Chapel By The Sea: Another Unexpected Anchorage Service

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

Invitation Brought Me Here
Last summer, while on a church retreat, a member of Chapel by the Sea invited me to one of their services. After a long delay, I checked their website before heading to the church. Nothing out of the ordinary was shown on their webpages. Arriving at their 11 a.m. February 14 service, one of two that morning, I was welcomed by a person holding the door. The interior passageway was jammed and a bulletin passer handed one to me. The church was filling rapidly. I quickly found a pew. The south-facing bank of windows let in generous amounts of light, brightening up the church. Considerable noise was being made by the congregation before the service which I found a bit irreverent and unsettling.

Music a Plus!
The piano prelude at the start of the service was distinctive and beautiful, but unfortunately overpowered by disrespectful noise from the congregation. The service started with a welcome and baby dedication. There were several congregational singing breaks with familiar hymns and recognizable contemporary Christian tunes. Violins, flute and piano accompanied the singing. I especially enjoyed the special music performed by the Chapel Choir to a soundtrack. I considered the music to be the highpoint of the service.Choir Singing Special Music

Unusual Prayer Time
Unlike other churches, prayer requests were taken one by one and prayed for at the same time. Although this took a bit more time, it really worked for me and represented a first for my church visits. One of the prayer requests turned into a anti-abortion blast by a guest, not once but twice. I was shocked this clearly political interruption was allowed to continue uninterrupted. I don't believe I've heard such a departure from church decorum in all of my church visits. I'm sure it took the congregation and leadership by surprise.

Surprising Mission's Presentations
Although not pre-announced on their website, the main part of the service was devoted to missions presentations by three church supported missionaries, two to Russia and one to Kazakhstan. To this point, the service was already 45 minutes long. I stayed for another hour and finally had to leave for another visit. It was somewhat surprising to me to hear these presentations as mission's emphasis is shifting away from the U.S. sending missionaries to the rest of the world, to the world sending missionaries to the U.S. According to a recent Pew forum study, Alaska has the lowest percentage of regular church attendance (22% at least once a week vs. 39% nationally). Asia, South America, and Africa are now regularly sending missionaries to the U.S. in response to our religious attendance and belief practices. I cannot deny these individuals feeling of being "called" to foreign missions. However, the historically imprinted attitude favorable to foreign missions vs. mission fields in the U.S. and Alaska may predispose individuals to feel their work is abroad vs. at home.

As noted, I intend to revisit this church at a some point in the future. I do feel they could benefit from a sharper focus on greeting and hospitality, adoption of a more reverent pre-service atmosphere, excepting visitors from feeling offering giving is expected, preannouncing service particulars on their website, i.e. regular preaching vs. guest speakers, and shortening other aspects of their service when special presentations are likely to run long.