Not my style- a three hour worship service. Half of the time they sang, and half of the time, a woman spoke about her own supernatural experiences. Not one Bible in sight, which seemed counterproductive for any place of Christian worship to me.
Here's the deal: my brother and I are on vacation, and we were looking for a church to go to down by the shore here. This one was labeled as "nondenominational", and since my brother and I lean towards different Protestant denominations, I thought it'd do just fine. I'd done no research about what "Assembly of God" church meant, but hey, they seemed open and friendly as we walked in. Little children ran around and giggled, their parents with a watchful eye on them as they spoke with old friends. Something about their language was off.
They're trying too hard, I thought to myself, and then focused on praying for an open mind and heart during the worship.
Turns out I'd need that.
One of the pastors came forward with a story about his young granddaughter. He compared his granddaughter running back to him and holding his hand on the beach to our style of faith- running back to God when it turns out we need Him after all, to watch over and protect us. Near the end of his speech, there were a few voices rising up with "Amen!" and "Jesus!". I'd only seen that happen on TV, with televangelists. I was not used to people being so vocal about their spiritual experiences.
Then, the music started. Cool-looking band, contemporary gospel music. They weren't terrible, although I wasn't paying full attention to them. I was distracted by the two women with their hands up, swaying back and forth in front of me. I eyed my brother and we both suppressed twin grins, but I went from grinning to gritting my teeth as they repeated the last words of the chorus, for another five minutes. With every song they played, they did the same thing. Little children and adults alike shouted out and danced, and then mumbled unintelligibly once each song was over- what they called speaking in tongues. I couldn't tell you if it was normally what speaking in tongues sounds like, as this was my first experience with it. My brother and I stayed seated and tried not to squirm around. Didn't want to offend the happy church-goers by scrambling out the door.
The band joined the audience, seating themselves right behind us. An older woman with long, straw-like hair took the mic and talked about- gosh, a lot. A few of the girls in the kids programs were moving up to the youth group. They were told that they would make fine "healers", "seers" and "prophesiers". The kids left then, so that the remaining adults could talk about the government, angels and aliens. She kept mentioning "Watchmen" (I could only think about the movie) and how she had these visions and dreams. She had seen UFOs often as a child. She claimed to have had a visitation from Christ Himself. She talked about when she was little and people would start convulsing in church, how she didn't know that there had been demons in them. And she spoke of the fast approach of the End Of Times.
We ran out of there the second she was done. Once we got to my car, we stopped walking as little, confused giggles escaped.
The calm and peace felt by the parishioners, it felt too showy. I felt angry about their claims to heal people with their own, human hands, especially when a woman came forward whose brother was dying of cancer. I glanced at my own brother next to me, thinking the pain of losing him would be unbearable, and that giving hope to that woman that one of the other members would heal him was cruel. I even felt bad for those kids, who were told what their role would be in the church. "You will make a fine seer", they would tell one child. Some of the kids seemed more than happy to comply, others looked dissatisfied.
It was not the kind of church I would want someone newly exploring the Christian faith to go to. Very extreme and extroverted worship styles.
He loves children, so I really home he gets a home where he can be some little kid's best friend. I think that'd be the best home for him.
