How I know I'm at the right church
1. Sermon props have included random street signs (purchased, not stolen), a poker table...and the trunk of a car.
2. Sermon intros have included music from Tom Petty, the 'May-waj' scene from "The Princess Bride" - and faux David Letterman/SNL skits.
3. For one service, the church was set up as a Bistro. It featured a maître d' , reservations, and linen covered tables. The pastor and all of the staff were in tuxedos or 'high class' dress, and served us Communion.
4. The Staff is as imperfect as I am, and they aren't afraid to show it.
5. When my mother died, the Associate Pastor (a.k.a. The Sidekick) stayed on the phone with me. He let me walk around my house, silent, holding the phone to my ear. He admitted that he didn't know what to say, except that he was sorry. Although he works another job, he was willing to drive to my house - approximately 35 minutes away, at 10 pm on a Monday night. Just to be with my family. He works 1 hour away - in the opposite direction, and often rises before dawn.
6. The kids are allowed to be themselves. The pastors' kids are loud, funny, and all boy. What they are not, however, is insensitive, unkind or cruel. The youngest knows all of the words to the music from Shrek, and isn't afraid to sing it at top volume. The oldest has a serious addiction to Dr. Pepper, and the middle? He may be known as 'the quiet one', but he has a smile that could light up the world.
7. The sermons are modern, relevant, and often funny. When was the last time YOUR Worship Leader (Chachi) was compared to Eddie Van Halen?
8. You can often hear the Kids Live Class singing at the top of their lungs. During the sermon. The Pastor simply smiles and continues talking.
9. They serve coffee and donuts. I really love the coffee.
10. The Pastor uses the word 'crap' in his sermon. He doesn't apologize for it.
2. Sermon intros have included music from Tom Petty, the 'May-waj' scene from "The Princess Bride" - and faux David Letterman/SNL skits.
3. For one service, the church was set up as a Bistro. It featured a maître d' , reservations, and linen covered tables. The pastor and all of the staff were in tuxedos or 'high class' dress, and served us Communion.
4. The Staff is as imperfect as I am, and they aren't afraid to show it.
5. When my mother died, the Associate Pastor (a.k.a. The Sidekick) stayed on the phone with me. He let me walk around my house, silent, holding the phone to my ear. He admitted that he didn't know what to say, except that he was sorry. Although he works another job, he was willing to drive to my house - approximately 35 minutes away, at 10 pm on a Monday night. Just to be with my family. He works 1 hour away - in the opposite direction, and often rises before dawn.
6. The kids are allowed to be themselves. The pastors' kids are loud, funny, and all boy. What they are not, however, is insensitive, unkind or cruel. The youngest knows all of the words to the music from Shrek, and isn't afraid to sing it at top volume. The oldest has a serious addiction to Dr. Pepper, and the middle? He may be known as 'the quiet one', but he has a smile that could light up the world.
7. The sermons are modern, relevant, and often funny. When was the last time YOUR Worship Leader (Chachi) was compared to Eddie Van Halen?
8. You can often hear the Kids Live Class singing at the top of their lungs. During the sermon. The Pastor simply smiles and continues talking.
9. They serve coffee and donuts. I really love the coffee.
10. The Pastor uses the word 'crap' in his sermon. He doesn't apologize for it.
posted by rennratt at 5:52 AM
10 Comments:
it's been my personal experience that whatever leads you to God, to a stronger faith, is a good thing. Sounds like your church knows their target audience very well.
Your church sounds a lot like mine, Renn, except I've never heard the pastor say crap.....LOL
We have GREAT coffee and Krispy Kremes/bagels/Danish, and our music people just keep getting better and better!
I'll have to send you an email I got from a friend - she would completely disagree with this post. But like Suzanne said "whatever leads you to God is a GOOD thing". When I lived in Augusta, GA, that's how our church was (except the high dress communion, lol). We had a drama team (I was a member) and we had AWESOME dramas. I can share the link with you and you can watch online if you'd like sometime!
I was raised Catholic so was brought up on a steady diet of hellfire and damnation. I never laughed in church until I started going to an Evangelical Christian Church. I never realized church could be FUN.
Sweet. I'd join, but it's a hella commute.
My pastor said the 'S' word in a sermon once. And, there was one sermon in which he said 'bitch' 7 times (counted by one particularly disgruntled old biddy). Outrageous to some, but it sure drove the point home in language everyone in the room understood.
Where do I sign up?
It's great to know that there are churches out there in which people can be people, and that service means so much more than just Sunday Morning.
Sounds like fun!!! At my church (Catholic), casual attire is the norm, our priest is funny AND if you attend the Saturday service at 5:30 pm, during football season, he usually wraps it up in under 45 minutes (esp. if Notre Dame is playing) and you can drink your fool head off on Saturday night and sleep in Sunday morning! Woot!
Mine's like that, too, ETW, and I love it. If you can't be comfortable in church, you're not going to go back often. Renn, I'm glad you have such a place.
That doesn't sound like any church I've been to, Renn. The one I've been to most recently is the one my parents go to and it's a lot more stuffy.
Hm. I dunno about "crap" because my kids would be saying it non-stop... the rest sounds cool, though.
Interestingly, I really wish more people at my Church would dress up. I think it's a good thing to do. I actually dress better on weekends than I do during the week, which I guess is odd.
Hi.
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