1 November, 10:30am
This morning I attended Carlisle Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational Charismatic (not Pentecostal) church. As we walked in, my housemate and I were welcomed in by a greeter who handed us the morning’s notices. She showed us into the room, which was more compact then most and almost round, with a stage in front. It had old red carpeting and chairs, and heavy drapes around and behind the stage. There were three sections of chairs with aisles in between and a sound booth in the back. A large screen hung stage right off the stage, and there was a flat panel TV on the wall stage left. Another TV was on the left side of the room under the ceiling where it was hard to see the screen. The band was playing a prelude and there were people everywhere mingling about (I counted about 140-150 during the service). We took seats in the middle near the back. The lady behind us welcomed us. I commented to my roommate, “I think this band’s going to be good!”
And it was. This young band consisted of acoustic guitar, bass, keys, drums, female singer and male worship leader on electric guitar. Though the sound in the room wasn’t fantastic, the band was mixed pretty well and wasn’t too loud for the room. They played with dynamics and interest, and that was quite refreshing. The offering was taken during the first song. The worship leader opened the service with a scripture and then led a 30-minute song set, and true to charismatic form, there was freedom to stand, sit, kneel, jump, cry, speak in tongues, etc. Though none of this was led from the front (except once near the end where we were encouraged to kneel physically or in our hearts and pray to the Lord), there were a few people praying (and singing!) in tongues; one directly behind me, which was a bit unnerving. I kept thinking that if spiritual gifts are meant to edify the Body of Christ (which someone attested to later in the service), how does speaking a private language to the Lord do that?
After the worship set, the pastor got up and there was 15 minutes of announcements, including a few people telling about upcoming events. Then there was a children’s sermon, after which the kids were dismissed to the crèche. There was no sermon, as the speaker was unable to make it at the last minute. Instead, the pastor extended the usual sharing time to 45 minutes, and the remainder of the service was spent with people comingto the front and sharing what God was doing in their lives or what they had been learning. There was a theme of suffering in the worship set and it was good that those sharing seemed to keep to that theme. Even though this time was very family-like in many ways, the experience of allowing anyone to get up and speak without putting parameters on the topic and not knowing if what they are going to say is grounded scripturally, made me a bit nervous. On the other hand, I really appreciated that when someone shared a prayer need, the pastor immediately got up and prayed for it. However, there was once when I sensed a little bragging about a ministry and another time when the prayer request bordered on gossip—in the worship service!
A little before noon, the pastor closed out the sharing time by saying something about the service being a little different than normal if and they liked the way it started, maybe they’d do it again. He also welcomed the visitors. Then the band closed with an arrangement of “Be Thou My Vision” that was in 4/4 time.
After the service, there was coffee, tea and biscuits in a room behind the sanctuary. Two or three people introduced themselves to me and made me feel welcome. I actually knew a number of people because quite a few OMers attend CCF.
In many ways, it was a refreshing service, especially because it was musically good and I felt very welcomed, but I have some theological difficulties and mixed emotions about other aspects of the service. It is quite amazing how much feeling welcomed pulls me back to some of these churches that I wouldn’t otherwise attend. That’s been my experience at a few of them. I understand why the main reason why an unchurched person will attend a church for the second time is because he/she felt welcomed the first time!
No comments:
Post a Comment