Cornerstone Church

Denomination: non-denominational. btw this is Francis Chan's church.

Date attended: October 11, 2009

Service times: Sundays 9am, 11am, 5pm, 7pm (I attended the 11am)

Location: 30 minute drive from me.

Anonymity/visitor factor: Rather large church. Very easy to escape in and out. However, I had the pleasure of being surprised by Mr. Hayward's presence that morning. Yay for coincidence!

Environment: Large and spacious. Stone tiled flooring in the foyer. Muted colors. Large wooden cross hangs on the back wall of the stage. The stage is very wide, lots of room to run around.

Worship: Very familiar to me. Sang some David Crowder, some hymns set to rockish music, all things that I knew. Reminded me a lot of Westmont. I felt like the space they created welcomed true worship.

Outreach: lots of global and local things mentioned in the service, the program and on their website. I also appreciate that they have community pastors for each of the regions they serve. That is unique.

Orthodoxy: spot on. Read on for more.

Communion: not offered

Offering: drop box in the foyer.

Gender: the band and the leadership are all male. Women lead the kids and women's ministries. This is highly disappointing.

Singles: They call it "Non-Marrieds" which right off the bat makes me like them. I think I might try going to a meeting sometime to see if it's really a ministry or if it operates like singles classifieds.

Sermon: Being Francis Chan's church, sermons are a near guarantee to be amazing. Some things I wrote down to highlight the sermon...

• Grace isn't something that God gives us and that's it. We must live like God and give grace to others too.
• We have control over the stress, anger, and anxiety. God gives us the ability to rise up under it and be free. Anxiety is not circumstances, it's a choice. Freedom in the Holy Spirit.
• Prayer is key. Believe in prayer.
• We are adopted, we are not slaves.
• It's not about what we did or did not do, it's about faith working through love.
  

Other things: Before Francis even got into the Scripture/sermon part of his teaching, he reminded the congregation of the fact that we are all made by God and if we truly believe that everything God makes is glorious, that includes ourselves. How often it is that we forget that we are made in the image of God and how precious and beautiful a thing that is. I forget all the time. Even though we are sinful, God still made us beautiful and He is worthy to be praised for that. There is an overwhelming sense of hope at this church. I also really like that Francis is listed as Teaching Pastor and that there are other pastor for other responsibilities. Everyone has different gifts and it is acknowledged as such. Not everyone can be worship leader, teaching pastor, and administrator all at once. People are fooling themselves to think that they can without getting burnt out.

Conclusion: 9/10 for orthodoxy and a commitment to serving their outer community as well as inner. I will probably go back. (though something I wonder, do I like it because it's familiar, or because it is true? I think I need to go again to find out. Francis is starting a series on 2 Peter!)

Crossroads Community Church

Denomination: non-denominational

Date attended: September 20, 2009

Service times: 9am and 10:30am (I attended the 10:30)

Location: In a business shopping center like place. There were signs and so it was relatively easy to find.

Anonymity/visitor factor: Walked in and out without speaking to anyone. Programs were on a podium for you to pick up yourself. Shake hands and say hello after a few worship songs. The woman next to me said I had a nice singing voice. Yay. The congregation likes each other because they had a hard time quieting down even when the worship leader started talking again.

Worship: I really enjoyed it. I knew most of the songs and it reminded me of Westmont a little in that they sang a Keith Getty song and the worship leader took a old hymn and set it to new music. They made a big deal of announcing that the father and brother of the worship leader were visiting and playing with them that morning. I found that announcement to be very awkward.

Outreach: The website and program mention that they have outreach and ministries, but they didn't talk about it much or say what it is.

Orthodoxy: Pretty decent. See "sermon" heading for more.

Communion: not offered

Offering: Drop box by the door. They made a big deal out of an offering they will take in a couple of weeks that is to benefit meeting the needs of expansion.

Gender: One or two women on stage singing. Men singing and playing instruments. The only female leaders are heading up kids ministries and women's ministries.

Singles: There a young adults ministry that meets 3 times a month and a young marrieds that meets twice a month. I don't know if the young adults is focused just on college age or not.

Sermon: Text came from Ephesians and he talked about predestination. Not easy stuff to cover. The thing that stood out in my mind was when he told the story about someone he knew who had adopted a child and how he/she "always forgets that they're adopted" because they are so apart of the family that there is no distinction. And that God is like that when he chooses us to be in his family. He also made the point that because we are chosen, we must live differently, we are chosen to be holy. The emphasis was more on grace than on love. He told a lot of little stories throughout the sermons that felt more like quips than anything that helped bring his point across. Spoke very well to the middle aged family centered crowd.

Other things: Brownie points for the above mentioned woman for the compliment. There was a guy outside chatting about the seminars they offer. He had multiple tattoos and piercings. I thought this was hopeful. There was a mention that they order an In-N-Out truck after the 10:30 service. They also offer seminars on Sundays during the services. The seminars revolve around tough topics like end times, homosexuality, etc. I find this to be a very nice idea. I want to go to one sometime to see how they interpret these issues and to see if it is someone talking at you or if there is opportunity for discussion.
They have a ton of info available on their website for exactly what they believe.

Conclusion: 7/10 stars. For being theological sound. I would come back if I couldn't find a place where I think I belong better.

Higher Vision Church

Denomination: non-denominational

Day attended: September 27, 2009

Service times: Saturday 6pm, Sunday 9am & 11am (I attended the 11am service)

Location: feels like the middle of nowhere, but what isn't the middle of nowhere in the Santa Clarita Valley? Though it was easy enough to find thanks to Google Maps Street View and the multitude of cars in the shopping center. Yes, it's in a shopping center.

Anonymity/visitor factor: Super easy to slip in and out of the building unnoticed. There is the obligatory introduce yourself to your neighbor bit, but I got ignored by some who were around me.

Environment: Discovered that this is only the second Sunday that they have been in their new location. And it looks new. Dim lighting for worship and sermon. Video screens everywhere (which, the announcements were done with the video screens and a voice over. No one paid attention to them). Comfortable chairs.

Worship: dim lighting. There was a band with generally upbeat music. Head pastor is also the worship leader. I personally don't like that choice because then it feels like the pastor is running the show. Too much power. He will get overworked someday. Men led and/or played instruments while the women sang. Only knew one song. Video screens were overwhelming and distracting.

Outreach: I think it was almost non-existent. There wasn't any talk about missions either global or local. In the program handed to me at the door there are several headings for ministries that cater to the personal development and growth of the people in the church. Under the headings "Community Care and Outreach" is says "Meeting the practical and spiritual needs for the church family and neighbors in the SCV" and then provides contact info. WTF?? Are we self-help Christians now? Gah.

Orthodoxy: nothing out of the ordinary for your average non-denominational pastor driven church.

Communion: not offered

Offering: Pass the double handled bag type. A lot of money talk. They prayed for the offering before, not after, which indicates to me a kind of guilt pressure more than an honest prayer to God. They also spoke about the expenses of their new facility and that they haven't met their budget yet.

Gender: Men lead men and women. Women lead women. As expected, but still not happy about it. Like mentioned under "worship," the women are only allowed to sing and be beautiful. Dance factor: one of the women danced about as she sang, which made me smile. Why can't we be more joyful when praising God?

Singles: Young adult ministry geared toward college age.

Sermon: The pastor used the analogy of Jesus being like a Custodian. It's part of a series called "No Place Like Home: Helping Families Build Happy Homes." So this week was "Home is where the Custodian is."
I liked the analogy up to a point. He said that you can't get into a building without keys. And who has the keys? The Custodian. And who is the Custodian? Jesus. So Jesus is the one who's going to open the doors to the darker parts of our life. But he didn't say what Jesus does once he opens the door. Did he forget what a custodian's primary job is? Cleaning. OMG, just because you have this nice suburban life, did you forget that custodians clean for a living? That would have been a little more impactful for me. Jesus died so he could help us clean up our lives so we could help others clean up their lives to. And I don't mean "clean up" as in living perfect moral lives to be perfectly strict moral humans. Jesus is about cleaning the deep within, not the surface-y stuff.
The pastor also had a tendency to shout when he got excited. Basic acting lesson: yelling isn't intensity, nor is it emotion. It is yelling (stole that quote from Something Positive, but it is true nonetheless).
After the sermon, he gave an altar call. I wanted to walk out on that, but I did not. I grew up in a church that gave altar calls weekly and I've grown to detest them. Mostly because I heard the same evangelism every week that it made me think I was going to go to hell every week unless I prayed this prayer every week. Again, I cannot reiterate it enough. Church is built on relationship. You are saved through relationship, not just a prayer that you pray and yay! you get to go to heaven. I'm not trying to be high and mighty about this, because I know I don't live 100% of the time according to what I say and believe. May God have mercy on all of us to guide us to better relationships with Him.

Other things:
There was a survey in the program. One side of the paper was whether or not you thought there should be a kids after school program run by the church. Their vision is that moms could just dropthe whole litter off at the church and each kid who go to his or her respective activity: arts & crafts, drama, music, sports, karate, etc. I thought it was a decent idea, but considering the fact that I'm single and without children...
The other side of the paper was asking which slogan they should use for yard signs. They explained that they will go around communities in the SCV, putting signs in yards to encourage people to come to Higher Vision. The slogan (if I remember properly) were: HV Cares, Everybody's Doing It, and...something else can't remember.
I have two problems with this. 1) The Church should be built on relationships, not attendance. I wrote as much on the survey. Posting yard signs to encourage people to go to church is about as impersonal as an infomercial. And considering the voiceovers for announcements, the whole service could've been an infomercial. 2) The slogans were atrocious! "HV Cares" reminds me of HIV. "Everybody's Doing It" is the exact opposite of what it means to be a Christian. We are here to not do what everybody's doing. And that's also the slogan that gets spouted in anti-drug and anti-sex campaigns. We're told from when we're toddlers that just because "everybody" is doing something, doesn't mean we have to do it.
There were two dances performances. One was two teenage girls doing a modern ballet thing to a Christian song. They were modestly dressed, but not the awful velveteen liturgical dance stuff I've seen other churches do, thank God. The second was a bunch of elementary school girls doing hip hop. They were wearing tight gold sparkly shirts and white cargos. It all felt like a performance for the parents in the room to say "That's my daughter! That's my daughter on that stage!!" rather than praising God with dance.

Conclusion: 4/10 stars for staying to true to at least the basics of the Gospel. However, they miss the point of the Gospel by being so inward focused.

The Official Disclaimer Post

What is this blog for?
It's for my own personal use and entertainment. I hope you may be entertained too. I am starting this blog as a way to recount my adventures in church shopping. It is also a useful way of remembering where I've been. I hope to also use this blog as a forum for thinking about what it means to be a part of the Church.

Why the rating system?
I don't know if you've experienced this, but I certainly have: I visit a church for the first time and there's a checks and balances thing going on inside of my head. "I don't like that song." "The pastor made a funny joke." You probably give a rating to a church whether or not you realize it. In my numerical ratings, I am using a foul system to satirize what happens when one goes church shopping. I recognize the black hole in the human heart provoked by our American consumerist tendencies to go to a church that makes us feel good and feel comfortable. I am at once living and rebelling against the practices of church shopping.

Isn't this...sacrilegious?
Hmmmm...no. We should question the church and its motives. I think we should be ever evolving and changing in order to become more like Jesus. We should not be sitting comfortably in our church pew. The message of Jesus is radical and every aspect of our lives from our eating and sleeping and driving and church going should be just a radical and lovingly awesome as our beautiful Creator.

Is it underhanded to pass judgment on these churches by posting it on a blog without discussing it with the church's leadership?
Maybe. I hope to be respectful in my humor and critiques. And like I said, this is primarily for my personal use and most of what I will post on here will be similar to what I was thinking anyway. This could turn into a whole other argument about the private and public sector, but I think I'll leave it at that.

Your heading is a quote from Martin Luther. What is that about?
I am in no way comparing myself or my journey in searching for a church home with the grandiosity of the Reformation of the 16th century. I think that the 21st century Church is on (and perhaps in) the cusp of a new reformation. With that quote, I am echoing Luther's fervent desire to find the truth about God and the Church.