Searching: I’ve been looking for a church that projects relevance to my stage of Christian development. In this quest I have visited and worshiped with many streams of religious persuasion. Assuming this may be an issue for many in the Anchorage area, I offer in this blog brief accounts of my visits. The criteria I use in evaluating my visits are:
• Did the church project friendliness and warmth?
• Did I truly feel welcomed?
• Did I relate to the main teaching and was it delivered effectively?
• Did music merely entertain or did it deepen the worship experience?
Map to churches I have visited.
My email: churchvisits@gmail.com
Chris Thompson, an amateur biblical scholar and student of religions, is a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society for Biblical Literature (SBL). He enjoys AAR/SBL where he studies, first hand, with worldwide religious scholars. A management consultant, skilled in all aspects of 360-degree feedback programs and human resource management systems, he practices these skills as Workforce Consulting. He lives in Anchorage.
ON THE WEB
Google map with visited churches
As I visit churches, I'll post their locations on this map.
Shocking Beliefs of the Unchurched - 11/30/2008 12:01 pm
Great Land Christian Church - What a Great Experience! - 11/20/2008 10:00 pm
Crosspoint: Room for Improvement - 11/16/2008 4:17 pm
A Church Visit Reader Shares Their "Looking for A Church" Story - 11/10/2008 10:02 pm
St. John Orthodox - A Spiritual Treat - 10/31/2008 3:54 pm
Guest Blog - Chris Walker's "10 Tips for Greeters" - 10/23/2008 12:57 pm
Christian Courage, It's Still Alive! - 10/12/2008 2:58 pm
More Changes Coming to ChangePoint - 10/3/2008 7:06 am
Guest Blog -Top 10 Church Website Design Mistakes of 2007 - 9/28/2008 6:01 pm
Muldoon Assembly: Friendly, Programmed - 9/19/2008 11:12 pm
Why I've Run From Churches - Guest Blog - 9/16/2008 6:58 pm
Christian Church of Anchorage...An Invitation, Refusal, and Later Visit - 9/3/2008 1:38 pm
Podcasts/Godcasts...The Darker Side Pt. 2 - 8/30/2008 12:33 pm
Christ Community Church…A Somewhat Closed Experience - 8/21/2008 9:55 am
Can a Podcast be a Godcast? Part 1 - 8/16/2008 7:47 pm
Youth Lead Sunday Evening Service…A Pleasant First! - 8/12/2008 4:09 pm
Anchorage City Church…Charismatically Quiet - 8/4/2008 11:02 pm
But what about theology? - 7/30/2008 1:42 pm
Holy Family Cathedral: Warm, Friendly and Catholic - 7/26/2008 9:50 pm
Foreign missionaries to the U.S. or even Alaska, can it be true? - 7/22/2008 2:46 pm
First church I've visited not using musical instruments, but they can sing! - 7/16/2008 10:39 am
Protestantism Declining, Catholicism Steady, and No Religious Affiliation Rising According to Pew Forum Report - 7/10/2008 4:33 pm
Posted: May 27, 2008 - 4:20 pm
ABT's bright attention-getting sign on Northern Lights announces many types of events and services.No mistake about it... it was mega-church time when I visited the Anchorage Baptist Temple on April 27, 2008. Everything is BIG and reminded me of a movie set. Huge church auditorium, bright lights, TV camera’s, large screen monitors, set-like displays, lots of color and many people.
My welcome
Three people greeted me before I reached my seat, but it felt like I was being greeted as though it were a job without much passion. I was just one of thousands and had no connection. Part of this may be due to the huge crush of people attending the one 11 a.m. Sunday morning worship service.
Good music
The nine-piece band started playing five minutes before the start of the worship service. The music was polished and sounded great. The 65 voice choir is good, singing well and performing several songs. A youth singing group of 15-20 voices also shared their talents. Several soloists sang on the main stage before Dr. Jerry Prevo took the pulpit. As he started, Prevo welcomed a bus ministry group of 38 individuals on stage, which he introduced to the audience.
ABT's large facility hard to miss on E. Northern Lights.Interesting sermon theme
The sermon, Speak Sweeter, was in keeping with a lengthy series stretching over April and May. The series was tied to the theme of Tim McGraw’s bestselling country song “Live Like You Were Dying”. Prevo’s remarks were very Baptist in that the death and dying theme was reinforced repeatedly. Example, “How many of you, if you died this week, would go to heaven because you have accepted Christ as your Lord and personal Savior? Where would you go if you haven’t?”
Dwelling on one's demise-best approach?
I’m no stranger to Baptist churches but I’m turned off when I hear warning or fear-inciting phrases like this. I’m much more attracted to a church that attracts me through the love of God instead of pushing me to join through fear. Sometimes certain Baptist ministers leave the impression your assurances of salvation are never as complete at what they are offering at that moment, for which I strongly disagree.
The service ended with the traditional Baptist altar call to come up front to be prayed for, to pray, and/or to make your decision for Christ. The band started up again as folks came forward. As with most Baptist services, there was a baptism.
Is this a church for you?
If you seek a church to ultimately establish a sense of community, this might be the one. But it’s big, and to me impersonal, at least at my first visit. Except for the obligatory minute of “meet n’ greet” I had little contact with any members. Prevo is available throughout the week on ABT’s station with taped replays of his messages and their services. It may be a better first introduction than attending in person.
3 June 1, 2008 - 4:26am | skiwax
Thank you for this church visit blog. It is very interesting to read about various churches in the area. Some weekend I would hope you visit the church I attend. It is always good to hear the perspective of a 'new' person with their impression from walking through the door to the music, the hospitality, & as well as sermon & delivery critiques.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
2 May 31, 2008 - 12:57am | JimmySmith
ABT is a solid Church. I think it would be hard to feel connected on a first time visit at any church, large or small. I suggest that what ever church you visit, you need to also attend their Sunday School hour, Adult Bible study, or whatever they call their small groups. I think at some point, any solid church is going to share with people that God sent his Son to create a way for people to go to Heaven instead of Hell. As uncomfortable as it may seem, when we die, there are only two options.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
1 May 30, 2008 - 1:22am | Anchorage_Activist
This is an interesting and useful blog. It will promote greater religious understanding.
I've attended ABT on occasion, and my impressions are somewhat similar to yours. They do have a large number of people who attend the 11 A.M. service, so the ushers cannot provide the more individualized attention to which you may be accustomed.
I noticed in one of your previous posts that you expressed frustration about churches that don't post meeting times in a readily available format. In case you're ever interested in visiting a Latter-day Saint service, I'll make it easy for you.
(1). Click HERE to find a list of facilities, congregations, and meeting times in Anchorage. If this link doesn't work, go to Mormon.org and follow the instructions. You can pick whichever location and service you wish to attend.
(2). Click HERE to find out in advance what to expect at an LDS service.
The spiritual leader of a typical LDS congregation, or ward, is referred to as a "bishop".
Good luck with this blog. I look forward to reading more.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
May 30, 2008 - 10:44pm | lellenn
The official Latter-day Saints website at www.lds.org also has meeting times and locations. They have it set up to type in your address and it will tell you exactly which ward you should go to - since unlike other churches, where you go there is tied to where you live (so we don't end up with ABT style mega churches while others languish with maybe 50 or 30 people tops on Sundays). The website also has easy to navigate info on basic beliefs, what to expect along with articles and online scriptures.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
June 13, 2008 - 9:07am | stainedglass
Church services are a portal to a reliqion and hopefully to a unique spiritual experience. If LDS tells me where I must go, then I have no reason to visit and write my visit results in this blog. Why? Because only readers within the accepted geographic confines for the LDS church visited would be welcome. Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, etc. are not told where they must worship. I realize this causes mega church types of situations in some cases, but one of the joys of religion is that churches have different personalities. Even Paul found this to be true with the New Testament churches of Corinth, Ephesis, Galatia, etc. And you can experience thoise church personalities today by reading the pertinent N.T. scripture. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
August 25, 2008 - 5:23pm | Anchorage_Activist
As a visitor, you (and other non-Mormon readers) would be welcome at any LDS ward. The website merely provides guidance as to where they meet and the times of their services. Pick whichever ward you want to visit.
You would only be formally assigned to a particular ward after you accepted membership and were baptized.
As the other poster pointed out, this is done strictly for organization. We prefer relatively uniform congregation sizes in order to provide ample service opportunities for as many members as possible.
If this concept of worship lies outside your search parameters, and you choose to exclude the LDS from consideration, no problem. We will not take offense. What's ultimately important is that you find a church where you can worship according to the dictates of YOUR conscience.
BTW, as a Latter-day Saint, I find your feedback particularly useful because it exposes the societal misunderstandings about Mormonism which still prevail, even to this day. I may start my own blog to address these deficiencies.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
May 31, 2008 - 12:27pm | JimmySmith
If a church only attracts 30 to 50 people, could that indicate a problem with the teaching, preaching style, or something else? Perhaps a mega Church has a better pastor, better support system, or different opportunites for someone to be connected and involved.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
June 8, 2008 - 3:46pm | stainedglass
Many of the early churches, e.g. Pauline and apostolic, were this size or smaller. I think the message, relevance to the personal walk, and teaching/preaching style are not necessarily related to church size. It's a mixed bag. I've experienced the best of religious worship in small churches, and I've also seen very poor overall worship experiences in small churches. Mega churches can be the same way. I'll concentrate more on this in future blog posts.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
June 9, 2008 - 12:03pm | JimmySmith
Yes, it's a mixed bag for big or small. Seemed to me the post I was responding to was saying mega Churches we bad. I think both big and small are needed. Economically, a small church couldn't construct Changepoints "Dome" which has a great benefit to the community or ABT's many gyms that are used by the community. Both of those churches also support many para-church orgnizations such as homeless shelters, food banks, pregnancy centers, and the like. There is strength in numbers.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
June 10, 2008 - 3:42pm | stainedglass
Thanks for your clarification. I do not feel mega churches are inherently "bad". An excellent book on this theme was recently released: Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn From America's Largest Churches. Written by Scott Thumma & Dave Travis, with a foreword by Rick Warren, it is based on the results of the Megachurches Today 2005 survey mailed to 1,236 churches and e-mailed to 600. Your point is accurate. Megachurches do much more for their communities than meets the casual eye.
login or register to post comments | flag this »
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.
© Copyright 2008, The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Company 
Contact Us | Newsroom Contacts | Communication Forms | Subscriptions | Advertising | Featured Advertisers | Terms of Use
Daily News Jobs | RSS Feeds | ADN Store | Newspapers in Education | Privacy Agreement
4 August 20, 2008 - 4:06am | danfaganskid
ABT Jerry Prevo's Temple of DOOM
I enjoy watching Jerry and his Temple of Doom on TV evryday!!
login or register to post comments | flag this »