Church #1

We tried Northlands church yesterday in our quest to find a church community. A friend of Gabrielle's goes to this church so we knew that we had a willing teenager. The service started at 10:15 and they had about an hour of singing. I didn't know most of the songs but they were all praise songs led by a small band. The entire pastoral staff seem to be from South Africa. We spoke to one of them before the service and he seemed like a down to earth guy. The sermon was gospel centered but not very meaty or substantial. What struck me the most about this church were the friendly people. We had all sorts of people come up to us and introduce themselves. I'm guessing that there were maybe 150 people there. The congregation was pretty diverse. I spotted black, hispanic, Indian and spoke with a Russian woman. This is always a positive in our family.

Being a list lover, here goes the positives.
1)Gabrielle likes it
2)Friendly small congregation- easier to get plugged in
3)Diverse
4)Full of youth
5)Not a traditional church. It's a store front!

The negatives
1)A little too charasmatic for my taste but this appeals to George. He likes when they talk about fire and the holy spirit!
2)The children's ministry doesn't seem too strong. I'll have to check it out.
3) Music was a little shallow.

All in all it was a good experience. Gabrielle was happy that we liked it. Trying to find a church for her to plug into is key. She needs to be surrounded by a community that loves and accepts her. Right now, she's our priority.

I'm not sure if we'll visit another church next week or if we'll go back to Northlands. I was proud of myself because I really tried to keep an open mind and left my overly critical mind at home. I've had to realize that finding a community that we all feel comfortable in will be hard. But the hardest realization is that I am the hardest to please.