Adventures in Churchdom

First, My stat counter is about to hit 5000. As I write it hovers at 4999, I feel so loved.

Second.

My sister and I visited the local mega-church this past Sunday. I have been considering leaving my church for some time and finally decided to branch out. Why do I want to leave? Not for any particularly earth shattering reason. I enjoy Sunday mornings, but it's a little too far to get really involved, and there's not much to be involved in. Also, I only started attending there because my parents go there and I knew a lot of people, so it was safe and comfortable. But I think the Lord is leading me elsewhere.

In looking for a new church I have a myriad of small dilemmas to overcome. Firstly, I come from a charismatic background, splitcat from a catholic/reformed pres. background. He likes tradition, I like dancing in the aisles. I would like my children to attend a church with an excellent children's program where they are required to memorize scripture and learn how to appropriately behave in a church setting. They are receiving a bit of this where we are, but it is a small church. The church I attended as a child had an incredible children's ministry, so I suppose that colors my view a little. This may seem a small thing, but I need a church that is easily stroller accessible. Since I am usually alone with 4 children, the twins have to ride in the stroller. Also, in researching churches that I would like to attend I have discovered a new trend in the charismatic-type churches. The children stay in the sanctuary for the worship. But the worship is usually of an intense nature, so me alone with 4 children trying to worship is just not a pretty picture. Add on top of that the boys dislike of loud, the girls love of dance, and just the general nature of 1 yr old twins, and I'm tired just thinking about it. I do believe that children should participate in some sort of worship service, but one for them. I still remember how much I loved the worship time in children's church.

So where do I go? I was considering a vineyard church near downtown, but it's still a little too far. There is definitely not a lack of churches around here. I pass something like 17 churches to get to the church I have been attending. There is a reason they call it the bible belt.

So anyway, my sister and I were discussing churches we thought we'd like to visit, and I thought of our local mega-church. It's right between our houses, so no one would have to go out of their way to get there. There was also the appeal of being able to just be part of the crowd, totally uninvolved in any sort of church politics. So we looked into their website and decided it would be worth a try.

We were very much impressed. We parked in the guest parking lot and unloaded our 10 kids(yes, it was just me and my sister with--a 4 month old, my twins, a 16 month old, two 4 yr olds, a 6 yr old, a 7 yr old, a 10 yr old, and a 12 yr old). Unfortunately, the preschool area was on the other side of the church. However, there were lots of friendly faces willing to point us in the right direction. Later I was told that my son made the exclamation that the people here must be really rich when we first walked into the building. It had something of the feel of a mall or airport, it was huge. We approached the preschool department and walked though a pair of automatic doors into a large reception area with chairs and couches and a small saltwater aquarium. The older children thus engaged in talking to Nemo and Dorie, we proceeded to register 6 of our 10 children for the nursery. There were polite people manning computers who entered our information and printed security labels were handed over to us. I also noted a huge room devoted to stroller parking. I dropped off my twins and the two 4 yr old girls. The baby nursery had plenty of cribs and swings and exersaucers and several nursery workers. We head across a small street to drop off my boy in the elementary wing, and a mysterious marking on the map suddenly makes sense. In studying a map of the campus I saw the label--preschool valet parking. And there it was. Under an overpass, you unload your children, hand over your keys, and someone parks your car for you in a nearby lot. And you are right in between the preschool and elementary buildings. I enquired and you do not have to be a member to avail yourself of this service. Just drive up. If you've every hauled ten children though a mega church you will understand the spot of joy this brings to your small existence.

With all the little ones safely tucked into their respective classes, we trek back to the main sanctuary. We missed the worship(we tried to get there 30 minutes early, but someone was late meeting me because her children we uncooperative, but that's okay), but caught the tail end of a special song. It was quite good. The main service is accompanied by a huge choir and orchestra. The main pastor is currently on a sabbatical, so there was a guest speaker. He was a revivalist, so he spoke about getting saved. If I wasn't already I probably would be now. It was by far one of the best sermons on that topic I have heard. We were sitting in the upper balcony so I was intrigued at the altar call to note that the people who came forward were led off to the side doors, where I saw later that there was an altar counseling room. The next service started soon, and as it was advertised to have a praise band instead of the orchestra, we decided to try it out, too. So we made sure the little ones were okay and went to the chapel for the beginning of the second service. It was a typical praise band service, but a little short. So we left and collected all the info we could find on the various ministries. Then we went to pick up the little guys. This time we noticed the glass looking into the nursery rooms, so we looked in on the twins. They were having a great time. Because it was between services, the doors into the nursery wing were locked. One of the funnier things we noted was a man pushing around a gigantic "stroller" that held 6-8 kids. My sister asked about it, and they go around and get the crying babies and push them around the halls until they calm down. There is also an indoor playground, so rain doesn't keep everyone cooped up.

Overall we were very impressed by the efficiency shown by such a large entity. So there were lots of pros and some cons. On the con list is that it is a baptist church. But since I attended a baptist college, I think I can manage to keep my charismatic leanings mostly under wrap. But it being a baptist church is also on the pro list, since that sort of sits in the middle of the splitcat/fiorinda religious continuum. The sheer size is a little daunting, but the church I attended as a child had at least 2ooo members, so it is not unfamiliar territory. The worship is not what I am accustomed to, but I can live with that. Besides, anyone is welcome to join the orchestra. I could be involved in music again. I was very impressed with all that is available for the children. Wed. nights they have Awanna, which focuses on scripture memorization, as well as a children's choir. During the school year the children can attend Sunday school as well as children's church. There is a host of Sunday school classes for adults. One is even taught by a major state politician.

Is it the church of my dreams. Not really. But it does seem to meet the current needs of all my family members. I may visit around to some other churches, and I will definitely visit there a lot more, especially once the pastor comes back. It would be nice to attend church as a family and to meet some people in our basic age group who don't live too far away. I find it completely out of character to myself to even be considering this move, since I have been steadily been moving away from the mainstream of late, but I can't just consider my own needs anymore. I know where I can go to get what I am looking for in books and online. But the really solid foundation I was given as a child really made a difference in my life, and I want that for my children. Unfortunately, a lot of smaller churches simply don't have the manpower or funds. And yes, I do work on teaching my children biblical principles, but sometimes children learn better from other people that aren't me.