I have heard that some of you readers out there don't like to read my posts when there are no pictures. Just don't have a picture to go with this one.
We are church hunting. When we first moved to Raleigh, we joined a church family. We have since decided that, though we love our friends there very much, it just is not the right fit for our family. Thus.. the search is on for a new church home. We have narrowed the list down to 4 different places to visit. We are looking for something that is in our neighborhood (downtown) so that really rules out places that are beyond a 15 minute drive. A church with sound doctrine, that has a strong children's ministry, well established.... this is sort of embarrassing to admit but we don't really have a very long list. Bottom line is that we are trying to find a church where we feel the Lord leading us to be.
That being said, today we decided to visit Vintage 21. We were so excited on the drive over there. People have been telling us we should visit this place since we moved here. Now we understand why. Aesthetically, this place is right up our alley. It is a converted warehouse or bar or something. We looked around and saw "our kind of people" all around us. Everyone was super friendly, particularly those in the children's ministry. The girls were immediately at home. You can't judge a church on one experience alone and Vintage 21 asks that you give them six weeks to really show you what they are about. We really enjoyed our visit. The worship was awesome, the message was convicting. I am ready to go back next Sunday. We particularly liked the way they handle communion. After the message, they have more worship songs and during that time you are encouaged to take communion in your own time from one of two communion stations set up on either side of the seating area. I like that intimate feeling of being able to take communion in my own moment with the Lord.
Purposefully searching for a church is not an easy task. It is something we are spending a lot of time praying about.
1 comment:
I am so glad you liked the church you visited. If that doesn't work out, I wanted to tell you about our church, which is not downtown, but is near Crossroads at 64/US 1.
(don't even know how close to downtown it is, but it is Raleigh).
Anyway, the childrens misistry is awesome and the pastor is phenominal, music is outstanding. They have two Saturday night services and two Sunday morning services. It is Hope Community Church (www.gethope.net). I know how church shopping can be, so just thought I'd throw this out there...good luck with it!
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