Week Two: First Assembly of God

Cedar Rapids First Assembly of God

This week in my Year of Churches I went to an Assemblies of God church for the first time. I don't know a lot about the denomination, except that they are Pentecostal. They believe in a distinct "baptism of the Holy Spirit" (separate from water baptism, which is only symbolic for them), the evidence of which is shown by speaking in tongues (glossalalia). I'm really thankful that it doesn't appear to happen during their worship services, or at least it didn't when I was there.

The church building itself is an imposing concrete building. It's massive! Inside there was a narrow gathering space, definitely too small for the amount of people there. On of the space were the entrances to the sanctuary/auditorium. The other side had long hallways leading off of it towards classrooms, a smaller sanctuary/chapel, a gym, coffee shop, etc. There was a lot going on in that building.

I was greeted when I came in and given a small bulletin that looked a lot what I got last week at Veritas-full color and professionally designed. I am not going to get over how much it must cost to create and print those things alone.

The sanctuary looked like a larger version of the auditorium I was in last week at Veritas. Two things stood out. A lot of the rows had boxes of tissues under the last chair. Either there was a lot of crying, a lot of stuffy noses, or both. Maybe it was just a courtesy thing. Also, the drummer was imprisoned inside a plastic cage, maybe to help temper the sound?

The Service

Free the drummer!

The sanctuary was around 80% full by the time everyone was inside. Once again, there were very few kids. Elementary aged kids and younger were in their own areas. I think they even had an area for babies. I'm torn on this. On the one hand, it's really neat that the littles are able to have things fun for them and at their level. On the other hand, it almost feels like they aren't part of the "real" community. They get their own separate church services and sermons while the adults get theirs. It's just strange to me to not even see them. I personally prefer it when the kids at least start with the larger community before being dismissed to their own age-appropriate activities. At least that helps cement for everyone that this is one community.

The service started with three songs. The worship team sounded lovely and they were very earnest. Most of the people seemed to participate in the singing, and many raised their arms and swayed. The people closest to the stage seemed really into it. The head pastor came onto the stage and helped rile people up so more. During prayer it was common for people to yell "Amen!" or clap or cheer with something that spoke to them, which was common throughout the rest of the service.

The head pastor encouraged everyone to greet people, and to especially say hi to people you've never met or those who may be new. This greeting lasted several minutes and was probably the most enthusiastic (and sincere) as any I've ever seen. The congregants didn't just greet the people next to them; many left their seats and went around the sanctuary greeting people. The pastor also gave a shout out to newcomers and visitors in his opening remarks. 

There was also a collection taken up before the sermon. All of the ushers were men. It made me wonder if it was exclusively a guy thing or if men just seemed to sign up more than women. They passed around metal bowls for people to put in any offerings. People were also encouraged to put "Connect" cards into the metal bowls as they came around. These cards had different boxes to check for first-time visitors, people wanting info on baptism, to get more involved, etc. There were also little prayer request and praise report cards on the backs of the chairs. I'm assuming those were supposed to go in the offertory as well.

The Sermon

After that was a sermon by one of the other pastors (I would later learn there were five pastors). It lasted around a half hour and was on overcoming failure. He used Peter as an example of getting back up after failing. I'd give more info, but there honestly wasn't a lot of substance. It was delivered well and was engaging enough (I was never bored), but I kept waiting for him to move on. Basically, God wants us to get up after failing and not lose faith when we fail or life doesn't seem to right. It was very feel-good and felt more like a self-help talk than anything else. 

Again, there was a lot of clapping and verbal agreements during the sermon. The pastor would even encourage people to engage in it. That's definitely a big part of their culture.

He did say he was going to do something different and invited some people up to the front of the space. I forget what he called them, but they were basically going to pray with and over anyone who came forward and needed prayer after the service ended, especially people who were having trouble with failure. I thought that that was a sweet thing to offer to people. 

After the sermon he led a closing prayer and then the service was over. The music team started playing and singing a song again, but everyone just left instead of participating. I noticed this last week at Veritas too. It felt rude to leave while that was happening, so I stayed until they finished the song.

After the Service

I've decided that if churches have a guests' area then I'm going to check it out. In the gathering area (which was very crowded) I found a guests' area with "VIP" signs hanging above it and manned by a young adult man and woman. There were very excited after I told them that I'd never been there before. I got a packet of information and could choose between either a powerbank or coffee mug as their gift to me. You can never have too many mugs, and it is a really nice one. They also invited me to a monthly  newcomers dinner held at the head pastor's house. Very friendly and welcoming. I mentioned that I was just going around and checking out different churches. They suggested that it's best to go to a new church for a few weeks before passing judgement on it or deciding whether it would be a good church home, which I thought was a fair statement. 

One thing I noticed when looking through their website and the materials I was given- there was never a spot where they shared what they actually believed. The woman at the guests' center said they really love Jesus, but other than that I couldn't find anything. That could be on me. I did ask them a generic, "Tell me about your church" question, but never anything more specific than that.

This church was super welcoming and seems to have a heart for reaching outsiders. In the opening announcements the head pastor even encouraged women to take advantage of their "early-bird" pricing for a women's event in October to pay the way for a friend to go. It was a nice experience, but it does cater to a really specific type of spirituality. I have no idea if the sermons are usually so light or if it was just that week's topic.

Next Week's Plan: First Church of Christ, Scientist