Mychurch

Church tryouts week 2! The church we tried this week had an interesting name, Mychurch. The name is what caught my eye actually. I checked out their website and I really liked what they were all about so today we gave them a try. They are just getting started, maybe only a few years up and running but they  have already outgrown their building. They have 3 packed services every Sunday. The church building is in a shopping center which is kind of different when you drive up. Parking is in the grass, on the sidewalk, or anywhere you can fit a vehicle. The childcare was nothing special. They had small rooms with toys and were split up by age groups. Kaley's class didn't have any structured activity, no bible story or anything which I didn't really like, but the caregivers were really nice. The kids just played together. We dropped our daughter off and then found some seats in the back. I assumed when I walked by the box of ear plugs by the front door that the music was going to be LOUD and I was correct. My son was in my sling and ready for a nap so I slipped out before the worship began and sure enough, wow. These people ROCK OUT in church! The band was incredible, good music ... really loud ... the "sanctuary" was just a big dark and smokey conference room. Yeah they had smoke machines, odd. When we first went in there I felt like we were in a club or at a concert with the loud music, flashing lights, and "smoke". After the praise and worship part though they turn on the lights, the smoke dissipates, and it feels like a sanctuary again. While I was standing outside with the baby waiting for the worship part to end I was people watching. The crowd is mostly young people. College students and families our age with young kids. As I was unintentionally eavesdropping on the conversations some of the women were having, I could just tell that these were people I could easily be friends with. The pastor came over and said hi to me, I guess I looked like a stranger. He was very nice and he spoke a great message that morning. He is a young guy with a wife and kids (well, young for a pastor) so we could relate to his real life examples he used during the message. He was a funny guy too haha, long story. Anyway, Jon really liked the church as well. They have life groups to help people get connected with one another. Some are bible study groups and others are just hobby groups. For example they have a football group, jogging group, ultimate frisby group ... the point is to connect with other people in the church and develop christian relationships then go from there. I thought that was neat. I'm interested to see what other groups they have, maybe something that interests me. So, overall we definitely liked it. I would just have to go ahead and start putting my son in the daycare because the music was just way too loud for him. The few "elderly" that I saw in attendance took earplugs on the way in. :) Mychurch is a bit of a drive from the base. We are going to try out some churches closer to where we live in the next couple weeks, but we will definitely keep this one in mind!