Mt. Vernon Church of God

Well, today we attended the Mt. Vernon Church of God on Harlan Road. I can with a fair amount of certainty say that this will not be the church we decide to make our home. There was nothing severely wrong with the church; we just didn’t feel at home. When we arrived, we were greeted well, but several people kept asking us whom we were related to. Once they realized they did not know us, we stood in the foyer waiting for Sunday school to get over for what seemed like forever. That was not too bad, but one rather older gentleman came up from behind me, put his arms on my shoulders, and said, “I know you, I knew your grandmother.” He gave me the name of someone who I had never heard of, and once he had figured out that he did not know me, he kept his hands on my shoulders for a rather lengthy period of time. Now, I’m not homophobic, but I did not like this at all.

Probably 80% of the church was over fifty, but we did see one couple that had a boy about Cassidy’s age. I’m sure this is a good church, but I don’t think we will go back.

Recent Phone Conversation

Recently, I had the chance to speak with the pastor of the Mt. Vernon Church of God (formally known as the Harlan Road Church of God). On the phone, this gentleman sounded great. He seemed to really care about my spiritual condition, and made it really clear that we would be welcome there. He also asked that we pray and seek God for His guidance. He was glad to hear that we were leaving our current church on good terms, especially good terms with our pastor. He seemed to understand how difficult it can be to find the place that you feel at home. This church has good potential, and will be one of the next one’s we visit.

Meeting with Nazarene Pastor

On Monday, I met with the pastor of the Nazarene Church in town. He is a great guy, and seems to really understand church ministry. This is definitely a church we are going to visit. The good things about it (without yet visiting), is that it is close, sounds like it has a good congregation, and perhaps has potential to grow. In addition, I believe the Nazarene beliefs are very similar to mine. On the negative, it sounds like the church is mostly family, rather small, and does not have very many children Cassidy’s age. Again, the only way to really know much is to actually go visit.

Grace Community

On Sunday, we took our first step at finding another church. We visited Grace Community Church (formerly First Community). The worship service was really good, and the people seemed friendly. Actually, my aunt goes there, so we knew someone already. There was also a lady who I work with, and a couple who we went to church with many years ago. We were asked to stand up so 150 people could all turn around and look at us wave. Oh, yeah! That was weird, but other than that, it looks like a good church. I think do think, however, that our search is still on.

Background

Okay, here is our situation. We have been attending a small church for the last several years, and have come to believe that we should go somewhere else. We do not intend to badmouth this church, and we ask that anyone one who leaves comments do the same. This blog will be devoted to our search and whatever may come along with it (actually, I have been informed that it is not really a blog, but an online journal…well, close enough).

So where did we get this idea? We have a wonderful friend who is documenting his weight loss at the following address. This is what gave us the idea.

http://www.faithmooney.com/sb/