We go to church at the Senior Center

Calvary Chapel West Seattle, Seattle, Washington
“We used to joke that we were ‘Coming to a neighborhood near you!’” Pastor Randy Leskovar said. Calvary Chapel West Seattle has gathered in a variety of places, but for the last few years, they’ve settled down at the Senior Center of West Seattle I should make it clear that very few of the people in attendance at the Sunday night service we visited would be considered seniors. all the people that came would not be considered seniors. (You might think Mindy and I are seniors, but you'd be wrong.)

The evening service met in a room containing two of our favorite things: a library -- or at least a book wall -- where I spent some time reading titles before the service began; and a bar. No one was serving food or drinks while we were there, but a sign behind the counter read, "No Minors, No Overservice." The only service going on while we were there, though, was a worship service, which was fine with us. We've already been to one church that met in a bar.

Before the service began, we were able to talk with Pastor Randy for a bit. He’s been part of Calvary Chapel for thirty years and a pastor with the denomination for twenty-five. He was in the military before that, and we talked about war and current events.

As people arrived, we sat at small tables arranged in a semicircle. Jamie, who was leading the singing, has a newborn at home, so he was a little late (everyone agreed that new babies provide a pretty good excuse). There were about a dozen of us, and we began by singing “King of my Heart,” followed by several other choruses.

Pastor Randy led a time of prayer, mentioning those who were sick and those looking for work. Then he announced upcoming events: Franklin Graham will be holding a special meeting at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma August 12th; the church will have an All Church Fun Day on September 30th; in October, men’s and women’s Bible Studies begin again. There was also an announcement for an evangelism outing, but they needed three guys to “make it work.”

Pastor Randy asked us to turn to Esther 10, the last chapter of the book they’d been studying. He reminded us that this was an interactive service, and we could feel free to interrupt. Randy read the whole chapter (out of the New King James Version) -- it’s only three verses long -- and summed up what had happened in the couple of chapters before. He told of the downfall of Haman and the exaltation of Mordecai. Here’s the entire chapter, “And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advance him, are they not written in the book of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking to all his countrymen.”

On first glance, there isn’t much to discuss in the chapter. And we didn’t take long discussing it. (Though it did make me wonder about “the book of the kings of Media and Persia;” I hadn’t noticed it in the titles of the books on the wall.)

We moved to the first chapter of another book of the Bible, Jeremiah, and the interactive discussion ranged from Jeremiah’s youthful call to the importance of Christians being involved in government and public policy. Randy talked about how God has ordained us to be in the time we live -- probably the last days -- and said we’re running the anchor leg of history.

When the clock said time was up, Randy wrapped up the conversation, which would continue in the week to come. We were glad to have been a part of that conversation, which may well continue until the Lord comes again.