Worship on Sunday, July 26.

Once again we attended two different churches on Sunday. The first church is called Soma (http://www.somacommunities.org/). Soma is located in downtown Tacoma. There were about 100 – 120 people in worship. Soma worships in a renovated warehouse/commercial building. They have done an excellent job of making the space a good place for worship—even though they do not have air conditioning.

Thoughts concerning Soma:
• Chairs, tables, sofas and skinny-butt chairs—The folks at Soma have been very creative in putting together a very “warm” or “friendly” or “comfortable” worship center. The “front row” of each of the four sections were sofas!! Kids (prior to Children’s church/class) occupied on sofa. A family with two young kids came in and sat in the second row of their “section” – with the kids heading straight for the sofa! Throughout the sanctuary were wing-back arm chairs. Moms holding small babies occupied some of these chairs. I believe that every one of these chairs was filled. Additionally, little tables (like round “end” tables were throughout the worship area. Picture this: four or five regular chairs, then a end table, an arm chair, another end table, another arm chair, then five or six regular chairs. Bibles were on the end tables. People put their coffee, iced tea or water on the end tables. Very cool. My one criticism is the skinny-butt chairs. All but one of the churches we have visited use chairs instead of pews. This was the first church that had skinny-butt chairs. It is almost impossible for an adult to fit on their chair and not have “contact” with the person sitting on the next chair. No church should EVER have skinny-butt chairs!
• Food following worship—Food was provided following worship to encourage people to stay around and talk. No one person was responsible for providing the food. They were very upfront about encouraging people to bring food to share with the entire church. If no one brings food then there is no food that day. This is a great way to encourage EVERYONE to be involved in the food ministry.
• Music, the two-man band—The worship band was so-so. There was an acoustic guitar and a base guitar. It was obvious that their drummer was absent that day--drums with no one using them. Songs were done in a done in a key that a “regular” person would have trouble singing in.
• The one hour sermon—I do not mind a sermon that last an hour(see my notes on the next church)—if the teaching is good and the delivery is good. The content was very biblical. My whole family felt that he could have covered everything is much less time. The preacher spent too much time “reading” his notes to us.
• Neighborhood Bible studies/small groups—The church uses neighborhood small groups. The plus is that the groups are made up of people of all ages. The minus is that the groups are made up of people of all ages. Our daughter is looking for a church home with good Bible studies. She commented that she would not feel comfortable in a small group with older single men. The bottom line—she wants a group that is around her own age.
• Visitor friendliness—NOT A SINGLE CHURCH WE HAVE VISITED WAS PARTICULARLY “WARM” TO VISITORS!!!!!!!! One of the pastors welcomed us before worship. One person that I know came up to talk to us after church. Not another person even said “Hi” to me!! We stayed for food. We looked at their book sales table. No interaction from anyone!!
• Bible driven—The church is very open about Jesus, salvation, sin, the Bible, etc. Very refreshing!
• An epidemic of pregnant women and very young kids—The church had lots of young families. There were a few people older than me, but not many. There were very few people in the 20-25 age group.

Overall impression: Soma has many things going for it. God bless their ministry!



Mars Hill Ballard—take two!
Mars Hill has four worship services each Sunday: two in the morning and two in the evening. A couple of weeks ago we attended the earliest service and this week we attended the last service.

Thoughts about Mars Hill:
• A much younger crowd—The later service was a MUCH younger crowd than the early service. I would guess that 80+% of the people were between the ages of 18 and 30. The place was PACKED!!!!
• Music—I loved the music at the later service. The “style” of music at the earlier service would appeal to a younger crowd than me. I found it interesting that the particular “styles” were at those service—and not reversed!
• Great preaching—Mark is a GREAT preacher/teacher! Period. End of story.
• The hour+ sermon—Mark preaches for an hour. Sunday night he preached for 65 minutes (I could see the count-down timer above one of the video cameras). The sermon did not “feel” long. I did not see a single person lose interest or get fidgety.

The bottom line: I would recommend Mars Hill to anyone looking for a church!!!