TXatheist’s Church Survey

Posted by Ir (Helen) on: 05.03.2006 /

TXatheist, who is one of the regular contributors in the blog comments and on the discussion board, visited a church about a month ago and wrote the following comments about it. (I added subheadings)

Txatheist originally posted his comments here on the discussion board.

We’re posting his comments on the blog since this is an outstanding example of the type of survey Off-The-Map is looking for from interested participants.

St. Barnabas

First Impressions

With the spring ahead hour of day-light savings and my wife not feeling 100% it was a good day to go. My son slept in as well so it worked out great as far as timing. I’m an accountant so bear with me if it’s seems data driven. I wonder on what to wear so I wore a button up dress shirt and slacks. I was one of the few, it was jeans, polo shirts or docker pants for the most part. I gotta give them a 5 out of 5 for noticing me and welcoming me. There was only 1 non-white family there of the 60 people. Phil Mallory and the pastor Jeff’s, wife came up and made small talk. (Sorry I forgot her name). Phil even went and got me a order of service because the greeter didn’t. I thought that was very courteous in nature.

The Music and Prayers

The service started and the band played for about 15 minutes. It was good upbeat music and the people seemed to enjoy it. I don’t sing so I just stood silently but noticed a happy atmosphere that the music provided. Then someone got up and spoke about prayer. Oh boy, I thought, and my skepticism kicked in. A kid fell just before church started, split his skin and got stitches at the hospital. Normal accident, imo. The speaker went on to thank god for the quick recovery and minor nature of the event. I just kept thinking why didn’t god spare the kid the accident but we can move past that. He mentioned the persecution of Christians in china and I agreed it’s bad so we all got the sense of freedom we have in the US. We then divided the room into left and right side where we were to pray out loud for the soldiers in Iraq on one side and for Aids victims on the other. The room was very quiet for a request for out loud praying to happen. We then prayed for the “lost”. Jim H has broken down my barrier to this term so I understood what they were doing. I’m lost according to them and that’s how they phrase anyone not accepting Jesus. The pastor then split the room into quarters and we prayed again out loud for various things including the people who cleaned the church prior to the meeting today. Again it was pretty much silent so I don’t get the request for vocal prayers.

Announcements

Jeff the pastor then began to share his meeting he’d had with fellow members, Share Jesus without fear. I’m guessing this is how to introduce Jesus into daily life. He then made the generic general announcements about events, both past and upcoming. He mentioned they had a prayer room and highly encouraged people to pray for 1 hour as they’d be amazed at how fast 1 hour of praying could go by. He said it is the most productive they we can do, pray. I guess that surprised me but I think the guys cleaning the church would rather have another body helping than someone in the prayer room praying the church gets cleaned.

Personal Testimonies

They then asked for personal testimonies and I thought I was going to hear something bizarre. I was pleasantly surprised at a women’s confession of gratitude for people helping out with the Dream House. It’s basically food for the poor and me and my wife contribute to the Austin Food bank and we realize what a wonderful thing that is. She was very grateful so it touched me on a personal level.

The Message

Next came the bible verse of the day, Habakkuk 1:1-11. I didn’t write it down and actually never heard of this book in the bible. Anyway, the whole idea was god tests us and asks us to endure by giving us something that is challenging. It was leaning toward working with someone who is challenging, a partner, boss, or difficult third party that makes cooperation difficult. I think the guy, Lane Skyles, did a superb job. I’ve taken Toastmaster classes and this guy was good. He spoke loud, articulated his words, made relevant hand gestures and used the whole stage to keep our attention. He made it relative to today with normal situations. He definitely earned a 5 out of 5.

He did make some points I didn’t care for. I believe its Hab 1:6 that talks about the Babylonians and they worshipped other gods making them evil. He followed up they also did acts that made them evil but I didn’t care for the idea that simply worshipping other gods makes one evil. He used a parable of a friend related to the verse. A lady was having a very hard time at work and gave her notice. Her husband was diligently searching but couldn’t find work. Her last day of work, a Friday was coming. Her husband got a job the Monday after that Friday. His point was god waits til the last hour to provide for us. I really didn’t think quitting a job without my spouse having one was a good idea so I personally don’t suggest hoping god will realize the urgency and step in when I need a job.

Now remember I’m in TX but grew up in central Illinois. His next parable was waiting til the last minute also. He went to a baseball game a few years ago and Mark McQuire was up to bat against the Astros with 2 outs in the top of the ninth. The pitcher Wagner threw 2 strikes to McQuire and he didn’t flinch at the pitches, 3 pitch was put out of the park. He said the point was to wait, be patient and wait on things to come like the job for the family above. As a Cardinals fan I just about jumped up and screamed Yeah Cardinals but held back. His point he said that day was god wants you to learn from bad situations you have to endure. Another great message related to today.

Communion

Finally Communion came and the 6 volunteers got theirs. Then the congregation got theirs. I was a little hungry but didn’t partake :) We finished off with music and went on our own separate ways.

Off-The-Map is looking for people like TXatheist who are willing to take the time to visit churches and complete thoughtful and and honest surveys about them: see Please Survey Our Church

We also appreciate pastors who read and are willing to respond to the surveys.

Jeff, the pastor of St Barnabas, read TXatheist’s comments and posted the following response (which is on the discussion board here):

Thanks for coming to our worship service. I wish I had spotted you so I could have greeted you more personally, but I’m glad you met Phil and my wife (Barbara.)

I also enjoyed reading your impressions. Everything at church seems so clear to me because I am so used to it; so, it was really helpful to see a detailed description of things from the viewpoint of a first time seeker/visitor.

I hope your child is feeling better.

If you would like a fuller explanation of the content of the Christian faith as we understand it, I invite you to our Alpha course in the Fall. It’s exactly for people filled with questions and objections and seeking a comprehensive presentation. It’s also a venue in which all questions are welcomed, and all viewpoints are honored. If you’re interested, Alpha has a good website at www.Alphausa.org.

Thanks again for visiting, and I wish for you many wonderful discoveries in the course of your search.

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