Week 41 - The Edge

We decided to swing back to a “non-denominational” church this time and found The Edge with a Google search. We liked their website and were a little bit influenced because they have an active ministry in Uganda. Danae was home for the weekend and I have to thank her for going along with our crazy escapade and coming along each Sunday that she is here to a difference church. The people were friendly and welcoming and we had a nice conversation with some people on the way out. That’s always nice when people notice you’re visiting and take a minute to talk to you. It is a fairly small church with 2 services. The stage with the band is almost as big as the auditorium. A visiting worship leader led the worship as their worship leader has recently left. They did a fabulous job. It seems their pastor, the founder of the church, has also recently left. This is a congregation that is going through some trials we can certainly relate to. Although we don’t know the circumstances behind those events, we can tell they are still struggling from it. A young man named Disciple led worship. Complete with tattoos and earlobe plugs, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What we got was a very intelligent, articulate and thoughtful sermon. He made many excellent points, but when he started talking about how they (the Israelites and this church) had lost their momentum, that really struck me. That describes exactly how I have felt many times with respect to my faith, my church, and even this 52 churches in a year project. We left feeling inspired and like we should be praying for this group of believers.

Week 39 - First Presbyterian Church OKC

This week we attended First Presbyterian Church at 25th & Western in Oklahoma City. It has to be one of the most beautiful church buildings we have been in. I freely admit that I am in love with the history and architecture of the east coast and this church looks like it was dropped off here straight from Boston. Cobblestone exterior, amazing stained glass and beautiful arched wood ceiling all contributed to this amazing setting. It is a fairly large church but was not completely full at this particular service. Worship was led by an organist, a choir (complete with beautiful red robes) and a song leader. We sang hymns from the songbook, as this was a technology-free church, free from screens and slides. A collection was passed, but no communion. All in all, the service itself was very traditional and routine, but what I learned that morning was I am easily influenced by the setting. In a perfect world, for me, all church buildings would look like this. I have to guard against putting more importance on atmosphere than on worship, relationships, service and all of those things that are really important in a church home. But it sure wouldn’t hurt if they all come together in one package!

Week 38 - Waterloo Baptist Church

Waterloo Baptist Church is a medium sized (about 600 in worship) church in North Edmond. The people we sat around were very welcoming and friendly and so were the two very nice gentlemen who visited us a few days later. I was a little disappointed that our mission to go to a different church each week prevented us from attending the following week and getting to have a ride on the mechanical bull at their “Round-Up Day.” They are a very active church with many events and ministries going on. They have a contemporary worship band but included a variety of old and new music. The sermon referenced Ezekiel 33:1-7, reminding the church that we come in to go out, to be God’s watchmen so to speak, telling the world about God. God will hold someone accountable for their sin if they have been warned. He will hold us accountable if we did not warn them. It puts a new depth of meaning to our responsibility to share our faith.