Moderate Apostolics 2

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Steve Starcher wrote:

> I have seen the look on visitors faces
> when they walk into some Apostolic churches.  Sociologists call it
> "culture shock".  Everyone looks, dresses, and acts the same.  They
> speak Apostolicese, the native language of Apostolics unknown outside of
> Apostolic circles. They stand up, sit down, raise their hands, pray,
> praise, etc., on the authoritative command of a pastor. They sing
> familiar choruses without providing guests with any words.

This is something that I wish to remain aware of.

My first visit to a church with Pentecostal-style worship was a shock
to me.  At some hidden cue, everybody began speaking in tongues
simultaneously.  They all stood and sat down at the same time.  It was
weird.

When I visited my first Apostolic church it was still a little bizarre,
but the worship there was very free. (As an aside, I have since visited
churches with apostolic doctrine with the choreographed "praise" of the
first church I visited).  And because the worship was free, it touched
something in my shriveled little agnostic heart.  God saw fit to remove
my heart of stone, and replace it with a heart of flesh   *hallelulah*!

The church of which I'm currently a member strives to make ourselves
"visitor friendly."  We greet everybody at the door.  Newcomers are
given an information packet which explains why we worship the way we
do.  The pastor will often explain why we worship the way we do.  Songs
are up on overheads (yes, I've been to the churches which don't display
words to songs -- a very uncomfortable situation to be in).   AND,
probably most importantly, we're open to suggestions on further
improvements.

We don't stifle our worship in any way -- we consider that an essential
part of the church service and shows the visitor that we are indeed
"Pentecostal," and the word of God which is preached is not in the
least bit watered down.  Our pastor and our youth pastor both have that
extraordinary ability to connect with their audience in a natural way.
For these reasons and because of intercessors in our congregation, we 
are seeing true revival in Champaign-Urbana.

We could probably use some help in the language area -- what Bro
Starcher called "Apostolicese."  If somebody could list some phrases
that are foreign outside of church circles, perhaps we can think of
some more understandable alternatives.

   * * *

Contrast this to a church I visited in the middle of Oklahoma last
weekend.  I was visiting with family, and we decided to go Sunday
morning to a denominal Pentecostal church with my cousin.  It was my
first visit to a denominal church in several years.

The inside was beautiful -- very nice carpeting, wonderful padded pews,
a well decorated platform.

We did not receive a visitor card of any kind, but did get a bulletin.
The front of this bulletin said "Where visitors are welcome!" or words
to that effect.  We got there 15 minutes early.  We were greeted by one
man -- everybody else just stared.  I felt like my fly was open or
something.  The man who greeted us turned out to be a visiting
evangelist.

The worship was dead, though I guess that's a bit beside the point.
Everybody looked like they were there because they had to be there; not
a smile in the place.  The evangelist tried hard to get people to
praising, and a few people did stand to give half-hearted
"hallelujahs."  I was conscious of the fact that I was filtering this
through my own conception that I consider this a place that teaches
false doctrine, and I tried giving them the benefit of doubt (small
town in Oklahoma, hard times, etc); but I've been to the UPC church in
the same small city, and in that church they definitely do things right
to make people feel welcome, and the praise is lively and open and
joyful, and the people just *look* genuinely happy.

At this denominal church, there were no words to assist the newcomer
with the choruses.  Fortunately, I knew most of the songs, but that
would probably not be the case for Joe Sixpack.

My toddler son when to children's church, where it turns out that all
they did was show a "Jesus" video.  Give Me A Break.  I suppose they're
trying to be culturally relevant (which I agree is important), but all
they're doing is tuning into the couch potato mentality.

I came away feeling like I went to a funeral, rather than a celebration.
It was really very sad.
 
   * * *

Let my visit not be an example where we say "thank God we righteous and
holy and not like them!" (and I admit, the temptation to do so is
strong), but let us take this example as a lesson for us who are
interested in reaching souls:

 1. Collect contact information on your visitors.  You cannot follow up
 on visitors unless you know where to find them!  Personal evangelism
 has always been a primary way to win souls.  Somebody is assigned to
 do followup visitation every Saturday here at Apostolic Life.

 2. Greet visitors at the door.  Make them feel welcome.  Visitors make
 their first impression of your church during the first 10 minutes of
 their visit.  Have assigned greeters at the door so this job isn't
 neglected.

 3. Ensure that newcomers can sing the songs.  Life Tabernacle UPC in
 Wichita Falls TX has a really cool computer projection system that
 really really impressed me -- I think I actually said "Wow!" out
 loud.  But low-tech overheads also work well.  I know from personal
 experience how uncomfortable it is to be in church and not know what
 is going on.

 4. Strive for excellence in everything you do.  If you publish that
 church starts at 7 p.m., start it at 7 p.m.  Don't succumb to the
 temptation to do things the easy way.  Have your songs ready, and make
 sure your praise singers and musicians are ready to sing and play
 those songs.  This does not mean, BTW, that you must exclude the
 leading of the Holy Ghost during the service.  A balance is possible.
 (IMHO, showing a cartoon in Sunday School is laziness -- others may
 disagree.)

 5. Unity is essential for revival.  I'm not talking about an absolute
 agreement on every jot and tittle of what you may think on various
 doctrinal position (though agreement on some basics is essential), but
 I am talking about strong leadership, and the willingness for the church
 to follow somebody with a vision for revival.

I am not an "expert" on revival; I'm only a member of a church for which
these principles have worked and where revival is taking place.  I am
excited about the reports of revival worldwide, and I pray these tips
are of use to somebody else who desires to see revival in their part of
the world.

Richard Masoner
Champaign Illinois USA

P.S. thank you for your viewpoints, Bro Starcher.

P.P.S.  I've been away a lot these past few weeks, but I also have been
dismayed of late by the personal attacks and flames on this list.  Let's
please by a little more considerate of the others on this list, please?
Lord bless you all.