Where was Dan on May 20th?

Well..., I was visiting a couple of churches in Houston. I started out at First United Methodist in Pearland, a southern suburb of Houston, and then went to the contemporary service at Second Baptist Church.

The Methodist Church is being creative with the styles of worship they are using. I went to what's called the Informal Service, which was at 8:30 a.m. There was a choir, handbell choir, and an organist/pianist, depending on what the piece called for. It was pretty traditional, but definitely informal. For one thing, their senior pastor wears a suit rather than a robe at this service. Also, there are not the usual scripture readings and liturgical prayers.

FUMC Pearland also has a contemporary service at 9:40 a.m. and a traditional service at 11:00 a.m. Their traditional service includes the normal liturgical moments you might expect in a methodist congregation.

On Saturday evenings, there is a worship service for women only! Can you believe it? It's "designed to inspire and encourage women by connecting them to a greater life in Christ" (from their website).

And how about this: They have a Sunday evening service that's called "Country Gospel Gathering." It begins at 6 p.m., but dancing starts at 5:30 p.m.! Read what their pastor says about this service:

The room we gather in will be set up like a bar. I’ve always considered the word “bar” to be a word that stands for “broken and real”. We will come to this gathering as a people broken by and in a real world, but also a people redeemed by God’s great love in Jesus Christ. I guess it all boils down to what we bring to God’s throne as we come to worship. In this service we will intentionally face the reality of our brokenness in light of the reality of God’s healing and love.
Dr. Jerry Pennington

Now here's a church that is trying to reach people with different needs. Apparently, they're not afraid to try anything if there's a possibility to reach people with the gospel of Christ.

After the service, I was off to see the 11:11 service at 2nd Baptist Houston. Ed Young is the senior pastor of this church, but his son Ben preaches at this 11:11 service, which is a contemporary service.

As I expected, this was a well-crafted service: The music was loud and inviting, yet I could always understand the lyrics. The on stage band had a male and female vocalist. They sang strictly contemporary music at this service, without mixing in any hymns. But a couple of their selections had to be 8 or 9 years old. I recognized all but one of the songs, having sung them in our own congregation at one time or another.

When the music part was over, the lights went out. I knew Ben was walking on stage at this time. This is a pretty cool transition. I'd like to be able to do that. But you need an auditorium that is totally enclosed without outside light.

The lights came up and there was Ben Young preaching a very relevant message, part one in a three part series on the spirit-filled life. He's let his hair grow out and has a striking resemblance to his older brother, Ed Young, Jr. Anyway, the preaching seemed extemporaneous, but I could still see the outline, hidden as it was.

What was striking was the end of the service. This is the first service I've visited during my sabbatical where an invitation was given at the end. 10 or 12 people walked forward and were met by counselors at the front of the stage. Ben affirmed them coming forward; then they were led off to some rooms in the back in order to ascertain the decisions they made in the service.

After the invitation, an offering was taken up, while the female vocalist sang, accompanied by the band. They closed with a couple of announcements, spoken by Ben, and the service was over. I like Ben's preaching. The music was riveting too. I worshiped the Holy One.

Here's the worship schedule for 2nd Baptist Church (and this is just their main campus on Woodway). The descriptions of the services are taken directly from their website:

Saturday

Saturday at Six is characterized by a casual and intimate feel, combined with challenging message from God’s Word by Dr. Young. The music for the service features a praise team and a band that is comfortable playing a variety of styles such as jazz, southern gospel, or traditional hymns. Come as you are and enjoy this refreshing time of worship.

Sunday

The 9:30 AM worship service at Woodway seeks to exalt the greatness of God through powerful music and preaching. The service features a three hundred member choir and live orchestra that lead the congregation in a worship experience which combines traditional hymns and worship choruses with powerful anthems and solos. In addition to these musical elements, the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism prepare the worshiper to hear Dr. Young preach a dynamic word from God.

The 11:11 AM service was born in January 2001 with a vision to reach young adults through a participatory worship service with a modern rock sound. Ben Young seeks to communicate God’s Word in a creative and relevant way, and the 11:11 Band creates an atmosphere that connects with modern culture while exalting God through worship. If you enjoy electric guitars, creative video, and a casual atmosphere the 11:11 service is for you.

Sunday 6:00 PM Service

Second Family Reunion meets in the Old Sanctuary. This traditional service combines the classic preaching of Dr. Jim Deloach and Wallace Henley with inspirational and uplifting music.

Sunday 7:00 PM Service

Logos meets in the C-Gym. Logos is an opportunity to come and reflect on God’s grace and truth in an “unplugged” worship setting. The service features live acoustic music, responsive readings, corporate prayer, and a challenging message from God’s Word. This casual service is a great way to start your week by connecting with God and others.

In my church people sometimes say that we're really two churches meeting at the same location, because of our two different morning services, and two different Sunday Schools. But I disagree. I've just written about two different churches, one Methodist and one Baptist. These churches have different styles of worship to address the different kinds of people in our culture. And yet, I doubt anyone says of 2nd Baptist Houston that they are really 4 or 5 different churches meeting on the same campus.

What I'm saying is that we should celebrate our diversity and be as creative as we can when it comes to our worship services. This might just involve different kinds of worship experiences. We should remain open to this, although we have a number of people in our church who want to combine our two services into one. This is definitely something that needs to be prayed through, regardless of the fact that we are moving into a new facility in the near future.

One more thing: I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express on Saturday night, so I felt really special. If you don't get what I just said, then you don't watch a lot of commercials.

Church Visited on May 13

Today I attended Solid Rock Church in San Marcos, Texas. This is a Baptist church in doctrine only. They chose a long time ago not to have "Baptist" in the name, as so many new church plants are doing today. It was a treat to go here today because my good friend D.J. Castilleja was preaching. He's the associate pastor of the church. This church has one morning service on Sunday mornings, preceded by Bible Study times for various age groups.

I first attended the praise team rehearsal that began at 9:00 a.m. Their rehearsal began with Bible study, so in effect, they go to "Sunday School" together as a team. I think this is a great idea - worship pastor and team meeting together to study the Word. Following their Bible study time, which was very conversational, meaning that several people on the team offered input into the discussion, they held rehearsal for the day's worship music.

Their worship time consisted of 6 songs, only 3 or 4 of which were familiar to me. One song they sang was written by a couple of the band members. It was upbeat, and obviously well known to the congregation. No hymns were sung this Sunday, but the songs definitely were theologically sound, with moving lyrics and melodies. I sensed that God was truly "inhabiting the praises of His people."

Several people made me feel welcome. The ages are mixed in the congregation, which is also true of the praise team. The team was well rehearsed and did a great job. Following the music, D.J. walked to the front and invited the children to come up for a children's sermon time. The theme was the 5th commandment: Obey your parents in the Lord. He then talked about motherhood, using II Timothy 1:5 -

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

In a few minutes he confessed he really didn't know much about motherhood, and invited a panel of six women to the front. The PPT slide on the screen said "The View: Mother's Day Edition." D.J. then asked them all a series of 6 or 7 questions. Each of them answered the questions clearly, providing their own insights into what it means to be a mother. There were humorous moments, as well as emotional moments during this exchange. Doing this involved some creativity and risk taking, because D.J. had no idea how they would respond. But the risk paid off. It was a very good idea - something I'd never seen as part of a Mothers Day sermon.

Following the message, which was really given by D.J. and the ladies on the panel, there was a moving video clip about motherhood. The praise team then led us all in a song, and the service was concluded.

Like the other churches I've visited so far, this one didn't offer a public invitation. However, there were clear instructions in the worship bulletin, with suggestions for contacting staff members if interested in learning more about Christ, or in accepting Christ as Savior, or in joining the church. There were wooden boxes in the back for the offerings, with envelopes in a cubby attached to the boxes.

Besides the chairs, there were a couple of couches in the back, as well as round tables. People could sit on the couches, or at the tables for the entire service, if they felt like it. Overall, it was a very nice atmosphere for worship. I was blessed to have been there.

Churches Visited on May 6

I attended the a.m. worship services of First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio on May 6. They have an 8:30 traditional service, a 9:30 traditional service, a 10:45 contemporary service and another 11:05 traditional service. Somehow, their pastor, Richard Kannwischer, manages to preach at all 4 services. They obviously lean toward the traditional side of things, but their contemporary service is beginning to outgrow all the others. This service is held in another meeting room, something that looks like the fellowship hall.

This church is very outward focused, always thinking of how to reach people. One way their doing it is in being creative with their children's Sunday school time. For about 4 years, they've been having 5 week lessons on one Bible story. 5 weeks to study, for example, the story of Jonah. One week, the kids go to a drama room and act it out; the next week they go to a computer room, and do computer activities related to the story. There are about 12 computers in the room; the following week might be an arts and crafts room; then they go to a video room, videotape themselves acting out the story, and then see themselves on the screen. There's another room, but I can't remember what they do there.

Another ministry the church focuses on is Habitat for Humanity. It reminds me of our own Carpenter's Helpers. If I were to go to their church next week, I'd see a big container for receiving diapers. The church family is buying diapers for mothers who cannot afford them. These are just a few of the things they do to reach their community.

In the contemporary service, I witnessed a moving Lord's Supper. I love how they do it at this church and others like it. They have congregants break off a piece of a loaf of bread, dip it in some grape juice, and eat the soaked bread. A couple of deacons or elders administer the elements. And when the pastor talked about how Christ's body was broken for you, he tore the bread in half - a very vivid picture of Christ's sacrifice for our sins.

In the evening, I went to Austin Stone, a contemporary church in, well, Austin - nondenominational and conservative. Mostly college age students and young families attend here. And every Sunday there's a lot of setting up and tearing down, because the service takes place in a high school gym. Once they arrange everything, they have 3 mostly identical worship services at 10:45, 5:00, and 7:00.

The worship had a concert feel. Hands were raising everywhere. It was a mixture of contemporary songs and arrangements of hymns. Everyone in the band was 20 something. The pastor, Matt Carter, who might be as much as 30 years old, was beginning a series on the 7 last sayings of Jesus from the cross. Each week of the series will focus on one of the sayings. The worship was led by Andy Melvin this week, although Chris Tomlin leads when he's in town.

Sadly, I remember only one person greeting me at Austin Stone, whereas I was greeted several times at the Presbyterian church. People say that FBC Wimberley is a friendly church. I hope everyone who visits our church goes away with that same impression.

Observations:

The Presbyterian church's traditional service was "high church" to the max. You would not hear any Gaither music here. The choir, accompanied by a very accomplished pipe organist, sang "The Heavens are Telling" from Haydn's Creation Oratorio, which is over 200 years old. Prayers were offered at various times in the service, along with the reciting of the Apostle's Creed. The prayers were read, but they were beautiful and eloquent, well thought-out responses to God's grace. After some of the prayers would be a choral response.

For all the tradition we experienced up to this point, the pastor's sermon that followed was very contemporary and relevant. The service flowed well from beginning to end. Then the pastor dismissed us with a heartfelt benediction. Hear me on this next point: As traditional as this service was, I believe as much worship of God was going on here than at the Austin Stone church I attended on Sunday evening. I don't want to offer much more commentary at this point. Suffice it to say that it was a wonderful Sunday of worship all around! God is good. His love endures forever! Amen.

I look forward to meeting with a couple of worship pastors this week, or at least talking with them by phone. I also will work on goals for music ministry in our own church. I'll be thinking deeply about all things related to music and worship this week. So I would appreciate you lifting me up in prayer.

The People You Meet Part II

After I left Cypress Creek Cafe, I visited some of the local businesses. I met L-----. He managed one of the shops. We talked about some spiritual things. He started by telling me about some Egyptian Sarcophagi that he had seen recently. I told him "that's cool. But do you know what an ossuary is?" "Yes," he said. "What about the recent Discovery Channel special on the ossuary that supposedly contained the bones of Jesus and some of his family?" I asked. He told me he didn't believe in all that mess, and that he's been a Christian for years.

I was glad to hear he's a Christian. At that point, a friend of his, D------, walked in. I introduced myself to him as the minister of music at FBC Wimberley. He asked me if I sang well. "I think so," I said. He said he'd like to come hear me at church one day. You see, he's not in the best of health, and he's planning his funeral. He'd like for me to sing at it, but he's going to listen to me first. Fine. He should.

Then D------ proceeded to tell me about how his mom and dad are buried on the same plot of ground, and that L---- will be buried there too. So R------ and T---- are probably relatives, I surmized. But after talking with them further, I put two and two together. "Do you guys live together?" I asked. In fact, they do. They are two gay men living in the same house. Now some Christians I know would have ended the conversation pretty quickly after that. Not me.

D------- said he'd accepted Christ as His Savior a long time ago. He is also convinced that he was born gay. He's not too fond of what he calls "preachers who bash people about the sin of homosexuality." I don't blame him. But I also told him that I believe the full Word of God. It's plain about the sin of homosexuality. So I'm not going to try to "suger coat" what it actually says. After having said that, I told him I was not there to judge him. After all, look at the kind of people Jesus hung around!

But what if these two guys actually walked in the doors of our church. And they just might, especially if one of them wants to hear me sing. What's going to happen? Will people greet them? I wonder. I want them to change their lifestyle. I can only pray that they do. But would our church be ready for a visit from them? Lord, help us to see people as you see them. And you know what, I probably will sing at this guy's funeral.

The People You Meet Part I

This morning after I took the kids to school I went to Cypress Creek Cafe for some breakfast. As I was walking out I met S---- (I'm protecting names here because I haven't asked his permission to write about him.). I've known S---- a long time, but today we talked about spiritual things. We got on the subject of suicide because a common friend of ours committed suicide a few years back. He asked me if I thought you'd go to heaven if you committed suicide.

What a question! I told him that, while the Bible doesn't teach that you'd go to hell for this, it does teach us to value human life. I continued to tell him that it's a pretty horrific thing to do, considering the loved ones left behind. He wasn't too sure about my answer and said he might have to study the Bible for himself on this subject. That's good. He'll find out that what I said was true. I said the most important question to ask is "what am I going to do with Jesus?"

I happen to know that my friend works all the time. I asked him to consider having a Bible study with me, on another day other than Sunday. I certainly couldn't meet with him on Sunday, and he works a lot on Sunday too. He said he might be interested in that, but also that he'd be interested in continuing the present discussion sometime in the near future. "Good," I said. I hope we get a chance to do so.

What about these people who work every Sunday? What about those who work on Wednesday nights? Could our church provide Bible study opportunities for these people. Or are we going to convey to them, that if they're really interested in our church, they're going to have to switch jobs so that they could join us for worship on Sundays. I got to thinking about this after Reggie McNeal of leadnet.org, discussed this topic at a recent conference. I hope we can soon reach out to those who work on Sundays.

My friend also told me about how he has studied many belief systems, including Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses. This might be why he wasn't sure about my answer concerning suicide. Anway, I hope we do get a chance to talk again soon.

Hyde Park Baptist Church

I visited a choir rehearsal at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin last night. I discovered that no matter what size the choir, the same issues seem to come up: For example, trouble working syncopated rhythms, and "Texan" vowels. This was the sanctuary choir I was observing. 88 were in attendance.

As I walked into the rehearsal room, I was greeted by the music ministry assistant, with a name tag, and a card to fill out. Their music minister, Fred McNab, knows that I'm on sabbatical and will contact me soon for a lunch visit where we can discuss several things. I was handed a rehearsal schedule, and music which was in the same order.

Fred played voice parts from the piano for the first piece they rehearsed - "God of Wonders." This piece, along with the rest of the anthems rehearsed that night, just confirm that choral music in the church is getting more and more contemporary in rhythms and harmonies.

After that first piece, Fred stepped to the podium, where he conducted as two pianists accompanied. I'm not sure if one was playing the voice parts, and the other the piano part. But I thought it was interesting. The choir sang out very well; if anything, they sang out because they knew they wouldn't be heard individually. I'm afraid some people in our church choir are afraid to sing out too much because they're concerned they would be heard above the others.

The rehearsal continued with a fast pace; he did a great job of keeping everyone singing and on track. Unlike me, he did not go over any congregational music. By the way, the orchestra practices simultaneously in the sanctuary, while the choir rehearses in the music room. There was plenty of good humor in the room throughout the rehearsal. At the end Fred presented the college students of his choir a care package for their final exams - pencils, pens, paper, candies, etc. What a great way to recognize them and their efforts.

The choir Vice-President read prayer requests at the end of the rehearsal. Choir members picked up prayer request cards on the way into rehearsal. Individual requests were not taken at the end of rehearsal. The VP closed the rehearsal in a heartfelt prayer for the people mentioned on the cards, continuing with praise to God for inspiring the writers of the great music and lyrics they all just rehearsed.

The rehearsal lasted an hour and a half, with the end result that six different anthems were rehearsed. Also, he played a rehearsal CD on about 4 of the pieces, letting the choir sing along with it. In turn, they rehearsed without the CDs. The time went by quickly, and I look forward to meeting with Fred in the near future.

By the way, they have a very interesting Sunday schedule:

• 8:30 a.m. Traditional Service, in the Worship Center
• 8:30 a.m. Contemporary Service, in the Chapel
• 11:00 a.m. Blended Service, in the Worship Center

*I assume they have one Sunday School time in the middle, but I'll find out later from Fred.

They have a music staff of 10 people. Their music ensembles are:

• Exaltation Choir (11:00 Blended)
• Praise and Worship Team (8:30 Contemporary)
• Orchestra (11:00 Blended)
• Handbells Ensemble
• Chapel Choir (8:30 Traditional)*
• Reflections Choir (Periodic in Blended and Traditional Services)**
• 6 Different Children's Choirs (Periodically on Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings, as well as seasonal musicals.)***

*Interestingly, this choir is made up of high school students.
**This is their junior high choir.
***These choirs are based on age in school.

Maybe I can visit their two diferent styled worship services soon.

Sabbatical

As many of you know, I'm officially on sabbatical as of Tuesday of this week. Last week was a scramble to get ready for this extended period of study and reflection. This morning for 2 hours I went through piles of stuff from my office. Doing this kind of thing helps clear the mind. Also, I called Lake Hills Church in Austin to arrange a time to meet with their worship pastor. Like all of the worship pastors I meet with, I invited him to lunch in order to pick his brain about various things related to music ministry and the church in general. I'm waiting to hear back from him. I'll spend the rest of the day constructing a list of questions to ask the people I meet with. Most questions are my own; others are from our pastor, Mark Bryant.

I'm also reading books about how to do church in the new millennium. This includes not only music, but all aspects of church life. Mark and I have been talking a lot about this recently. So it will be very interesting to see how our church will to meet the challenges before us. Of course, this kind of stuff is on our minds right now for many reasons, not the least of which is that our church will be breaking ground very soon on a new campus! Yeah!