Ok, let me just say that the church Katy and I visited yesterday was the first church I have actually been very interested in. Episode 1 was sort of a shot in the barrel, where we didn’t know what to expect. Episode 2 was sort unplanned and the church wasn’t even on my list to go to. So let’s just say that I was excited and anxious going into the weekend about visiting a church that actually looked like something we would be really interested in.

I found the church by way of an online emerging church network, so even at the first steps, I knew we were headed in a good direction. The second indication was the website. I can’t express enough how important the website is for churches in this day and age. I have a ton of thoughts on this issue alone, but I’ll get to that stuff some other day. But for now, I want to point out that this church had a very good website. Not because it had a bunch of information (because it didn’t), but because it had the essential content presented very clearly and it communicated what kind of church it was. It didn’t explain everything, but it communicated enough to interest me a good deal. The site just had a great look to it and was clear and informative.

The third indication that this was a cool church was the fact that it met in the Arts Center, located in the historic district of Plano. An adequate analogy for my Abilene friends would be the Grace Museum. To me, it just sounded like a cool location, and it was clearly a new and emerging church. So we went.

We got there a few minutes early (10:55 am), but we noticed that the congregation was already standing and singing, so we had to slip in the back. The room was pretty darn cool: it was a large art gallery with hardwood floors, 30ft open ceiling, and blank white walls. I almost took a picture on my phone, but I figured that would look wierd. After the song they were singing was over, the pastor went up and prayed and then everybody got their things and mingled and exited the room. It was at this moment that I realized that they had not started early, but that their 9am service had just concluded. That means they just had a two-hour service. This is definitely different than the 45-50 min services I’m used to.

So we stayed, sat down and perused the church’s “handout”. It was more like a newsletter format, including an article about the return of their mission team from India and info about their small group meetings. Then a guy came up to us and introduced himself. He was about our age and he had recently moved with his wife to the area from Florida. We had some good small talk (as good as member vs. visitor small talk can get) and he left. In only a couple of minutes, the second service started.

The room wasn’t large, only seating about 50 people comfortably (in folding chairs). They had their own sound system, laptop, and projector that they brought via trailer that I saw parked outside. The worship guy looked around my age, led by acoustic guitar, and was accompanied by a female vocalist. He sang some pretty good songs, some of which were obviously originals of his. He had a great voice, and so did she. His guitar sounded great and so did the sound system (I know most of you don’t care about this stuff, but I do, so cut me some slack).

Now, for those of you at Crosspoint, you already know that this is an almost identical description of what a Sunday service looks like for you. And honestly, I felt good about it. I know I’m not looking for another Crosspoint, but my initial reaction was obviously positive. This was the style I was used to (and frankly, I helped formulate). So for once, I wasn’t disappointed in my initial reaction.

They seemed to be in a similar life-stage as Crosspoint, too. They had about 40-45 people in the first service and about 30-35 in the second service. The demographic was diverse: a pretty even combination of college-age, young couples, young families, and families with teenagers.

Ok, back to the service. After singing only a couple of songs, we were seated and the pastor begun. We were again disappointed by the fact that the pastor wasn’t going to preach, but instead share about the mission trip he just took with his team to India. He shared for about 45 min, mainly telling funny stories, but throwing in a few “God-moments”. He also showed a video from the trip that was difficult to view on the screen due to a very bright room and a weak video projector (again, my Crosspoint comparison resounds). He then let a few team members share. About 4-5 people went up and told a “God-moment” story or testimony.

All in all, I liked the pastor. He looked about 30-ish, married, kids, etc. He was a good communicator, but he was obviously “a talker”. He did seem like a guy who loved his Bible and could teach out of it with authority. He had a good sense of humor, but I could tell he was very serious about this church and about this mission trip. Basically, I’m trying to say that he didn’t seem as immature as I fear some guys who go out and start churches are.

The service concluded with a couple more songs (in conjunction with offering and communion, which consisted of people walking to the front as they feel led, dropping their offering in a basket, the tearing off a piece of bread and dipping it in juice, then returning to their seats).

As people mingled their way out, I almost went to say hey to the pastor, but he looked busy, talking with other folks, so we just went ahead and left. Heck, it was almost 1:30 and we wanted to eat!

So, my concluding thoughts are as follows: This is basically a cool church. Cool enough for us to take a closer look at and visit again. We won’t go back next week probably (there are still several other churches to check out), but I definitely want to hear the pastor preach, learn more, etc. During the service, part of me hoped that maybe the worship guy is about to move or something, but I guess that’s just wishful thinking.

Other points of interest: the pastor has a blog, where he mostly exhales on what he’s reading currently. The worship guy is also big into writing novels and screenplays. They have a community group on “Film and Theology”. Their website also has sections for book reviews, online sermon audio, and recommended reading lists. Good stuff!