It makes sense, then, that the
church called someone like John Ortberg, who has his doctorate in psychology as
well as his masters of divinity, and who has achieved some renown for his
writing and teaching. His preaching is clear and focused and Christ centered.
And I can say from the couple of minutes we spoke with him, he also seemed
quite gracious. Claudia, a very kind woman we met when we arrived at the church,
approached Pastor Ortberg just before the service started and asked him to meet
us.
On Saturday evening, the sermon is
recorded for use at the other campuses on Sunday morning, and just before a service is not always a time
when pastors love to meet new people, but Pastor Ortberg gave no evidence of
being displeased or rushed, and even asked about our blog. When I said we'd been
to Anne Lamott's church the previous weekend he certainly perked up. I believe
I remember hearing him praise Lamott years ago when we attended an arts
conference at Willow Creek Community Church, unless my memory is playing tricks
on me (and my memory does play tricks on me, because I remember the diving
board at Healdsburg Memorial Beach was 1000 feet tall when I was a kid, and I'm
pretty sure it wasn't). One thing that very much impressed me was seeing
Ortberg stay after the service to pray with people; which I heard is his
regular practice.
MPPC has other blessings and
challenges due to its geography. The community is wealthy, and members of the
church are generous. This allows the church to do projects like Compassion
Weekend -- in addition to service and mission projects throughout the year, one
weekend the whole congregation (or most of it, over 3000 people) takes on projects
all around the Bay Area: at schools, homeless shelters and other places with
great need, teaming with a number of groups, religious and secular. A lot of
money (I heard the figure $400,000) is used to help people.
The church has also needed and has
used significant sums to plant other campuses in this pricy part of the
country. Another great financial need came up a couple of years ago when the
church decided to leave the PCUSA denomination and join the ECO (A Covenant
Order of Evangelical Presbyterians) denomination. The PCUSA required the church
to buy back its property and building to leave. One of the reasons they decided
to leave the PCUSA was to have the freedom to plant daughter churches. (A
number of churches less financially blessed have had the difficult choice of
remaining in a denomination with which they have fundamental disagreements or
lose their building and property.)
Another challenge of this area at
this time is that there are many people in the community who don't think kindly
about churches. Many people in the Bay Area think of churches as festering
clusters of bigots and haters.
The idea of churches as places of
prejudice comes from a few churches that have been pretty awful, as well as bad
press and, I believe, lies from Satan. To counter such hostility, the church
emphasizes and tries to live by the following motto: "Everyone's Welcome,
Nobody's Perfect and Anything's Possible."
New acquaintances told us before the
service that over the last few years the church has been trying to overcome
some perceived weaknesses. Though people have been free in giving financially,
they've been less generous with their time -- so there has been an emphasis on
service. They've also have been working through a perception of not being a
friendly church, (which was quite strange to hear in the midst of a
conversation with a group of very friendly people). But hey, people get
different impressions and have different expectations when they go through
church doors.
For instance, we were warned before
the service that the music would be very loud. Apparently this has been a
complaint from some longtime members. It's caused some people to check out
other churches, even though there is an early Sunday morning service with
traditional music (from the hymnal). Some people, we were told, choose to
worship from the library, which has screens displaying what's going on in the
sanctuary. Maybe it was because there were no drums in the service we attended,
maybe it's that years of youth ministry have made me rather callous to
"loud music," but I was baffled by this being a source of conflict
(though most churches have bafflingly sources of conflict). I did appreciate
the lyrics of the songs being quite legible on the screens (showcasing the
worship band and leaders).
I mentioned tacos earlier, and
perhaps, if you haven't had lunch, that's all you've been thinking of since you
started reading. During the summer, the church is serving dinner after the
Saturday evening service (which we attended this week). There is a charge for
the meal, but first time visitors eat free -- and it seemed that those in need
were provided for as well. There was also a bounce room in a second courtyard
area for the kids, with tables nearby where most of the young families ate.
The tacos were very good (catered by
a local restaurant). But the welcome we received, the worship, the teaching... all
of these things were even better.
Statistics:
Service Length: 1 hour 5
minutes
Sermon Length: 38 minutes
Visitor Treatment: We were
welcomed as we walked around before church. There wasn't a greeting time during
the service, but there was a card for visitors or regular attenders to fill
out. First time visitors were especially encouraged to join the meal (right
outside the church doors) afterward, as the church's guests.
Our Rough Count: 200
Probable Ushers' Count: 245
Snacks: a table with free
trade, organic decaf coffee, water and lemonade was just outside the main
entrance to the sanctuary before and after the service
Musicians: keyboard (man, also sang)
2
acoustic guitars (men, also sang)
singer
(woman)
electric
bass (man, didn't sing)
drum
setup, but no drummer this time
Songs: You are the Giver
By
Your Grace I'm Saved
All
Creatures of our God and King
Come
Thou Fount
Amazing
Grace
You
are my Vision
Miles to place: 94
Total California Miles: 8,633
-- Dean
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