EvFree Fullerton

We counted about 50 people (not that numbers matter, of course) in the 8:30 "community group" called Joint Heirs.  During the 10:00 am worship service, there was an announcement for an upcoming day of prayer and fasting ("Usually with a prayer meeting we might have 50 people attend, but this time we want to need to open up the sanctuary doors."). And at 11:30, we went to another community group, Encouragement, Inc. (a group Mindy and I helped establish nearly thirty years ago), and counted about 90 folks.

Looking over the attendance numbers at churches we've visited over the last few months, I found these numbers: 24, 20, and 30 adults (with 4 children and 2 dogs). That's for worship services. Our daughter in the Seattle area recently visited a church where she was one of seven in the pews. In the 10:30 worship service at Ev Free Fullerton I was spit-balling 1500 in worship. (I wish to make it clear I was not shooting spitballs during worship because, of course, Mindy was sitting next to me.)

I grew up in a church that usually had a few more than a hundred people every Sunday. That's about the same number of people in the churches I attended in college and seminary. It was quite a change when I began my internship at First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, which had 5,000 people on the membership roll. The leader of our internship program, Paul Sailhamer, told me at the time that in a church that size I would, in a year, see almost everything that might take place in a small church over ten years.

I bring all this up to point out that the size of churches can make for very different kinds of ministries. Some people long for the sense of community found in a small church. A friend of ours recently mentioned that his sister began attending a megachurch, and he was concerned she would get lost there. But large churches can offer some valuable elements besides name speakers and state of the art facilities (which are nice, of course).

For instance, a small church must decide on one worship time. Some people may prefer an early time to free up the day, others a later time for sleep. Fullerton has three Sunday morning services in the main sanctuary at 8:30 am, 10:00 am, and 11:30 am, as well as more traditional worship services that meet at the same time in another building (many large churches share the sermon via closed circuit television in a second venue, but Ev Free Fullerton's conditional use permit with the city doesn't allow for that. The city of Fullerton's attempts to control the growth of Ev Free Fullerton has been a point of contention for many years.) There is also a Sunday evening worship service at 5:00 pm.

Small churches must often decide whether to have Sunday school for children and youth during the worship hour or at another time. At Ev Free Fullerton, nursery care and Sunday School for elementary aged children is offered at the same time as the three morning worship services. During the third worship time, junior high and high school groups each have their worship/teaching time. Junior high and senior high students are encouraged to attend the main worship service during one of the other worship times or to assist in the nursery or Sunday school classes.

Through the years, we've witnessed the frustrations faced by the parents of kids with special needs. Sometimes they've been told by a church (sometimes by implication and sometimes quite directly) that they weren't welcome; their child was too much of a disruption. (This is more of a challenge for small churches, but often even large churches often don't handle things well.) We learned from a young woman named Becca that Ev Free Fullerton has made real strides in this area of ministry. Becca said a parent of a special needs kid was never asked to stay with their child, and a parent wasn't to be called out of worship. This would be a huge blessing for many parents.

Of course, the small church always has an advantage in greeting new people because everyone can see who is new. Therefore, it's important for a large church to offer opportunities outside of the worship hour. Among other programs, the church is starting a ten week program called "Rooted," intended to help you see "how your story fits into God's story." The church makes a real effort to help people join smaller groups to encourage fellowship and accountability. I liked the idea of groups called Six Packs. Men from six decades (a guy in his twenties, another from his thirties, forties, fifties, sixties and seventies) meet on a monthly basis. Accommodations would be made, I assume, for men in their eighties and nineties.

One of the great challenges of a large church is to see that people aren't merely spectators of a worship show, but truly part of the Body of Christ. It was a pleasure to see that after all these years, the staff and leadership of Ev Free Fullerton are ably taking up that challenge.

-- Dean

Statistics:

Service Length: 1 hour 6 minutes

Sermon Length: 38 minutes

Visitor Treatment: We saw information tables at all available entrances to the worship areas along with people in black polo shirts labeled "guest guide," and welcome brochures on seat backs along with connection cards to be filled out and put in the offering basket (or wall box, which we did, since we didn't notice them until after the offering time was over). Each of the "community groups" also recognized and welcomed visitors. However, none of the guest guides volunteered help while I was hovering around the information tables looking at brochures. When I asked for help, though, it was quick, kind, and accurate.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: Three emails on Monday regarding different activities we might be interested in (including a luncheon for visitors that happens one Sunday each month). In addition, the librarian we talked to (more about that tomorrow) followed up on our conversation via email as well.

Our Rough Count: 1,500 in the worship service, 58 in Joint Heirs, 88 in Encouragement, Inc.

Probable Ushers' Count: 1,500 in worship service (or whatever room capacity was; there weren't many empty seats in the room)

Snacks: Community groups had coffee, tea, iced tea, water, fruit juice, oatmeal, various pastries, apples with honey (for Rosh Hashanah), Concord grapes and donuts. Coffees, tea, hot chocolate and pastries were available for purchase between worship services on the Plaza walk and in "The Well," which shares space with the library. Water and lemonade were available (free!) in several places around the campus.

Musicians: 2 drummers (male)

            2 singers (female)

            1 keyboard (male)

            1 acoustic guitar (male)

            1 electric bass (male)

            1 electric guitar (male)

Songs: He is Faithful

            Great I Am

            No Other Name

Miles to place: 469

Total California Miles: 12,562

Four Things I Remember about Healdsburg*

1. For years before we moved here, we loved Healdsburg for four things: The Raven (for movies), the dump (for dumping trash and generally interesting things to see), the Saturday farmer's market (for fresh produce and, in November, locally made crafts), and the Russian River (for swimming, wading, exploring and rare canoe, kayak or raft excursions).

2. Healdsburg's downtown is the best. Tourists swarm all summer (really, people don't you have crosswalks and traffic lights where you come from?), but the rest of the year, the Plaza has toddlers walking the rim of the little fountain, elementary school aged children playing tag in the gazebo, parents sitting on the benches and chatting, people and dogs strolling through, and teenagers criss-crossing the paths. There are art galleries (when our kids were little, we considered them free museums, and we love museums), a fair trade store, two bookstores, a fabric shop with erratic hours, a lot of expensive shops for people who want to spend money, lots of restaurants, a toy store, two tea shops,three dog grooming places, and more.

3. In spite of the tourists, agriculture is a major part of the local lifestyle. It's not at all unusual to have neighbors who raise bees for honey, chickens for eggs, fruit trees and large vegetable gardens within walking distance of the Plaza.

4. Healdsburg Community Church wasn't the first church we visited when we moved to town, and we didn't stop visiting churches after the first time we visited. But within a few months of arriving in Healdsburg, we started attending regularly, and both of us found ourselves employed there. Except for the churches our families attended when we were growing up, this is the church we've been part of longest, and the love the congregation shows is something I will always remember.

-- Mindy

*This is kind of a cheat post, since it's fairly easy to remember a place you see almost every day. Though we've moved out of Healdsburg, both of us work there. Even so, we've grown away from the intimate awareness we used to have. New buildings, remodeled houses and changed businesses often surprise us.

Home Churches

I believe it was Jack London who said, "You can't go home again" (he must, of course, have been quoting Thomas Wolfe). The thought, of course, is that "home" when you go back is not the same place, and you're not the same person you were when the place was "home." It's another way of saying what Heraclitus said centuries before, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." (You now have read your daily recommended portion of literary quotes for the day. You're welcome.)

This month Mindy and I will be going to "Home Churches", specifically churches where I've served on staff. If you include my internship, I've worked at six churches. Two of those churches have dissolved since we were there (one in Minneapolis and one Santa Rosa), so those are certainly places we can't go home to again.

So, four churches for the four Sundays of September. Three of the four churches we'll be going back to have different senior pastors than in the days we were there. I know that all four have some people who were there back in the day, along with plenty of new folks. Some facilities will surely have changed. When we visit, the place will be different. And, of course, we're different people now.

We are still excited by the chance to go back to familiar places and see familiar faces. And we're looking forward to see the work that God has done to make four new churches for us to visit.

-- Dean

Thanks to Carol Finwall for the photo of a Healdsburg Community Church afternoon on the Russian River about ten years ago.

Orange County Friends Meeting, Irvine

I've noticed many churches have a problem with silence. A pastor will say they'll take a minute for silent prayer, and then the silence won't last the full sixty seconds. One time in a church, the preacher went to the pulpit and said nothing for two minutes. (Okay, it was me.)  I watched people look at their watches, shift in their seats, and look at one another puzzled. I listened to people cough and whisper to one another.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God."  I worry sometimes that if we can't manage being still, how well are we going to manage at deity recognition?

Quakers know how to be quiet for more than two minutes.

We went with a friend to a Friends Church. My wife, Mindy, has known Brad since she was 11 years old, both attending Southport Presbyterian Church. I met Brad when we were both attending Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Brad recently moved to Southern California to teach at Fullerton State, and we asked if we could join him for worship at the Orange County Friends Meeting.

We got off to a late start -- the service started at 10:30, and we arrived 10:40, but I thought we were okay. The meeting takes place in an office complex. We went in the front door, into a little room where eight people waited to join the others in silent worship. We introduced ourselves and talked a bit about the church. Their group had been meeting in Orange County for fifty years. Previously, they've met at a nursery school, a convalescent home, and a law school. For the last seven years they've rented this office space and were relieved not to have to haul chairs every Sunday.

Soon a door opened, everyone stood up, and we started down a hallway. I learned later that the meeting had already begun, but we were waiting for the break when the children exited and went to religious education. We entered the meeting, already in progress. Chairs were arranged in a semi-circle and we found our place. We had been warned that the air-conditioning was down but a couple of fans were blowing and I thought it was certainly comfortable enough. People were casually dressed, several in shorts and t-shirts, which is pretty typical for Southern Cal churches. I saw a keyboard in the corner of the room that certainly wasn't used that morning.

It was about quarter to eleven and everyone was quiet, saying nothing, as they remained for the next forty minutes or so. The sign on the wall asked people to turn off cell phones for quiet worship. I didn't hear a phone or even see one (quite unusual in American society).

During the time I noticed some people with eyes open and some with eyes closed. (I admit to being a bit terrified that if I close my eyes, I'd fall asleep.) One woman was knitting, which Brad noted afterward was a fairly common thing, since Quaker tradition allows that handwork is acceptable as long as the mind is focused on worship. A couple of people had water bottles. I could hear the gulps when they were used. I noticed a man tapping his right foot for the first half of the service and his left foot in the second half of the service. I noticed a man cleaning his ear with the tip of his eyeglasses.

I didn't notice anyone else reading, but I opened my Bible and read some Psalms. Brad said there has been a bit of controversy in Quaker circles about whether it was okay to look at electronic devices during Meetings. He had thought about looking up something to share on his phone that morning but decided against it. Mindy heard somebody's alarm beep quietly at 11:00.

Shortly before 11:30, Brad stood to share a word. He talked about how he'd been challenged by something he'd read recently from a writings of British Quakers to order one's life under Christ and to be open to God's healing. After the service Brad asked us whether we thought what he said was appropriate. We truthfully assured him that we'd found his words encouraging. He told us that a Quaker is always told to consider and reconsider before sharing to avoid the promotion of ego. (As we were leaving, a "weighty" or wise older woman also expressed her appreciation for what Brad shared.)

I noticed that after Brad talked, some people took the opportunity softly cough the coughs they'd been holding back.

A woman stood. She said that in the religious education class prior to the Meeting, they'd been discussing Quaker history in Southern California. In the past Quakers in the area reached out to Japanese interns during World War II and were a witness for pacifism during the Vietnam War. She wondered what issues they would deal with in the future.

As the quiet time of worship ended, people shook hands with those around them, mostly remaining in their seats or standing in their places. It was then time for announcements. A woman stood and pointed out the air-conditioning was working again. ("You may have noticed the man yelling outside during Meeting. The AC guy may not be our style of person but he got the job done.") She noted the next weekend was Labor Day and asked if they perhaps could get together for a barbeque or pool party.

Announcements were made for a speaker from the Citizen's Climate Lobby and the Orange County Crop Hunger Walk. There were announcements for an upcoming summit on prisons and issues of peace and social concern.

James stood up. He was an older gentleman who looked rather like the old timer who runs the country store in an old TV western. He said he had a story that might be of interest, and he would share it with anyone that wanted to stay after the meeting. A woman stood and said she also had something to share, if people would care to join her outside after the meeting.

Though Brad had attended this meeting before, it had been a while, and he was asked to introduce himself. We introduced ourselves. At the close of the meeting everyone was invited to snack time. People were quite friendly during the social time, because, of course, "friends" are what they're called -- though we did notice a chart on the wall that showed the schisms in the Quaker movement through the years and there had been quite a few.

But on this morning we appreciated the fellowship. And we appreciated the quiet. And we appreciated knowing that God is God.

-- Dean

Statistics:

Service Length: 1 hour 10 minutes (probably)

Sermon Length: no sermon. Quiet time after we sat down was about 45 minutes, and there had been about 15 minutes of quiet before we came in.

Visitor Treatment: While we were waiting to enter the meeting, we got name tags and introduced ourselves to the others waiting. We were asked to introduce ourselves during the announcement time. In the entrance room, we signed the guest book, and during the fellowship time after worship, a woman from the Meeting introduced herself to Mindy and made sure we had the information about Quakers and the Orange County Friends Meeting that we needed.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none (but we didn't sign up for the newsletter, which is more of a very active email chain. Brad says he frequently gets updates from the Meeting)

Our Rough Count: 24

Probable Ushers' Count: 30

Snacks: coffee, hot water, water bottles, sparkling cider, star cookies, watermelon chunks, various crackers, veggie tray, plums and other fruit, bread, coffee cake

Musicians: none

Songs: none

Miles to place: 501

Total California Miles: 12,070

Calvary Armenian Congregational Church, San Francisco

We love subtitles in our house. We use them, of course, when we're watching a foreign language film, since when you're watching a dubbed film you lose the original voices, and you lose much of the passion and feeling that went into the film's making. Truth be told, we often use the subtitles for English language films as well, so we'll be ready when our hearing hardens. So one of the little ways Calvary Armenian won our hearts was by using subtitles (although I guess since they were projected above the pastor's head, perhaps they were "overtitles)."

Translations were found in other places. The bulletin had an English language synopsis of the Armenian portion of the sermon. When we sang the Lord's Prayer in Armenian, the screen had the lyrics in the Armenian alphabet and transliterated into Latin lettering and also translated into English. (I appreciated the opportunity to melodically massacre the Armenian language).

On the church web site a slogan proclaims, "All are welcome to worship with us on Sundays." While one would hope that would be the aim of every church, that's not the case, which, in some ethnic churches, is understandable to some degree. In the United States, churches have provided a sanctuary for immigrants. It might be the one place where an immigrant's home language is spoken, customs are understood, and food is served. This year we have attended ethnic churches where an effort has been made to see that we were made to feel welcome. At the Chinese Evangelical Free Church we attended, a woman who met us before the service offered to translate for us. At some churches, smiles and warm handshakes sought to overcome language barriers.

But we have attended some churches where people appreciated the opportunity to be with the family and friends they knew, and weren't looking for new friends or family.

Though Armenian culture is a major element of the church, we did meet non-Armenians after the service: two women who had married Armenians. One of the women was an American and the other was from El Salvador. Both had obviously found a home in the church. Many cultures seemed to influence the church. A family was welcomed back during the service from a trip to Beirut, both the husband and wife of that a family still have family there. The church's pastor for the last ten years, Nerses Balabanian, was born in Syria. In the prayers of the church (and from the literature and posters found in the hallways) concern for the world was plainly evident.

Mindy and I very much liked Pastor Balabanian. Mindy thought he looked a little like Bob Keeshan (I thought it would be more dignified to use the actor's name rather than Captain Kangaroo, since we respect both). I enjoyed his slight accent and at times awkward phrasing ("This is time of prayer before we go more singing" and "Don't go to your bulletin... I changed things... Spontaneity is beautiful"). I fully acknowledge that his English far outshines my Armenian.

The sermon was the last in a series on the Lord's Prayer. "Today's sermon is one word: 'Amen'. You've heard the whole sermon." Pastor Balabanian acknowledged that most texts of Matthew don't have the words, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen", and Luke doesn't either. But he said, "I don't want to argue whether this ending should be part of the Lord's Prayer or not. We Armenians, as one of the early churches in the world, kept it in our liturgy."

He talked about "Amen" as a universal word in the church, adapted to every language. He talked about how "Amen" was used throughout Scripture. And he talked about how in some churches "Amen" was used as a common exclamation of agreement. He said that was rarely the case in the Armenian Church. "Our church is not expressive church, and I respect that," he said, which received a loud "Amen!" from a member of the congregation. (This was said during the English language portion of the sermon. The first half was in Armenian and the second half was in English with the offering coming in between.)

The pastor pointed out that the word "Amen" will be used in Heaven (Revelation 5:14). I enjoyed greatly hearing God praised this Sunday in Armenian and English. I greatly look forward when people of every tongue will join together in the great Amen.

-- Dean

Statistics:

Service Length: 1 hour 13 minutes        

Sermon Length: 43 minutes (including offering and singing the Lord's Prayer)

Visitor Treatment: greeters at the door, a time during the service where guests and visiting family members were introduced, and friendly greetings before and after the worship service. We were invited to join the fellowship time after the service

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none

Our Rough Count: 63

ACTUAL Ushers' Count: 67 (we happened to see the count after church)

Snacks: coffee, hot tea, cranberry juice, two birthday cakes, proscuitto, a variety of fruit, pita, hummus, pesto, feta, mini quiches, and homemade Armenian honey cakes 

Musicians: one man on piano, a woman on organ

Songs: Faith of our Fathers

            Holy Holy Holy

            Doxology

            Amen

            Lord's Prayer

Miles to place: 65

Total California Miles: 11,090