WARNING: Long post ahead!
I don't mind change, and in general moving isn't all that bad. What I don't like besides the obvous friends and family left behind, is having to find a new church. I hate church shopping. That being said, God has really blessed me in my church shopping experiences. When I was looking in Bend I attended one service at 1stB and walked out feeling like I had found a home. I had no desire to leave there, but I moved to Corvallis and so the search was on once again. Crista went to FCF, so it was logical that I try there. After one Sunday I didn't want to be at home there but felt like God was going to direct me there anyway. I'm SO glad He did! Now I find myself searching yet again for a "home".
Portland has been extra tough for me because I grew up here and had an easy fall back church. That coupled with going to Corvallis every weekend for several months, holidays where I was with family, and just not knowing where to start has dragged out the search for a while. But, now that Stacy's back up here, I'm moved into my place, and I'm a bit more settled, I have to begin the search in ernest.
Stacy had been going to Imago Dei and I'd heard a lot about it, so I went there for a few weeks. It's a great church and I realy enjoyed the preaching, but it's huge! They have three services and meet in a high school auditorium, and they're all full. I get the feeling that you have to be really intentional if you want to get involved, and I don't like being able to walk into and out of a church without being greeted by anyone. I want to know I missed my friends at church because they weren't there and not because I just couldn't see them or they were in another service. So the search continued...
Two weekends ago a friend spoke at my home church and Stess was in town, so we along with Stacy went there. It was nice to be back, but I haven't felt the need or desire to go back there and have been assured by many that I don't need to feel obligated to return. So, though I enjoyed the time, the search continued...
This last weekend I looked up two churches that I'd heard of, the Pearl (http://pearlchurch.org) and Mosaic (http://www.mosaicportland.org). The Pearl is in the Pearl district, shocking, I know, and close to Stacy. I know the worship intern from Tadmor as well as Evangel, so I was interested in going. Their web site said they followed some of the liturgy which I figured would be interesting. Mosaic was suggested by Sandra and I'm not sure how she heard about it.
They both have am services on Sunday and Mosaic has a 5:30pm service. This week they also happened to have a young adults/college worship service following their evening service. So, Stacy and I figured we'd go to the Pearl in the am and Mosaic in the evening. We left the additional worship service up in the air. I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to something if I didn't like the church. And, since it was daylight savings, we opted for the later service at the Pearl.
The Pearl meets in the upstairs of a cool building downtown. We took the street car there. It's a small setting, probably just over 100 people in a smaller room. They do have two services which keeps it that way. I saw my old pastor's son in the hallway, but he was talking to someone else, so I didn't say hi. That was positive for me though, someone I knew. The worship intern wasn't there, but the worship was good. There was a guest speaker who did a good job, but I'd like to go back when the pastor is preaching. There were a lot of young people there, several young families, and a few grey hairs as well. All in all I enjoyed the service and though the community readings reminded me of reading from the Hymnal in elementary school, it was overal a good experience. Stess is coming next week and we're going to go again.
So, having gone to the Pearl and feeling pretty good about it, we went to Mosaic last night. I wasn't too hopeful. I kinda felt that Pearl would be an interesting adventure but I went anyway. Mosaic had a lot of younger people, partly due to the following service, but that was nice anyway. There were several young ladies seated behind us. The worship was great! It was upbeat and though I didn't know all the songs, I really enjoyed it. The pastor spoke and he did a good job. He made all his points and didn't go off on tangents very often. At some point during the service, I'm not sure when, I had that sense. The sense that I'd found my "home." What a relief!
After the service I told Stacy I wanted to stay for the later service. She did too! We both agreed that we felt at home and had found a happy middle between overwhelmingly large, and obviously small. Between the two services we enjoyed coffee and looked at the different small groups they have. There's a Bible study that meets at 8pm and is on the west side, so for me, who works until at least 7:30, that's awesome! We also found ourselves greeted by several people and I felt very welcome. It wasn't just the welcome committee who wanted to say hello and welcome, but people our own age who wanted to get to know us.
The second service was great with worship songs that I knew! All in all, it was a great day, both morning and evening. I'm thinking I may go to both churches and make Sunday's a great day! For Stacy's imput check out "My Addictions"
(Looking back, I should have known by the location. It shares the parking lot with a great steak place!)
I don't mind change, and in general moving isn't all that bad. What I don't like besides the obvous friends and family left behind, is having to find a new church. I hate church shopping. That being said, God has really blessed me in my church shopping experiences. When I was looking in Bend I attended one service at 1stB and walked out feeling like I had found a home. I had no desire to leave there, but I moved to Corvallis and so the search was on once again. Crista went to FCF, so it was logical that I try there. After one Sunday I didn't want to be at home there but felt like God was going to direct me there anyway. I'm SO glad He did! Now I find myself searching yet again for a "home".
Portland has been extra tough for me because I grew up here and had an easy fall back church. That coupled with going to Corvallis every weekend for several months, holidays where I was with family, and just not knowing where to start has dragged out the search for a while. But, now that Stacy's back up here, I'm moved into my place, and I'm a bit more settled, I have to begin the search in ernest.
Stacy had been going to Imago Dei and I'd heard a lot about it, so I went there for a few weeks. It's a great church and I realy enjoyed the preaching, but it's huge! They have three services and meet in a high school auditorium, and they're all full. I get the feeling that you have to be really intentional if you want to get involved, and I don't like being able to walk into and out of a church without being greeted by anyone. I want to know I missed my friends at church because they weren't there and not because I just couldn't see them or they were in another service. So the search continued...
Two weekends ago a friend spoke at my home church and Stess was in town, so we along with Stacy went there. It was nice to be back, but I haven't felt the need or desire to go back there and have been assured by many that I don't need to feel obligated to return. So, though I enjoyed the time, the search continued...
This last weekend I looked up two churches that I'd heard of, the Pearl (http://pearlchurch.org) and Mosaic (http://www.mosaicportland.org). The Pearl is in the Pearl district, shocking, I know, and close to Stacy. I know the worship intern from Tadmor as well as Evangel, so I was interested in going. Their web site said they followed some of the liturgy which I figured would be interesting. Mosaic was suggested by Sandra and I'm not sure how she heard about it.
They both have am services on Sunday and Mosaic has a 5:30pm service. This week they also happened to have a young adults/college worship service following their evening service. So, Stacy and I figured we'd go to the Pearl in the am and Mosaic in the evening. We left the additional worship service up in the air. I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to something if I didn't like the church. And, since it was daylight savings, we opted for the later service at the Pearl.
The Pearl meets in the upstairs of a cool building downtown. We took the street car there. It's a small setting, probably just over 100 people in a smaller room. They do have two services which keeps it that way. I saw my old pastor's son in the hallway, but he was talking to someone else, so I didn't say hi. That was positive for me though, someone I knew. The worship intern wasn't there, but the worship was good. There was a guest speaker who did a good job, but I'd like to go back when the pastor is preaching. There were a lot of young people there, several young families, and a few grey hairs as well. All in all I enjoyed the service and though the community readings reminded me of reading from the Hymnal in elementary school, it was overal a good experience. Stess is coming next week and we're going to go again.
So, having gone to the Pearl and feeling pretty good about it, we went to Mosaic last night. I wasn't too hopeful. I kinda felt that Pearl would be an interesting adventure but I went anyway. Mosaic had a lot of younger people, partly due to the following service, but that was nice anyway. There were several young ladies seated behind us. The worship was great! It was upbeat and though I didn't know all the songs, I really enjoyed it. The pastor spoke and he did a good job. He made all his points and didn't go off on tangents very often. At some point during the service, I'm not sure when, I had that sense. The sense that I'd found my "home." What a relief!
After the service I told Stacy I wanted to stay for the later service. She did too! We both agreed that we felt at home and had found a happy middle between overwhelmingly large, and obviously small. Between the two services we enjoyed coffee and looked at the different small groups they have. There's a Bible study that meets at 8pm and is on the west side, so for me, who works until at least 7:30, that's awesome! We also found ourselves greeted by several people and I felt very welcome. It wasn't just the welcome committee who wanted to say hello and welcome, but people our own age who wanted to get to know us.
The second service was great with worship songs that I knew! All in all, it was a great day, both morning and evening. I'm thinking I may go to both churches and make Sunday's a great day! For Stacy's imput check out "My Addictions"
(Looking back, I should have known by the location. It shares the parking lot with a great steak place!)
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