The Village Church and Park Cities Baptist Church

I visited two very different churches on the weekend of June 9-10. On Saturday evening I went to the Village Church in the Highland Village area of northwest Dallas. Of course, I thought of Hilary's book "It Takes a Village." Anyway, the Village Church meets corporately every weekend, and in several small groups during the week.

During the sermon, Pastor Matt Chandler talked about a recent Denton Baptist Association meeting he attended. And then he chuckled when he said something like "some of you are finding out for the first time that we're a Baptist church!" I thought, "Wow." A lot of young families are coming to this church, and don't even realize that it's Baptist. This is not a bad thing, really, because the people seem to know what the church and the gospel is all about. Matt emphasized some mission activities they were involved in during the past week. So they are definitely displaying the love of Christ in their community.

The music was wonderful: The praise team started with a country set of a couple of standard hymns that most everyone knew. The education minister made a funny comment at welcome time: Talking to their worship leader, he said, "Hey, that was country. We're going to have a talk this week." Everyone had a good laugh. After the welcome and announcements, they sang some slower worshipful songs, much like the second slow music sets we have in our early service. Following that, the sermon on Matthew 25 had the theme of using our talents: how much are we using our talents (skills, etc.) for the Lord? No invitation was given, but the pastor closed in a benediction prayer.

Lots of young families and students were here, along with several in their 40s and 50s. After the service, we all exited and were served coffee and a bag of chips. This wasn't your typical church coffee. This stuff was really good!

The next day I went to Park Cities Baptist Church. This congregation has been around since 1939, and is a well-established church. It reminded me of First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, in its magnificent architecture. Also like FPC San Antonio, they had more morning traditional services than contemporary. Park Cities BC has two morning traditional services, and one contemporary service, while FPC San Antonio has three traditional services and one contemporary on Sunday mornings.

Anyway, Park Cities contemporary service looked and sounded very professional. It was in the "Great Hall" of the church; maybe that's their big fellowship hall. I don't know. Senior Pastor Jim Denison preached at this service, although he doesn't do so normally. Next, I went to their traditional service. They had a choir of about 40 people, along with an orchestra of about 18, including strings. This service is one of those "if it ain't in the hymnal, we ain't singing it" kind of services. Their choir anthem was lively and enjoyable; but the congregational singing was pretty slow. Those who know me understand that I like the tempos to be lively in the first music set of our traditional service. The offering was taken at the end, in response to the worship that took place, with a classical trumpet duet, accompanied by their wonderful-sounding pipe organ. Then we were dismissed in prayer.

I am so thankful that my church allows me to visit these congregations. I'm learning a lot and it's refreshing to be a participant, rather than the one who plans the service. And I'm so thankful for all the fine people who are doing the things I normally do back at my home church, FBC Wimberley!

More Thoughts on Blended or Separate Services

If anyone didn't know how I felt about the issue of blended vs. separate a.m. services, I think they know now after reading the last blog entry. Nevertheless, however our church decides to go on this issue, I will put my support there. People are offering different opinions to our pastor. So I pray for him to be able to work through the issue. I'm confident that he will, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, lead our church to make the right decision regarding this issue.

I told someone today that people are concerned about keeping our two services separate because, when we move into our new auditorium, the sheer size of it will make our church look small if we keep meeting separately. So, to keep this from happening, it seems natural to join the two services, so that we have a good crowd that comes closer to filling up the auditorium. My friend offered a possible solution:

He said that we might think about roping off the back sections of the auditorium, and lighting only the front part that contains the people. This way people aren't spread all over the place. As we grow we can gradually remove the ropes, etc.

Another thing that might be good is actually joining the two services for a month, or so, just to celebrate the new facilities. Then we could go back to our normal schedule. Any other ideas? I invite them. Also, if anyone can think of a blended service of 600 to 1000 people that is working well, and is in Texas, let me know. The Directors of Mission that I talked to (check out my last entry) couldn't think of any. So if you can think of one, please let me know. I really want to keep an open mind about this.

Blended Worship or Separate Worship Services

I talked to two Baptist Directors of Mission today. I told them I would be in Dallas this weekend, and asked if they would recommend a church to visit that had a successful blended service, one that was running 600 to 1000 members, or slightly more, in worship. They could not think of a single one. They knew of some smaller congregations that were trying to do a blended service, but were not having much success.

Both of these men agreed that it would be a step backward to join our two a.m. services (traditional and contemporary) into one that is blended. They said our culture demands that we have choices. Ultimately, they thought that people would not be happy with that arrangement because of their varying musical preferences.

I have talked with members of our church who have different opinions as to whether we should try to put our two very different services together. Some say that because of our two Bible Studies that happen concurrently with these two services, our church actually feels like two churches meeting in the same location. These folks complain that they don't know everyone in the church anymore.

Then there are others who, like the directors of mission I mentioned above, say that it would be a mistake to join the two services, and that it would possibly stunt the growth of our church. At the same time, they emphasized that music style is just one component among others that have to work together, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to produce numerical growth.

I have tried to remain neutral on this subject, but it's becoming more difficult. Right now we have a 10:30 service that was very traditional at one time, but is slowly becoming more blended in style. We also offer a contemporary service. As far as the number of people who actually attend these a.m. services, they are about the same in each service. This arrangement seems to be working well at the present time.

As for wanting to know everyone in the church, one director of missions told me that studies have shown that you really can't get to know more than 30 or 40 people anyway. So if we want to grow, we need to stop being concerned about knowing everyone. And is that really a prerequisite of church life, that we all know each other? What is the largest Baptist church you can think of? Now is there any possible way the members could all know each other?

To address this concern, we should probably offer more opportunities for fellowship in which everyone can participate, while still maintaining separate services. Maybe a "dinner on the grounds" every now and then would be nice, or a picnic away from the church some Sunday. It would be interesting to see what happens. I'll bet that people in general would go to the people they already know; i.e. the people who attend their worship service! Oops. I probably should tone it down a bit.

A long time ago I came to the conclusion that people just have different musical tastes. This is not a bad thing at all. We should celebrate our diversity. But to blend traditional and contemporary music into one service, all the while expecting everyone to like the two different kinds of music may not be very realistic. Some seniors, long time members of our church, already feel our traditional service is getting too contemporary for their tastes. And someof those who attend our contemporary service probably wish it were more "edgy" in the music. So I have to ask, why in the world we would want to try and meld these groups together.

I love all of these people who prefer one musical style over another. And I don't think they're being narrow minded just because they don't like certain types of music. I simply recognize that they are individuals who are more comfortable in their worship of Almighty God when they are surrounded with music that moves them, be it contemporary, traditional, or any other style you could imagine.

Finally, let me say that we need to see ourselves as one local church, regardless of the different kinds of worship services we have. Second Baptist Church in Houston is huge, offering 4 or 5 different styles of worship, meeting on multiple sites, and no one thinks of them as being more than one church. Let us just be thankful that we have different kinds of people in our church, and that we have the ability to offer a "palate" of styles when it comes to worshiping the Lord through music.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28, TNIV).

I would appreciate you comments, but you will have to set up a blogger account to be able to leave them. This doesn't mean you have to become a big time blogger; it just means you have to do a few keystrokes to be able to leave comments. You can also email at danstephensmm@yahoo.com. As always, thanks for reading!

Gateway Community Church, Austin, TX

That's where I was today. Gateway Community Church is a seeker church in Austin, Texas. I have a cousin that attends church here. He was raised in the baptist denomination, but enjoys going to church here because of the emphasis on authenticity he finds here. Their Sunday morning services are very intentional about reaching skeptics and seekers in the Austin area. You can tell in the music and the preaching, where the lyrics aren't very theologically deep, and the messages invite people to investigate the claims of Christ.

My cousin Robert told me about some of the changed lives who go to this church, including an atheist who came to know Christ as a result of people ministering to him from this church. The service began with a band singing 3 songs, leading the congregation in worship. It was a high energy experience with a lot of participation. Then the children's pastor shared some announcements, asking for 75 volunteers to help in children's activities this summer. Next, a guy shared a testimony about being real. This was from the heart. He asked some hard hitting questions about authenticity. Next was an offering, with the band playing "Welcome Back," from the 70s television hit "Welcome Back, Cotter." After this a soloist came to the mic and sang a song that led right into the message. The pastor, John Burke, even referenced the song at the end of the sermon.

Even though it was a seeker service, the pastor referenced several verses from the gospels. At the end of the service, there was no invitation, but the pastor closed in prayer. Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier, that announcements were displayed on the screen during the offertory - "Welcome Back." And as the children's pastor was sharing announcements even earlier in the service, specific slides would come up as he shared about the upcoming events.

The church has a great bookstore and coffee shop. This is a very inviting area, where people can visit before and after the service. Here's their weekly schedule:

Each Sunday:
•	Three identical services every Sunday at 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. We have plenty of room at the 9:30 and 12:30 services.
•	Exciting age-appropriate kids programs available for children birth through grade 4 at all three services.
•	Junior High (6th - 8th grade) meets Sunday mornings at 12:30 p.m.
•	High School meets every Wednesday night at 7:15 p.m.
•	Deaf interpretation available during 9:30 a.m. service.

Another cool thing is the blog that people are invited to check out after the messages. At this blog, called "Second Helpings," is a list of discussion questions from the sermon. People can go over the questions by themselves, or in small groups. This particular day, the pastor was beginning a new series called "God in Sandals: What we know about the Heart of God from the life of Jesus." The church's website goes on to describe the series, even giving the titles to the upcoming messages:

Jesus lived among real people with real problems, just like you and me. We can learn much about who God is by looking at how Jesus interacted, responded and lived life among us. Over the next six weeks we’ll take a look at His wisdom, forgiveness, masculinity, creativity, friendship and truth-speaking.

Date	Message
June 3:	Wisdom - John Burke
June 10:	Forgiveness - John Burke
June 17:	Masculinity - John Burke
June 24:	Creativity - John Burke
July 1:	Friendship - Betty Blake Churchill
July 8:	Truth-Speaking - Rick Shurtz

It was a great day of worship. If you are in touch with a skeptic, this is a great church for them to visit. They come in contact with people just like them. The people in this congregation represent people who are at different stages in their walk with Christ, many who are just checking out Christianity for the first time, even those who are struggling with addictions. This church welcomes all kinds of people. Love and grace are felt here. The pastor's brand new book, "No Perfect People Allowed" could be the theme of this congregation.

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.