Sundays 15 and 22 of June
If you have followed my vacation digitally - you might have noticed that I didn't share my Sunday church experience the last two weeks. I did attend worship. On the 15th, I even went twice. Basically - these last two are more sensitive. We were visiting the actually churches that family members go to - thus I need more diplomacy.
The good news is that both Mount Pleasant Prebysterian Church in Charleston, SC and OakHills Church, Journey Campus in San Antonio, TX were great worship experiences.
First: Seacoast in Charleston.
On the 15th, my Sunday started by going to an early worship at Seacoast. It's a large famous church. Last year I attended their Sunday night service. Loved it except didn't connect well with the guest preacher by video. This time was similar. Guest preacher this year was one of their associate pastors. The message was okay. Themed around the movie about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Point was we are created for social interaction and there was a simple challenge to connect with others. The whole service was very professional. Good song leading. Great lighting. Everything great. But, for me, it lacked something. Don't know what. Maybe just too big.
Second: Mount Pleasant Presbyterian in Charleston.
After leaving Seacoast in a hurry, we made it to Mount Pleasant Presbyterian in Charleston. This is my sister's church. I gave a mixed review last year. Too formal, but great sermon. This year we went to their "contemporary" service. They've got some work to do on it. The mood isn't right. But the songleader was good. And the Associate Pastor in charge of the service DID have good feel. His leadership helped me worship well. The preaching didn't work on a couple of levels. (1) It was live videoed in from the "main" worship. Very formal. And the mood clashed as did the way the sermon was delivered. (2) The preacher herself was okay. She's a recent seminary grad is my guess. And she preached like it. I saw a lot of potential. She had a few really good moments and got the point of the passage correct (which is tricky in the book of Ruth). I think in time, she'll be a great preacher.
If she happens to read this... just relax and talk to us like we are having coffee. That will be better than the best "read" sermon.
Third: OakHills, Journey Campus in San Antonio.
Max Lucado and Randy Frazee make this church famous. Neither was around Sunday. This worship service was great from beginning to end. They need work on "mood setting" in the parking lot. And the preacher (the campus pastor) could have used a little more focus. His sermon was a call to read Scripture and let God (through it) grow us. I didn't think he tied it well to the Scripture and I can't for the life of me remember the passage he used... which is sort of the problem. It felt like he USED the Bible rather than allowing it to do what he was asking us to do and let the Bible examine us. But the whole worship service cultivated/curated the spirit and presence of God very well for me. Thanks for paying attention to mood and details.
I love worshiping with other Christians when I am on vacation. These thoughts are more critical than they need to be. But it's not only a worship experience for me, it's also my profession. I can't help myself. And in case you are wondering - am I think harsh on our services at ICB? Yes. I am never satisfied. :D And I have yet to decide if I think that is a spiritual gift or a spiritual curse.
The good news is that both Mount Pleasant Prebysterian Church in Charleston, SC and OakHills Church, Journey Campus in San Antonio, TX were great worship experiences.
First: Seacoast in Charleston.
On the 15th, my Sunday started by going to an early worship at Seacoast. It's a large famous church. Last year I attended their Sunday night service. Loved it except didn't connect well with the guest preacher by video. This time was similar. Guest preacher this year was one of their associate pastors. The message was okay. Themed around the movie about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Point was we are created for social interaction and there was a simple challenge to connect with others. The whole service was very professional. Good song leading. Great lighting. Everything great. But, for me, it lacked something. Don't know what. Maybe just too big.
Second: Mount Pleasant Presbyterian in Charleston.
After leaving Seacoast in a hurry, we made it to Mount Pleasant Presbyterian in Charleston. This is my sister's church. I gave a mixed review last year. Too formal, but great sermon. This year we went to their "contemporary" service. They've got some work to do on it. The mood isn't right. But the songleader was good. And the Associate Pastor in charge of the service DID have good feel. His leadership helped me worship well. The preaching didn't work on a couple of levels. (1) It was live videoed in from the "main" worship. Very formal. And the mood clashed as did the way the sermon was delivered. (2) The preacher herself was okay. She's a recent seminary grad is my guess. And she preached like it. I saw a lot of potential. She had a few really good moments and got the point of the passage correct (which is tricky in the book of Ruth). I think in time, she'll be a great preacher.
If she happens to read this... just relax and talk to us like we are having coffee. That will be better than the best "read" sermon.
Third: OakHills, Journey Campus in San Antonio.
Max Lucado and Randy Frazee make this church famous. Neither was around Sunday. This worship service was great from beginning to end. They need work on "mood setting" in the parking lot. And the preacher (the campus pastor) could have used a little more focus. His sermon was a call to read Scripture and let God (through it) grow us. I didn't think he tied it well to the Scripture and I can't for the life of me remember the passage he used... which is sort of the problem. It felt like he USED the Bible rather than allowing it to do what he was asking us to do and let the Bible examine us. But the whole worship service cultivated/curated the spirit and presence of God very well for me. Thanks for paying attention to mood and details.
I love worshiping with other Christians when I am on vacation. These thoughts are more critical than they need to be. But it's not only a worship experience for me, it's also my profession. I can't help myself. And in case you are wondering - am I think harsh on our services at ICB? Yes. I am never satisfied. :D And I have yet to decide if I think that is a spiritual gift or a spiritual curse.
