Worship last Sunday – Mars Hill and University Presbyterian Church

One major component of my “vacation” involves worshipping at other churches. It is a rare occasion when a pastor gets the opportunity of worship at another church. Well, this summer I will have several opportunities to worship at other churches.

Of course, the best thing about visiting other churches is that I can sit with my wife and daughter during worship!! Following worship we discuss the things we liked and the things we didn’t care for (or thought that they could have done better).

Last Sunday (July 12) we went to Seattle and attend Mars Hill Church in Ballard AND University Presbyterian Church. Wow!! Talk about different churches!!

Overall Summary: I would gladly attend Mars Hill every Sunday. I have been to U. Pres. and have absolutely no desire to go back.

Mars Hill Summary
Strengths:
• The Preaching: Mark (the pastor) preached for about 45 minutes. He is in the final weeks of a series on 1 and 2 Peter. The preaching was biblical. He stuck with the text and really challenged the congregation to submit to the text. He stressed that when our “belief system” differed from the biblical text we need to transform our belief system to come into conformity to the text.
• Communion every Sunday: Communion at the end of each worship service. Communion is served by intinction—going forward to receive the bread and then dipping it in the wine/juice. There were many stations where people could go to receive communion. The lines were fairly short and moved quickly. The person holding the “cup” was actually holding two cups – one labeled “juice” and one “wine.”
• Preparation for the sermons: Mark “publishes” a book of study material for the entire sermon series. There are daily Bible readings for each week. Small groups (called “community groups) discuss the “homework” and the messages.
• Community groups stressed: Community groups were mentioned MANY times in the message and at other parts of the worship.
• Age diversity in worship: Being 52-years young, I was truly afraid that I would be the oldest person in the congregation. WRONG!! We parked about a block from the church. Before we had walked 10 feet I spotted two people that were older than me!! There we many people older that me -- by many years. One member of the four person worship band was older than me! The congregation was filled with people of all ages. Yes, the larges demographic group was the 18 – 30 year olds.
• Technology and lighting: The lighting and technology were WELL DONE!!!
• Ear plugs were available for any one who does not like loud music!

Could be done better:
• Couldn’t tell where the front door is. Actually, I think that every door was a “front” door.
• No one talked to us – even at the “greeting” time.

We plan on going to a Sunday night service at some point this summer. We understand that it is more interactive and cutting edge (Twitter is encouraged).


University Presbyterian Church Summary

Strengths:
• A very good choir: One would expect nothing less.
• The “unusual” sermon: The pastor had been preaching through “Pilgrims Progress.” A local television personality did a wonderful job with the pastor as they portrayed two characters from the book.
• Parking lots: The church has access to several parking lots. We had to drive around the block while waiting for the earlier worship service to end.

Could be done better:
• Lack of age diversity: I might be wrong, but I believe that our 24 year old daughter was the youngest person in the sanctuary! I was definitely younger that the “average” person in the sanctuary. I was SHOCKED at how old the church appeared to be. (Note: Classes for kids were at the earlier service. Therefore, it is possible that the parents were at that service.)
• No one said anything to me.
• The lady at the “information” table had no idea as to what was in the various brochures that were available there.
• The “Men’s Room” was difficult to find. The “Lady’s Room” was easy to find.
• Technology… what technology? The highest tech thing in the church that I saw was a microphone. There was no “technology” in the narthex or any where else that we walked. The wireless microphones were the only technology upgrade since the 1950’s.

A person that prefers a “traditional” style of worship will prefer U Pres. A person that prefers a “non-traditional” style of worship will prefer Mars Hill. A person who values age diversity will prefer Mars Hill.