Forcey Memorial Church

Forcey Memorial Church (or Forcey Bible Church) was the church that Todd and I attended this morning. We met up with Todd's friend, Bobby, before the service. The church building is located in Silver Spring and it is also a school. The sanctuary was beautiful. The past several churches I have gone to have been boring "boxes" or school auditoriums. This sanctuary reminded me of my grandparents church; it had dark wood, angled ceilings, hanging pendant lights, red cushioned pews and stained glass in deep reds and blues. The church has two services, one blended worship service at 9 am and a contemporary service at 11. We attended the contemporary service. I know that Todd enjoyed sleeping in however I had to find activities to occupy myself before we left because it is nearly impossible for me to sleep in.

The service started with two songs with a full band- drums, guitars, singers and keyboard. I appreciated the words on the screen and the backgrounds weren't horrible. There were a lot of people who came up to pray, share and give announcements. It felt a bit stiff and... formal. They shared about the amazing success of VBS (Vacation Bible School) and the upcoming eight week day camp. A couple who were on a missions trip came up and shared as well.

During the offering, a woman sang a solo. I appreciated the gold offering plates; haven't seen those in awhile.

The main pastor did not preach today. A guest who has been speaking for the past couple of weeks(?) spoke again today. Dr. Homer Heater is the President Emeritus of Washington Bible College/Capital Bible Seminary. He is an older guy but still a good and relevant speaker. The title of his sermon was the "Impact of Sin on Ministry" and was based on 2 Kings 5:20-27. He made several good points.

The service concluded with two more songs, one of them being one of my personal favorites, "Blessed be Your Name" and a short prayer.

The couple in front of us introduced themselves and another woman came over to talk to us as well. The people were really nice and friendly. Not to mention that the same woman came over to talk to us again in Chipotle, which was where we went for lunch.

Why do we keep visiting churches when it is either a special Sunday or when there is a guest speaker? I guess we may have to go back again!

Again Sorry for lateness

  Sorry again about the lateness loyal fans, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Besides dealing with some sickness, I am happy to announce that Lindsey and I are now engaged!! Yes I popped the question and she said yes. She didn’t even need to think about it too, I guess I am a catch. So now we continue our journey of finding a church not as boyfriend and girlfriend but as an engaged couple, sweet.

   Well like I said last week we did not go to church because we were both feeling ill but I will post about Greater Baltimore Church of Christ. Now I have to start by saying that because this is a Church of Christ a lot of the service was like MCCC. They really did not stray from the formula. Pretty much all the things I don’t really connect with were true with this church. The acapella worship is still cool but not my favorite and they had half the communion time in silence which is always just awkward to me. They did have an intermission mingle time which was interesting. We got to meet some people and I do enjoy some mingle. Overall I would say GBCC and MCCC were so similar, if you have been to one of them you get the idea.

   The only thing I would like to highlight is the guy who talked because, while his talk was long, he had a very on fire talk that was just great to hear. His name was Phat and he was a younger guy who talked about his life and how we are an adulteress people who need to turn back to God. It was just a great journey to take with this guy and to hear about his life.

  That’s really all I have for this post but I would leave off with a question for everyone.

  What is your favorite book of the bible that is not one of the gospels? I exclude the gospel because Jesus is just that awesome and he should be everyone’s favorite.

 Let the discussion begin and tune in next week, Lindsey and I will be going to a new church this week.

Greater Baltimore Church of Christ

This morning, Todd and I attended the Greater Baltimore Church of Christ which meets at Long Reach High School in Columbia. It is a sister church of Montgomery County Church of Christ which we have attended in previous weeks.

Overall, the service was very similar to Montgomery County Church of Christ. We were greeted by at least five teens who were greeters/ushers as it was their teen Sunday. One woman came over because she thought we were new visitors. Every teen who spoke for each section of the service applied scripture and shared their reflections on what the scripture meant to them. The unfortunate part was that it was very hard to hear what people were saying because of the microphones.

The music was all hymns again with no music. They even sang some hymns that I recognized from Montgomery County Church of Christ. No one had hymn books because the lyrics were on a screen on the stage. I really appreciated that. One song, "Awesome God" towards the end of the singing was done to pre-recorded music. I enjoyed that because it was more the type of music/style that I am used to. During the second half of communion, several women/teens came on stage and sang a really beautiful song. I am not a music person so I do not know how to correctly describe what they were doing but each pair sang a different harmony with different words at the same time.

The first half of communion was silent... That is, except for the squeaky chairs. (Did I mention how hard and uncomfortable they are?)

They announced Fellowship Time which I took to mean a time of greeting people around you. I was a bit confused as everyone was out of their seats and there was no explanation other than it was called Fellowship Time. I think all the children/middle schoolers left then as well.

The sermon was delivered by a guy named Phat Vuong and it seemed like it was his first time speaking. He was a bit awkward at times but his message was strong. He spoke about the book of Hosea and gave these three points: (1) God loves you (2) You adulterous people (3) Return to the Lord.

After this, there was a closing song. They called it the closing song but then several people came up on stage after to talk and share. Two women shared about another woman who was about to be baptized. It just felt really long after being told that we just sang the closing song. Also it felt long because by the time the service was over, it was two hours later! I am used to an hour and a half service.

... What does God have in store for us next week?

... And how much later on in the week do you think Todd will get around to posting?

Getting back on track

Sorry for the wait loyal fans, life has been hectic but that’s no excuse. Lindsey has been great about keeping up with posts and I have just been a chump. We are getting back on track now so keep tuned.

    Now on to the stuff you all come for, I will be going back two weeks ago for our last time we were at Montgomery County Church of Christ. It was great to have my parents there and for my good friends Zak and Kat to come, we had a very lovely Sunday. All of the things I have said that I like about MCCC were in full effect great community, encouragement for the people who are talking, and the giving of some of their offering to missions around the world. I am still not sure how I feel about the hymns, I respect it but I am coming to the point where I believe it’s not for me. Another thing I am starting to notice that is a big distraction for me is silence during communion. I understand the connect with God during communion but its just odd for me to wait the 10 minutes to get through communion in absolute silence. A big highlight of the morning for me was finally hearing the lead pastor talk and it was very good. The pastor’s name was Ruben I thought he was very insightful. I look forward to hearing him again, he also sings in their band so I guess he is a very talented guy. I got a chance to talk to him after the service and it seems we might meet soon to talk and I do look forward to that. I believe Lindsey and I will still visit other churches but we have really enjoyed our time at MCCC so we are keeping it on our hearts.

   Last Sunday Lindsey and I went to Gallery Church Baltimore. My friend Les invited us; it’s his church that he has been going to for a while. This Sunday was the first time they met in their new meeting place, which is at the Pier 5 Hotel. Getting there and understanding the parking situation was a little confusing but nothing we could not handle. Props to Les for giving me a heads up on where to park. The first thing we experienced was worship which was very amazing, it was just guy on guitar and girl on violin and they both sang. I loved the worship so much because it was just soothing and made worship time very easy for me to connect with God. The violin lady was really talented, I guess you would have to be to play and sing with a violin.

   Next we heard a very long talk from a lady who works with refugees from Burma. She just got back from a missions trip to India. It was very interesting to hear what she had to say and to learn about these places that have huge Christian populations and are persecuted for it. She talked about Christians who are persecuted in Burma so they flee to India and they are persecuted there. It was very sad to hear and makes me realize I take for granted my religious freedom. It was a really long talk but my only critique is there was no application really. It was kind of like hear about this awful stuff that is happening but not too much of anything was presented for you to serve or anything.

Next the pastor came up and followed up for a couple of minutes and he talked about going beyond being a good Samaritan. It was really short because he had no time but still no application was presented. I realize he had no time but I was kind of on the edge of my seat to hear how I could change things and go above and beyond but it did not come.

    At the very end they slipped in a service thing that was coming up but it was just talked about for a quick second but in my opinion it needed to be a huge part of the morning because the morning was basically about serve others and don’t even think about you. I did really enjoy the service but it missed the application part of everything they were talking about. I know we will go back again because I would like to hear the main pastor speak so look for a follow up on this church in the future.

  Again sorry about the lapse in posts but we will get back on track. Also look for a new question of the week in a couple of days. See ya!!

Montgomery County Church of Christ & Gallery Church Baltimore

[[Just a clarification: Things I write about that I do not like about a church or church experience is not meant to be taken as "church bashing". I just mean that it is something that I do not connect with.]]

Montgomery County Church of Christ
Last Sunday, Todd and I attended Montgomery County Church of Christ and were finally able to hear one of the main pastors speak. (Please see previous entries to read about previous visits.) Todd's parents were here for the weekend, so they came with us. Todd's friends, Zak and Kat, came with us too. It was good to get other people's perspectives, in as, other people who already know us.

I thought the sermon was pretty good. I looked down at my watch towards the end and was surprised at how long it was (45 minutes?). It did not feel that long though. I would like to go back to hear him talk again.

Gallery Church Baltimore
Today, Todd and I went to Gallery Church Baltimore. We heard about it because one of Todd's good friends, Les, goes there. Today was it's first meeting at it's new location- Pier 5 Hotel in Baltimore. There were signs up but it was still a bit confusing to get to. This could also have been due to us not having very good directions and not knowing what to really expect at all. I appreciated the greeter at the door asking if we had any trouble finding the church.

The congregation seemed to be comprised of mostly young adults. The format, music and graphics were very contemporary. The air conditioning was on... a lot. It was super cold but the church didn't really have control over that. The next time we go back, I will need to layer on the clothing!

The first half hour was all worship (singing). I really enjoyed it, once I got the hang of the type of mellow songs they played. It definitely reminded me of the brother/sister duo called LaRue. (Definitely check out their music on Amazon to hear a sampling- just click on the link!) There was a guy who played guitar and a girl who played violin. They both sang. I was very impressed by the girl's voice and the fact that she could switch so easily between singing and playing the violin. They said they usually have a drum but they did not have it this week for some reason. It wasn't really needed though.

The pastor did not do a sermon today. Instead, a girl named Jenny spoke about her experiences in missions. She worked with refugees in Baltimore and also spent time in India with refugees from Burma. The stories she told were heartbreaking and incredibly informative... but long. Her sharing could have been done in ten minutes but she managed to drag it out into a half hour! I think it felt so long because I was freezing (see above). After she was done, the pastor spoke for about five minutes, kind of about what Jenny spoke about.

There will be a Gallery Church Baltimore Part II... Why do we keep missing when the pastor speaks when we visit churches?