I am worshiping with established Redwood City churches in order to learn what they are already doing. My hope is to imagine a faith community that is different from these churches in order to engage people in God's mission who are not already so engaged (the unchurched or dechurched); I don't want to cannibalize existing churches. My posts on my local church visits will be descriptions, not evaluations.
Redwood City Church #13
Denomination: Non-denominational
Facility: Traditional church building
Location: North Redwood City
Pew Bible: English Standard Version
Theological House: Moderate Evangelical
Worship Services: 1 on Sunday mornings
Worship Style: Contemporary/Emerging
On a sunny and warm Sunday morning in January (ah, California!), I worshiped with approximately 120 others--a multigenerational mix that was mostly Anglo and about 10 percent Asian--in a dimly lit sanctuary. Candles and coffee tables gave the worship space an emerging feel, although the only station was for Communion at the end of the service. The space had been updated with a screen, on which song lyrics and (just before the message) a video were projected. The guitar-driven music was rock, with an opening set of songs that moved from loud and fast to softer and slower. Prayer transitioned us from sung word to spoken word, the latter of which was offered by a fortysomething man (he had also played guitar) who wore jeans and spoke conversationally. Skillfully mixing an informal tone with cerebral insights, the preacher made use of a number of slides in his exegesis and application of Acts 1:1-8. (Appropriately, the first chapter of Acts describes about 120 Jesus-followers gathering together.) The hour-long gathering closed with the Lord's Supper, which was introduced simply and taken by semi-intinction (the elements were picked up at stations and consumed in our chairs).
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