Week #8
After weeks of visiting small churches, yesterday was a real contrast. We attended Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We went to the 11:00 service which, I would guess, was attended by at least a couple thousand people.
Several interesting things about this congregation:
-It meets in a converted indoor shopping mall in a nondescript neighborhood.
-There are no signs on the street indicating that it's a church. Caryn and I decided that that must be intentional.
-The service was filled with 20 and 30 somethings, with a smattering of older folks (like us!).
-The service is conducted "in the round". The platform is in the center of the auditorium, with four overhead screens directed to the four quadrants of the auditorium. When the pastor preaches, he kind of walks around in a circle so as to speak directly to everyone. But inevitably, you spend plenty of time looking at his back!
-The worship was quite unlike anything I'd ever seen--not exactly contemporary, not exactly traditional, but thoughtful, reverent and wonderful. The worship team was composed of a string quartet, along with a single worship leader. The silent prayer time (which replaced the traditional pastoral prayer) was accompanied by Mendelssohn! We sang a hymn, a praise song or two, and Mars Hill's own version of the "Lord Bless you and Keep You" at the end.
-In this era of "raised hands worship", almost no one among all those thousands raised their hands even as we sang an incredibly moving version of Michael W. Smith's "Alleluia (For the Lord God Almighty Reigns)"--I'm still trying to figure out what, if anything, that meant.
-Nothing was forced--nothing was strained--no one was trying to "sell" anything. It was wonderfully low-key and yet spiritually intense and God-focused.
-The message was given by Mars Hill's pastor, Rob Bell. Rob never strayed very far from his text, which was from I John 4. It was about the "discernment of spirits" and was one of the best teachings I've heard for a long time. It was clear, concise, funny and challenging all at once. All of our Sunday worship experiences have been good, but this was the first one in which I had the sense that the message was for me personally. It was a huge blessing.
Back to Connecticut this week. Next Sunday we'll be up at Pilgrim Pines, and then our leave will be over. It's been wonderful, but I'll be more than ready to get back in the saddle again. I hope that your summer has been as full and as rich as mine has been.