Cool Church Names...

For this entry you will need some background reading from Stuff Christians Like
Here is the link to the post I am commenting on:
http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2009/01/shetland-pony-biggest-loser-and-three.html

#3 struck my interest today. In my life I've gone to 4 churches. 2 happened to share the same name (Grace UMC) and two with names that my grandma was sure are not "real" churches, the one and only time her and Joe attended Terra Nova for church (graduation morning) I thought she would have a heart attack when I asked Joe if her would like some hot tea for the service and that there were no hymnals (what will we sing if we have no hymnals??!!). I think my time at Terra Nova (where I interned serior year of college, met my husband and got married) and Momentum (where I currently attend in Woodstock, GA) have impacted my life much more than my church I grew up in and the church that I went to for a year in college, thanks to my parents hooking me up with it.

I think there should be a special expectation that by going to a church that has a cool name that it should be more exciting or something than a church with the name Grace United Methodist Church (GUMC as I will further refer to them as, with my home church being GUMC1 and my one year college school being GUMC2). Now I love the church I grew up in, it was awesome, however the services were long and boring to me. Our "praise service" that we got sometime when I was in high school, pretty much consisted of 5 or 6 of my friends' parents on stage singing "Shine, Jesus, Shine" and "Shout to the Lord" every week. Some people like that, I don't. The best thing about GUMC1 to me was our youth group and our youth pastor we had for a few years while I was in high school, Rev. Ruth. If it weren't for Rev. Ruth I would have never went to church camp at Lakeside, meet the wonderful people I did at Lakeside Institute, know what Ohio Wesleyan was or end up going there, or really ever have my life fully on track.

Momentum and Terra Nova are both upbeat and, this may make or break my thoughts on a 'good' church, let you drink coffee during the service (it is a no-no at GUMC1 to have any drink but communion grape juice in the sanctuary). I know coffee does not determine holiness or anything, but I would like to think that God and Jesus have at least one cup every morning. Another thing I like about my cool named churches are that rather than reading word for word a sermon that they mostly got off the internet (oh yeah it has happened before and caused me to really dislike a well-liked pastor at GUMC1) Jason (at TN) and Ross (Momentum) have a basic outline of what they are going to talk about, but speak from the inside and are not afraid to get a little off subject mid-sermon. I like that because I have ADHD and getting off subject is what I do best, so if the pastor can get off subject a little and run around on stage that will keep my attention better than someone standing at the pulpit reading word for word and not engaging the congregation.

Maybe I am a little partial to my 2 cooler named churches though because they are different and if it weren't for Terra Nova and my best friend making me drive her there one day in July '07, I would have never met Alex, which leads to not getting married and moving to the Peach State. So I think God had His hand in there big time telling Juliet to ask me to take her to her church since she didn't have a ride that week. I am also glad that in January of '08, Alex got a phone call telling him that some church needed a drummer that Sunday in Woodstock, so CR had asked him to play. If it weren't for Momentum, I would probably hate Georgia. Everyone at Momentum is so nice and loving. And I love it!!! I am a very huggy person (side-hugs make me smile) and most people at Momentum are the same way so it makes me feel at home when I walk out to the lobby and get 50 side-hugs from everyone. :)

Alright I may add more on my cool names later, but I just realized that I never turned on the coffee pot and kinda want some coffee. I will also post my slim list of resolutions later too.

Lots of Love and tator tots :)