stainedglass's blog

Summary
Several of the ten issues I've written about churches confronting in 2010 contributed to my less-than-comfortable visit to Chapel by the Sea on February 14. Most notably there was a deficit of greetings, website maintenance, and preannouncement of guest speakers. The church was crowded with more than 200 people present for the 2nd of two services this Sunday morning. Before the service commenced the noise level was high and atypical for a church of this size. But the music, prayers, and sense of church family was strong and to my liking. The special missions emphasis was not announced on the website and contributed to a long service. I left after 1 3/4 hours to attend the Full Communion Celebration with the Lutherans (ELCA) and Methodists (UMC). I will revisit this church at a later date to observe a more typical service.Chapel By The Sea

Why Write About Church Music?
In visiting Anchorage churches, I've experienced virtually every type of church musical style. Part of the time the music accentuates the spiritual tenor of the service, and sometimes not. Sometimes the music is unadulterated Pop 40 entertainment, and narcissistic with no reference to God, salvation, or the mission of the church. You, the reader of this blog, have also sent me many emails complaining about the music you hear in your churches. I've asked a number of musical directors of churches in town share their thoughts about music as used in worship. I'll be sharing these interviews, every other week, for some time to come.

Many Christian churches, the world over, mark the beginning of the Lenten season with Ash Wednesday services. Most often celebrated by Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches, this time of reflection and fasting begins the 40 days leading up to Holy Week and Easter. An excellent resume of the history and significance of Lent is here . If you've never experienced an Ash Wednesday service, I urge you to do so. Many Anchorage churches offer services. Using the following words to do a Google search, I located many Anchorage churches conducting Ash Wednesday services today.

Celebrated around the world for over 1000 years, Shrove Tuesday marks the day before the beginning of Lent. It marks a traditional day of penance, confession, and quest for absolution. In the U.S. it is observed mainly by Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Roman Catholic Church traditions. Many of these churches celebrate by serving pancake feasts, sometimes quite ornate or unusual. The significance of the feasting is Lenten observances of fasting, and spiritual redirection. A number of Anchorage churches will be serving pancakes today, sometimes without fee, but requesting a freewill donation for a charity or mission project.

Summary

I'm puzzled by Anchorage Bible Fellowship's huge sign on Elmore Road. Last fall I wrote in this blog post that their prominently situated sign carried a cute phrase but no worship times. I was thrilled to discover ABF had started posting the worship times on the sign about a week later and acknowledged it in this blog post. Lately I've noticed another phrase is once again gracing the sign and the worship times are missing. Maybe a reader knows why ABF took the worship times down. If so, post a comment here.

Many readers of the Church Visits blog have doubtless read the long-running bestseller, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace, One School At A Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The author's mother, Jerene Mortenson, will be at St. John United Methodist Church from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, February 6 to share information about Pennies for Peace , a program of Greg's Central Asia Institute. A penny in the United States is virtually worthless, but overseas a penny buys a pencil and opens the door to literacy.

Churches are often seen as stodgy, sterile and unfriendly places, frequented by parishioners afraid to even ask their neighbors in to share a cup of coffee. During the recent Advent season, I visited a church not fitting that mold. Trinity Presbyterian, a church I've commented upon several times previously, featured an unusual concert on December 13 departing from standard Advent musical fare. One out of ten neighbor-friendly concerts Trinity held in 2009, they offered an evening of light jazz enhanced by a club-like setting in their lobby. An amazing variety of desserts and complimentary coffee drinks from Trinity's espresso bar were available for concert goers. The only catch for Trinity members was you needed to invite a non-churched friend to attend. The large crowd was evidence Trinity loves inviting their neighbors to share their joy. Trinity Jazz Concert for Neighbors

Last year I posted my Ten New Year’s Wishes for Area Churches. Although they were widely read, I was disappointed only a Mormon-centric blog felt compelled to respond with a self-congratulating post stating all my concerns would likely be met in one of their churches. After visiting many area churches since that 2009 post, I submit an updated New Year list of 10 with specific comments and suggestions.

Summary
Fourth Advent Sunday, December 20, I visited First United Methodist Church in downtown Anchorage on the Parkstrip. I was intrigued because they advertised a service of A Celebration of Lessons & Carols for Christmas. Despite my weak welcome, the service morphed into a treat of word and song unlike anything else I've experienced in Anchorage. It was an amazing display of talent for a smaller congregation. Churches many times their size are unable to muster the numbers of people needed to make this type of presentation. I was disappointed more of Anchorage was not there to enjoy this wonderful service.

My Christmas Eve post expressed both my joy and concern about churches use/non-use of their webpages to inform the community about their Christmas Eve services. Many did so effectively but an alarming number either ignored doing so or did so ineffectively.

For a Christmas Eve service I settled on Cornerstone Church in South Anchorage because they've consistently met my visit criteria of welcome, hospitality, music going beyond entertaining, and effective Bible-based teaching (see visit criteria - top right). And too, I was attracted by their Christmas website presentation. Their main webpage had an attractive Christmas banner at the top with service times prominently displayed, and then again, partway down the page, both in the line of sight. Simple, graphically correct, and effective.

The following Anchorage churches gave prominent attention to their Christmas Eve services on their websites. Times were easily seen on the first screen, often in striking ways. Thanks to these churches for this great community service! It is obvious they understand how the Internet is reshaping the way churches communicate with the public.

* Trinity Presbyterian - Awesome Webpage
* Cornerstone Church - Just Right & Tasteful
* Amazing Grace Lutheran

Summary
Though I’m not of Catholic background, leaning, or persuasion, during my December 13, 3rd Advent Sunday visit to Holy Cross Parish , I discovered a service rich with meaning, a congregation close to its pastor, meaningful music, and worshipful reverence. For the first time in my Catholic Church visits, I was actually welcomed and greeted by a number of warm and friendly people when entering the church.Holy Cross Catholic Church

Today the three previously lit Advent candles are relighted, and joined in lighting by the fourth candle, whose theme is Peace. The following prayer, located on the noted website, is an excellent example of an Advent candle lighting prayer for 4th Advent Sunday.4th Advent Candles - First UMC

Summary
Sunday, December 6, I revisited St. Mary's Episcopal Church for the 11:30 a.m. service for 2nd Advent Sunday. My initial visit last year revealed both positives and negatives (click here to read previous visit review). During this visit I saw improvement in some of the areas I commented, most notably the greeting. When churches fail to warmly welcome each visitor and member, they tragically miss an important opportunity in their mission to share the "Good News".

Many churches in Anchorage are celebrating the Third Sunday of Advent today. The first and second Advent candles will be relighted, and joined in lighting by the third Advent candle representing Joy. This meaningful ceremony does much to offset the pervasive commercial flavor Christmas has come to represent. In the simple act of candle lighting, Christians honor and look forward to the coming of the King, memorialized on Christmas Eve.

Candles - 2nd Advent - St. Mary EpiscopalToday, December 6, 2009, is the second Sunday of Advent. On this day the first and second of the four Advent candles are lighted. The first Advent candle, lit last week and relighted today, is often themed as representing HOPE. It will be joined in lighting by the second Advent candle which is often designated as representing LOVE. The candles are generally purple, representing royalty, i.e. the season of the coming of the King.

While not all churches observe Advent's co

For many churches, today, November 29, 2009 is celebrated as the first Sunday of Advent. Examples of such churches are Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Anglican (Episcopal). Beginning on the Sunday closest to November 30 (St. Andrews Day), this day marks the beginning season of Advent, i.e. the birth of Christ, and ends on Christmas Eve. The First Sunday of Advent also signifies the start of the liturgical or ecclesiastical year for many Christian religions. Many churches in the Anchorage area will mark this day with special services. Additionally, you will notice an increasing number of celebrations during this season leading up to the Advent.

Summary
My first visit to Anchorage Grace Church in April was ill-timed due to our ongoing volcanic events. (click here to read previous visit review) In that review, I expressed concerns about the lack of greeting, lengthy service, and certain aspects of the music. Recently invited to revisit by a member, I tried again last Sunday, November 15. Incredibly, nothing had changed! I received no welcome, and was not even handed a bulletin. Once again there was a substitute pastor, prompting last weeks post on why churches do not announce on their websites who's preaching. The musical program was highly programmed and lengthy. I was basically disregarded during my entire visit, an antithesis of what Christians are to be. The substitute pastor spent the first 15-20 minutes of his 55 minute discourse explaining and justifying the how's, why's and where's of his preaching on the 3 verses he'd chosen from Hebrews, the focus of his remarks. A test read of Hebrews revealed that the entire book could have been read to the congregation in 35-40 minutes. I was not encouraged by this visit. Surely the intervening seven months under new leadership would have provoked some noticeable changes.

If you notice comments to any blog post are missing, please don't think I take down comments because I don't agree with you. Usually, when a blog post shows a certain number of comments, but there are none available to view when you look, it means that a commercial spammer or poster of a vulgar comment has had their comments blocked. If this type of poster has been blocked previously and attempts to post another comment, they will be automatically be blocked. Sorry, but it's the name of the game. It's out of my control. I think the ADN controls on spam are appropriate and do not interfere with true reader sentiment.