Two years / Twenty squared / My church experience in Waterloo
This post marks a couple of milestones. First and foremost, it marks my
two-year LJ anniversary to the minute. Secondly, it marks entry #400. And,
thirdly, it marks the first time that I have posted via email.
For this post, I thought that I would post on a topic that I have wanted to
write about for some time, but never got around to. It's the story of my church
experience in Waterloo. It's a good read, in case you've ever wondered just what
I do on a Sunday morning and my search for the right church.
The search
In 1A, I had no idea where I wanted to attend church; I knew that I needed to go
somewhere and that I wanted the fellowship and friendships that come from
attending church, but I didn't know where to turn. On the Saturday of my Frosh
Week, I was lucky enough to overhear Pete mention church, so the next day I
walked with him and James M to Knox Presbyterian Church. The service was more
ritualistic than I would have liked and I wasn't quite a fan of the preachers.
Anyways, I didn't return to that church.
(Ha! During the service we were given a minute or two to walk around the
sanctuary and greet people. It seemed like everyone was saying, "Peace be with
you" to each other, so I started saying that to everyone. Some people tried to
start conversations with me since I was new, but I was going to follow the
pattern, saying "Peace be with you" and trying to greet as many people as possible!)
The next week I went with Jenn B (and Phil and Christine K) to Lincoln Road
Chapel. It was a good service and we got to the pastors home with the other
university-age students for a sub sandwich lunch. It was tasty, but I didn't
really connect with many people there. I would have liked to have gone back,
but I didn't want to burden Jenn with driving me every week. (Also, she was a
don and wasn't supposed to leave the college when she was on-duty.)
Community Fellowship
The third week I attended Community Fellowship Church (CFC). I liked the upbeat
music, the pastor was interesting, the church membership was fairly young, the
church was Baptist (which is what I had been raised as), and there was a free
bus that went there from the SLC.
I continued attending there for the remainder of 1A, usually with Phil (and I
often saw WCF friends there). I went during 1B with Alex S and Dave C; Alex and
I went on a church canoe trip on the Grand River, which was really neat. I also
attended a class called "Discovery Diamond", which allowed me to find out about
the organizational structure and history of the church. I was very impressed
with spirit of volunteerism in the church and with how much the church had grown
in a short period of time.
However, towards the end of 1B I wasn't feeling quite as happy about the church.
When I visited during my second co-op term, I confirmed my feelings: the church
was not meeting my needs. I felt that the sermon was more of a self-help
session than a theological message. The pastor - to be bluntly honest -
reminded me of Dr. Phil in how he approached self-improvement in his sermons.
Many of his ideas - while quite valid - were definitely not based on the Bible.
Yes, it is important to improve ourselves and to become better people; it's
also important to learn more about God and receive the teachings of an expert in
the Bible.
Another concern of mine was its location; without a car, it was impossible to
attend any event that wasn't held on Sunday mornings. The music was sometimes
too loud for my ears and I just wasn't "digging" a lot of the songs. The
service was becoming more flashy and less about the message. And, lastly, the
university-age group seemed to be incompetently run and I wasn't meeting people
my age; in fact, the only people I ever talked with there were the people that I
knew from WCF.
I shared my concerns about the church with some camp friends at Christmastime in
order to get their feedback, and I received one particularly encouraging
exhortation to keep going to the church and give it another chance. So I did.
In 2A, I went to Community Fellowship again. Phil and a lot of my WCF friends
(including maroon_lagoon) were going there; I found the church to
be okay and had a good time talking with my WCF friends before and after the
service. I continued to attend in 2B since Phil, Pete, and maroon_lagoon were attending. Towards the end of 2B, I decided that I
would stop attending Community Fellowship and start looking for a new church,
since my aforementioned concerns still seemed to persist.
The search (again)
In W05 and S05, I tried out a few churches: I went to Waterloo Mennonite
Brethren (WMB) a few times with rue_spuc, slatepelican, and simplejourney. I went to Elevation twice with ext_1181. I went to Lincoln Road Chapel twice with Ashley and Ellen.
Elevation never was much of an option for me; Pastor Brandon didnt really
connect with me and he wasn't touching on topics that I felt reached me. Phil
wanted to keep on going to Lincoln Road, but he knew that it would be tricky to
get a ride there on a regular basis.
By the end of 3A (S05), I had decided that I was going to start attending WMB
weekly in the fall. The church had just what I wanted: a biblically solid
message, a congregation that was unified, fewer members (making it easier to get
connected to other people), and great music. They sometimes have 15 musicians
on stage playing varying instruments - piano, organ, drums, guitar, trumpet,
trombone, violin, flute, and so on. It's amazing to listen to!
The pastors have great sermons that are very focused on God and they are not
afraid to tackle difficult issues; at the same time, the messages are relevant
and I feel that I'm learning a lot when they speak.
Lastly, one of the most important things I'm looking for right now - a
university-age group - is alive and thriving in the church. They have a free
lunch after the service most weeks, and they provide a free shuttle to and from
WLU and UW. I'm hoping to become involved in the group and to meet some of my
peers there; I attended the group two Sundays ago and had a good time.
One thing that people ask me is, "Rodney, you're a Baptist - so why are you
attending a Mennonite Brethren church?" Well, although I have been brought up
as a Baptist and am very much supportive of my denomination, I am not
necessarily going to pin myself down to any one particular church. I want to
attend a church that has the things I listed above and that holds to the same
beliefs that I do (which will, most likely, be a Baptist or otherwise
conservative, evangelical church). WMB does just that, so I have no qualms
about attending the church.
Besides, it's not so much what denomination you attend - the thing that matters
is having faith in God and attending a church that holds true to the Bible.
Independently of me, Phil decided that he would also start attending WMB. (His
decision caught me off-guard, actually.) We've been going to WMB for the past
month and intend to keep going there until graduation. Two of our closer WCF
friends (Ashley and Ellen) attend there, and other WCFers seem to randomly show
up each week.
If CFC has a special event or if a friend of mine wants to go to the Sunday
morning service there, then I will gladly accompany them and take in the
service. However, beyond that (or maybe CFC offering me money :P ), I have no
plans to return to the church.
So that's where I'm at in my church journey. Writing this entry has been
somewhat exhausting, but I think that it's a good summary of my experiences at
church and where I'm at right now. If you ever want to come to WMB with me,
you're always free to join me.
two-year LJ anniversary to the minute. Secondly, it marks entry #400. And,
thirdly, it marks the first time that I have posted via email.
For this post, I thought that I would post on a topic that I have wanted to
write about for some time, but never got around to. It's the story of my church
experience in Waterloo. It's a good read, in case you've ever wondered just what
I do on a Sunday morning and my search for the right church.
The search
In 1A, I had no idea where I wanted to attend church; I knew that I needed to go
somewhere and that I wanted the fellowship and friendships that come from
attending church, but I didn't know where to turn. On the Saturday of my Frosh
Week, I was lucky enough to overhear Pete mention church, so the next day I
walked with him and James M to Knox Presbyterian Church. The service was more
ritualistic than I would have liked and I wasn't quite a fan of the preachers.
Anyways, I didn't return to that church.
(Ha! During the service we were given a minute or two to walk around the
sanctuary and greet people. It seemed like everyone was saying, "Peace be with
you" to each other, so I started saying that to everyone. Some people tried to
start conversations with me since I was new, but I was going to follow the
pattern, saying "Peace be with you" and trying to greet as many people as possible!)
The next week I went with Jenn B (and Phil and Christine K) to Lincoln Road
Chapel. It was a good service and we got to the pastors home with the other
university-age students for a sub sandwich lunch. It was tasty, but I didn't
really connect with many people there. I would have liked to have gone back,
but I didn't want to burden Jenn with driving me every week. (Also, she was a
don and wasn't supposed to leave the college when she was on-duty.)
Community Fellowship
The third week I attended Community Fellowship Church (CFC). I liked the upbeat
music, the pastor was interesting, the church membership was fairly young, the
church was Baptist (which is what I had been raised as), and there was a free
bus that went there from the SLC.
I continued attending there for the remainder of 1A, usually with Phil (and I
often saw WCF friends there). I went during 1B with Alex S and Dave C; Alex and
I went on a church canoe trip on the Grand River, which was really neat. I also
attended a class called "Discovery Diamond", which allowed me to find out about
the organizational structure and history of the church. I was very impressed
with spirit of volunteerism in the church and with how much the church had grown
in a short period of time.
However, towards the end of 1B I wasn't feeling quite as happy about the church.
When I visited during my second co-op term, I confirmed my feelings: the church
was not meeting my needs. I felt that the sermon was more of a self-help
session than a theological message. The pastor - to be bluntly honest -
reminded me of Dr. Phil in how he approached self-improvement in his sermons.
Many of his ideas - while quite valid - were definitely not based on the Bible.
Yes, it is important to improve ourselves and to become better people; it's
also important to learn more about God and receive the teachings of an expert in
the Bible.
Another concern of mine was its location; without a car, it was impossible to
attend any event that wasn't held on Sunday mornings. The music was sometimes
too loud for my ears and I just wasn't "digging" a lot of the songs. The
service was becoming more flashy and less about the message. And, lastly, the
university-age group seemed to be incompetently run and I wasn't meeting people
my age; in fact, the only people I ever talked with there were the people that I
knew from WCF.
I shared my concerns about the church with some camp friends at Christmastime in
order to get their feedback, and I received one particularly encouraging
exhortation to keep going to the church and give it another chance. So I did.
In 2A, I went to Community Fellowship again. Phil and a lot of my WCF friends
(including maroon_lagoon) were going there; I found the church to
be okay and had a good time talking with my WCF friends before and after the
service. I continued to attend in 2B since Phil, Pete, and maroon_lagoon were attending. Towards the end of 2B, I decided that I
would stop attending Community Fellowship and start looking for a new church,
since my aforementioned concerns still seemed to persist.
The search (again)
In W05 and S05, I tried out a few churches: I went to Waterloo Mennonite
Brethren (WMB) a few times with rue_spuc, slatepelican, and simplejourney. I went to Elevation twice with ext_1181. I went to Lincoln Road Chapel twice with Ashley and Ellen.
Elevation never was much of an option for me; Pastor Brandon didnt really
connect with me and he wasn't touching on topics that I felt reached me. Phil
wanted to keep on going to Lincoln Road, but he knew that it would be tricky to
get a ride there on a regular basis.
By the end of 3A (S05), I had decided that I was going to start attending WMB
weekly in the fall. The church had just what I wanted: a biblically solid
message, a congregation that was unified, fewer members (making it easier to get
connected to other people), and great music. They sometimes have 15 musicians
on stage playing varying instruments - piano, organ, drums, guitar, trumpet,
trombone, violin, flute, and so on. It's amazing to listen to!
The pastors have great sermons that are very focused on God and they are not
afraid to tackle difficult issues; at the same time, the messages are relevant
and I feel that I'm learning a lot when they speak.
Lastly, one of the most important things I'm looking for right now - a
university-age group - is alive and thriving in the church. They have a free
lunch after the service most weeks, and they provide a free shuttle to and from
WLU and UW. I'm hoping to become involved in the group and to meet some of my
peers there; I attended the group two Sundays ago and had a good time.
One thing that people ask me is, "Rodney, you're a Baptist - so why are you
attending a Mennonite Brethren church?" Well, although I have been brought up
as a Baptist and am very much supportive of my denomination, I am not
necessarily going to pin myself down to any one particular church. I want to
attend a church that has the things I listed above and that holds to the same
beliefs that I do (which will, most likely, be a Baptist or otherwise
conservative, evangelical church). WMB does just that, so I have no qualms
about attending the church.
Besides, it's not so much what denomination you attend - the thing that matters
is having faith in God and attending a church that holds true to the Bible.
Independently of me, Phil decided that he would also start attending WMB. (His
decision caught me off-guard, actually.) We've been going to WMB for the past
month and intend to keep going there until graduation. Two of our closer WCF
friends (Ashley and Ellen) attend there, and other WCFers seem to randomly show
up each week.
If CFC has a special event or if a friend of mine wants to go to the Sunday
morning service there, then I will gladly accompany them and take in the
service. However, beyond that (or maybe CFC offering me money :P ), I have no
plans to return to the church.
So that's where I'm at in my church journey. Writing this entry has been
somewhat exhausting, but I think that it's a good summary of my experiences at
church and where I'm at right now. If you ever want to come to WMB with me,
you're always free to join me.