I decided that I was going to document our church visiting experiences because when we were trying to find a church in Memphis it was very interesting! As you can imagine the are many diverse churches in the Atlanta area. I do most of my searching via the internet, so if you have a lame wesite I am probably not going to visit your church... Harsh I know, but I have to weed them out some how. So I find a church, look over their beliefs and then try to listen to a sermon online before I actually visit. As I have been looking at churches online and scan through their beliefs, I have come across one problem that wasn't an issue in Memphis. Everything will look real good and then there will be a line that says "we are a gay affirming church". Now don't get me wrong, homosexuals need to be in a church body like all of us sinners. I have no issue with that, but I am not "signing up" or raising my kid in a church that says it is okay to be homosexual. That is like saying, we are a church that affirms the sin of murder, stealing, alcoholism or beating your kids. (BTW definition of word affirm is: to assert as valid, or express dedication too)
Anyways, that is another way in which I narrow down my church search here in Atlanta. So after prayer and google I have come across only a couple of churches that are visit worthy for what our family is looking for in a church body. The first one I visited was Passion City Church. This one caught my interest because of the leaders. Louie Giglio is the pastor and Chris Tomlin is the worship leader. If you have been in the christian bubble for anytime at all both of the names probably ring a bell to you. My thoughts were "how could a church with these leaders be anything but amazing?". So last night, along with 2,749 other people, I went to visit. I knew going into it that no childcare was provided because of the temporary location that they are meeting at. So I packed a bag full of goodies for Layla and headed to church. There were a ton of people there! I was one row from the top in a large arena. Chris came on to lead worship, which was great, just hard to get involved because he looked like an ant on the stage from where I was sitting. Too many distractions! We didn't stay for preaching for 3 reasons.
1. Layla could not have sat still any longer.
2. I had heard Louie online and could listen to this sermon online as well.
3. And I didn't want to sit in traffic of all the people when it was time to leave :)
So I am glad I went so now I know. But when I think of a church home for our family, I am looking for something with a little less production and maybe a little smaller so I might run into atleast one or two familiar faces every week. I might try PCC again once they are in their permanent meeting place, have childcare, and have more than 1 service so there are not so many people.
I have just continued my prayer that we would feel a peace at a new church home like we did when we found our church in Memphis. I did not feel that peace this Sunday so I will continue my search this coming Sunday. I know God has a home for us in this huge city. Just might take a minute to find it.
Next on my list is Grace Midtown. Their website is very appealing. I was able to listen to sermons and download some of their music on itunes. Their meeting place is blocks from Georgia Tech so I am sure there are a lot of people my age there. I am looking forward to it!
No comments:
Post a Comment