Buckhead Church, Round 2

Adam and I had another great morning teaching Sunday School at CCB. Since we miss church once a month to teach we decided last month we would try going to Buckhead Church on Sunday nights. They are right around the corner from us at CCB and we’ve been curious to see it. It’s such a different experience from our church, we’re a church of almost 200, they are a church of thousands. Adam wrote about our first Buckhead Church experience. So this is round 2 and I wanted to share some of my thoughts.

Steve Fee lead worship tonight. Adam told me he has written a lot of the worship songs we sing at our church but that was all I knew about him. I don’t know why I thought he would be older, so I was a little surprised how young he looked. (Or maybe it was the emo hair, as Adam likes to call it, making him look younger.) The music was really incredible. The sound, lights, production, musicians are all stunning. Of course they get compared to being a concert all the time and it was just as good as many concerts I’ve been to. But I had to remind myself as I was enjoying the show that it was also worship. So I had to consciously redirect my focus to worshiping.

Last time Jeff Henderson gave the sermon and I thought he was really good. This time we got hologram Andy. Wow, he is a really incredible speaker. His sermon delivery was flawless, every word was perfect. I did giggle to myself when I saw his shoes, they looked like Converse All Stars. I got paged in the middle of the sermon to pick up my crying child. I only missed a few moments of the sermon though, there were tvs everywhere. I had to stop myself from watching the screen too close because the audio and the video were just a tiny bit off which was really distracting for me.

Waumba Land for the kids is something else, the decorations in the hallways are beautiful. Ricky loves walking around and looking at the animals and the fish hanging from the ceiling. I feel perfectly safe leaving my kids there. But I have no idea what Ricky did while he was there. There were several parents picking their kids up at the same time so I didn’t try to ask, which of course I could have. Ricky was just standing around when I looked in and he ran to me when he saw me. I saw some coloring papers on the floor but Ricky didn’t have one and I don’t know why. I didn’t get any feedback on how he did in class but at least he wasn’t crying or upset when I picked him up.

Last time Adam counted 5 people that talked to him. This time had to be less, there was the guy at kids check in, the lady that took Rachel, the guy that took Ricky (although I’m not sure he actually said anything to me) and someone handed me an envelope at the entrance to the auditorium (but I’m not sure if they said anything). After the service we did stop by the Information desk. They were nice enough, they asked me what I needed when I walked up. I’m not good at being chatty, I told them we didn’t have a chance to stop by on our first Sunday and she handed me a visitor’s cd. That was the end of the conversation.
I guess I expected her to say something else, maybe “how did you enjoy the service” or “thanks for coming.” As we walked away from the desk I spied someone with an official Host Team polo shirt talking into his secret service earpiece. It just strikes me how easy it is to slip in and out without anyone even noticing you were there. I’m sure that’s appealing to many of the people that go there, and for those people I’m glad that they are going church somewhere even if it is anonymously.

You can’t walk in to the doors of CCB and not have someone welcome you in, ask your name, thank you for being there. You can choose not to engage in conversation if you want, but someone will always try to talk to you.

It’s really easy to be critical, I know ministry is tough at every church. They are working at creating a better experience there just like we are. I enjoy our once a month trips to the mega church around the corner, there’s a lot we can learn from them. It also makes me appreciate our church and reminds me of the things I love about CCB. I love our genuine, if not flawless worship. I miss hearing Derek’s sermon. I love how Carl rushes to the door to help me in with my double wide stroller. I love my Sunday School class and getting to share in the lives of some really great kids. I love how Stacey searched out Adam this morning because she met someone that he had something in common with, and that happens every week. So my CCB friends that might be reading, don’t worry we’re not jumping ship!