Church Hunter

So in an ongoing effort to correct a lot of the areas i've let my self go in, I've spent the last several weeks looking for a new church to attend.

Church has always been a huge part of my life, particularly when your Dad is the guy standing at the front. In the last few months however my church attendance hasn't been as regular as it once was.

A couple of factors contributed to this; firstly i felt in light of my situation it was probably the appropriate thing to do to stop attending the church i used to attend with my wife. Also i've really been getting to grips with where the beliefs i've had since i was a kid line up with where i find my life right now. The conclusion that i've come to is that God loves everyone...period. And while God doesn't always like what's going on in our lives (either do i!) it doesn't mean that i'm any less qualified to have a relationship with him than the next guy. Do i stop being my kids' father when they disobey me? OK point made.

So. I visited a church for a couple of Sundays called Legacy Church.

The thing that impressed me most about this place was that firstly it wasn't overly big and showy like a lot of places you'll find down here in the good old Bible Belt.

I walked in the door my first Sunday looking a little lost and was immediately greeted by Matt. Matt as it turns out is an intern at the church and that particular sunday was charged with greeting people. He was very friendly and upbeat but not too much so. Now as someone who's spent most of his life living in New York you learn to have an immediate distrust of anyone who's too friendly and suspect they're after your wallet. Matt wasn't too friendly...just right.

After a few moments of conversation Matt asked me if i had kids. I said yes although they weren't with me that Sunday. He proceeded to give me a full tour of the children's facilities and introduced me to the key children's workers then showed me back to the main worship center just in time for the service to start.

During the service i filled out a visitors card, mainly to see what would happen. The service was good. The band was good and wore jeans (an essential quality). The message was good. All good. The next day i received an email from the Pastor thanking me for visiting and the next day a hand- written note from the pastor with a $5 Starbucks gift card. Sweet. Later that week i received a phone call from the director of the children's area, explaining more about the kid's area and asking if i had any questions. Overall very impressed.

The next week i took the kids there. They loved it and Matt saw me and told me it was great to see me again. Very cool.

Today i visited another church. Another one here in Plano called Grace Community Church. Grace was a bit bigger and a lot more polished. The auditorium was grand and dimly lit so all the focus was on the band (all of whom were dressed in "corporate casual" attire...hmmmm) the light shown, the smoke machine and the three giant video screens which relayed live camera shots of the service. The auditorium was sloped, stadium style with rows of pews (another..hmmmmm). The kids area was incredible from what I saw. McDonald's style climbing structures and slides and props all over the place that looked like they came right from Chuck E. Cheese.

But with all it's slick showy splendor i felt a little lost. They had visitor cards in the back of the pew. I filled one out (to see what happens) but no one actually told me what to do with it. I put it in the collection basket as i saw others doing. Then they also made reference to a visitors "pack" i could pick up at the welcome desk. Exciting. Problems was after 10 minutes of walking around the church i couldn't find the welcome desk. Lot's of little booths promoting various church related activities but no welcome desk. I guess i could have asked someone but as a stranger in crowd of 2000, who wants to do that?

So when it comes down to it, both good churches i'm sure but based on today's experience one thing was missing. No Matt.

Technology is great. Modern communication in church is essential. A great children's program is something every parent is looking for. But if you don't connect with people first is it all worth it?

I'll be going to Legacy Church next week.