Grace Chapel

We've had quite a break from the tour, but we're trying to get back in the swing of things.  This week was Grace Chapel out in Leiper's Fork.  The main heading on the website sums it all up: "Following the Lead of the Holy Spirit."

Ashley's View: First off, I'm the slacker here.  I'm tempted to make the Tour De Faith contingent on rainy days or cold, dreary non-holiday weather.  It's so hard for me to want to spend a gorgeous Sunday morning/afternoon cooped up in a sanctuary and not outdoors!

So...this service.  Pretty drive out there, and pretty, pretty people.  This was a very attractive church!  My first impression was good grief I'm at a concert.  The music was LOUD.  Praise and worship was a good 40 minutes.  It felt like going to the movies and previews lasted forever.  Obviously I didn't really get into the music. There is this perfect mix of old and new that I like.  Just going on old hymns with 16 verses and a hard to follow tune is not my favorite.  But neither is the other side of the coin--new songs that also have hard to follow tunes and have one whole verse of just "Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o, Oh-o-o-o-o..."  I guess I like the pairing of the two together to bring out the best of both worlds--a new twist on the old classics.  That's what I truly enjoy the most.

On to the sermon/college lecture.  I didn't agree at first--it was about not going out and acting and asking God to bless it, but waiting on Him to tell you what to do.  That's a pet peeve of mine in my work--people saying they are just waiting on God to guide them, and use this as a justification to sit on their ass and collect unemployment for two years.  I believe you need to act.  But...the more he talked and went over the PowerPoint (which was not a PowerPoint...it was his long notes.  I've learned PPs are supposed to be very short and sweet, just highlighting the points, not the whole lecture!) the more I realized we were more on the same page than I realized.  We just worded it differently.  His point was to be open to God's will and receptive to what he wants.  That he will speak to you when you are seeking and truly listening.  That's all well and good.  I just believe that if God is in your heart, and you are truly seeking His will, then go ahead and act and listen to that peace in your heart.  If what you are doing is pleasing to God, you'll have a peace about it.  If you don't, then stop.  But don't just sit stagnant and wait for a push.  This is an easy way to cop out of truly living.  I believe that God is with us all the way--and we can act and seek His blessing and that's okay--because if we have a right heart to begin with, then it's not like we're asking him to bless the brothel we just set up.

Last thing that unfortunately did not give a good impression.  As we were being guided to the sanctuary, we were pointed to the "family room"--a room off to the side where you could watch with your kids if they were too loud.  I thought that was a great idea.  I also noticed there weren't any kids in the service (although there were a lot of young couples who I assumed had small children).  Cue awkwardness.  The lady next to me let me know again about the "family room" and that we can go in there if the girls were loud.  And then she let me know "they will tell you to go in there if they are noisy."  Yikes.  Okay...is this being taped for TV?  I understand kids being disruptive in service, but I kindof like the thought that we are all welcome in service, no matter what age.  When Ellie started blowing raspberries a little too loudly, Nathan got up to take her out...just as an usher was rushing toward him to escort him out.  Seemed a little extreme to me, and was not quite the welcoming warm fuzzies we'd hope from being visitors in a church.  It seemed that was the biggest thing people focused on since we were new--was that we didn't get the memo about kids not being welcome in service.  Sorry guys--when I'm going to a church I don't know with people I don't know, I'm not going to just plop my kids in a foreign environment with strangers for an hour while I figure out about the place I'm at.  If you're going to accept me, you've got to be okay with the whole package--kids included.  We're a group until we're comfortable to branch out.  All that being said, this was in no way a scary place for kids--but knowing my girls' ages and kiddo sickness I just didn't want to deal with putting them in a foreign place, no matter how nice it was.

Bottom line...this was a nice non-denominational church...but not the most new-person friendly.  Hmm--if Judson and Grace Chapel got together, it'd be perfect--we get the newbies and the regulars!  In comparison with some of the other non-denominational churches, Grace Chapel was much better--not as outwardly emotional but more of a learning experience, which we liked.  But still not completely what we're looking for.  Although I'm not sure what that is....