Church Hunting: BB Church

BBC

Ugh. Unpleasant to write this.

BBC is nearby. As near as TCC. The pastor is a fair teacher. The theology is correct on the fundamentals. Rebecca is not overly fond of the frequent overuse of the drumset but I like the singing. It's strong and people seem to really enjoy it. This is good for corporate worship.

The first sermon we heard as a family was on Nehemiah and for the first time in a long time, I was really interested and Rebecca left hoping to hear the rest. The pastor did justice to it. Unfortunately, we were invited by friends to another church and missed it. But I liked that feeling of wanting to go back to hear more about the scriptures.

The next few sermons, most of which Rebecca wasn't able to make, more topical, less well done. And an illustration of what happens when fair teachers step away from just take the text, explain it, and don't stray farther. But, generally correct.

Even the last sermon on membership, which sets off triggers in me because I know how much the concept of modern church membership is abused, was handled fairly well. You could take "membership in the local church" and replace it with "commitment/involvement/affection for" and that would make sense and accord well with scripture.

The pastor isn't terribly young, but he feels young. Like sometimes he's playing a part, not quite ready for the big coat he believes he's already wearing. It's endearing at times. At other times, I'm not convinced he's comfortable with the part. That he doesn't have the age and experience to make what he's doing feel natural.

Wow... did they do an excellent job on their business meeting. They invited outsiders, told them this was a great way to understand how the church worked, they were transparent to extremes through the long meeting. This... was... well... done. Best I've seen. They really want people to know and understand and they have every reason to think this will glorify God and people will like it.

Pretty much, though, that pastor is the only one who will talk with me. The consistent impression from the church is ambivalence to visitors. We've gone there several months and don't know anyone. A handful of people have said a few words. One person actually engaged me in conversation, only to be interrupted by another women, disinterested in my presence, who needed to talk with him about some administrative matter in the church. I think he attempted to introduce me but beyond a quick acknowledgement she was back to business. A wonderful way to highlight how insignificant a visitor is and how irrelevant he is to the group. That may not be everyone there, but we've been going there at least 10 Sundays. This is probably the worst personal impression of any church we've visited, and I'm biased to like this church.

Here, for all of the good, there is a feeling of a lack of life in the church. Maybe they are friendly to each other, but as visitors, we might as well be coming as consumers, just to be served, then to leave. Less that we're obviously not a part of their life (we're new) but it's that we're obviously not a part of their potential life. They're good as is.

I'd wonder if maybe it's us, but then, we've been received well at many other places, even those with obvious red flags.

The pastor seems perhaps even a little overly friendly, possibly understanding that the church's life depends on new people coming, but it can't just be on him.

We will likely not go much longer if another option presents itself or if we don't break through soon.

Sad. Because there's a lot to like about it. But if you "have not love..."

We can't be part of another country club.