The preaching was a bit simple, but still biblical. This is a good Christian church, with lots of energy.

That being said, I could observe and overheard some of the same challenges we have in our small church--too many things done by too few people. For example, there was one occasion where the nursery attendant was needed on the stage and so a "switch" had to take place, with the pastor heading to the nursery while the nursery attendant came up front. Likewise, the person running the powerpoint also had to take the offering. That challenge was very familiar, and rather common to most small churches.

Would we come back? No. But not because the church was somehow a negative experience, but because we are not Pentecostal and not all that keen on that worship style. I will say this, though, we had a much better experience at Living Waters than we did at any of the other churches we have visited thus far. I pray God will continue to bless them!

Blessings, David