With the blogging portion of this project effectively wrapped up, I've decided to leave a table of contents here for quick viewing convenience. Click on the titles below for specific church visits, or feel free to browse the old entries on the right-hand side of the page. I've organized them by order of the church visits, adding several of the less congregation-specific articles at the end:
Introduction (April 11th, 2011)
The Summit (Durham, NC)- April 10th, 2011
New Song Community Church (Baltimore, MD)- May 8th, 2011
- First Impressions
- Worship
- Worship (Part 1)
- Worship (Part 2)
LaSalle Street Church (Chicago, IL)- May 19th, 2011
Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL)- May 21st, 2011
- Worship (Part 1)
- Worship (Part 2)
Lawndale Community Church (Chicago, IL)- May 22nd, 2011
- Lou Malnati's
- Worship (Part 1)
- Worship (Part 2)
- First Impressions
- Part 1- Saturday Evening Praise Service
- Part 2- Saturday Evening Praise Service (Part 2)
- Part 3- Sunday Morning Contemporary Service
- Part 4- Sunday Morning Traditional Service
- Part 5- Sunday Evening Service and Other Thoughts
Detour: Westboro Baptist Church (Topeka, KS)- June 6th, 2011
New Life Church (Colorado Springs, CO)- June 12th, 2011
- Background on Rev. Ted Haggard
- How I Met Ted Haggard, Offended Him, and Was Subsequently Asked to Leave
- New Life
- New Life (part 2)
Detour: Temple Square (Salt Lake City, UT)- June 16th, 2011
Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA)- June 19th, 2011
- Reactions to Pastor Mark's Book
- Mark Driscoll Video Clips
- Prelude: WBC at Mars Hill
- Original WBC and Mars Hill Statements
- Part 1- Background, Ballard Campus, and Worship
- Part 2- Parable of the Ten Minas
- Part 3- Money Matters
- Part 4- Downtown
- Part 5- Concluding Comments
GLIDE Church and Temenos Catholic Worker (San Francisco, CA)- June 26th, 2011
- Research
- Declining to Comment
- Reflections on the X-Men
- Working For, Being With, Working With
- Part 1- When Church Goes on Vacation
- Part 2- Worship and Patriotism
- Part 3- Sermon (Romans 7)
- Part 4- Worship in the Cafe and Closing Thought
Mosaic (Pasadena, CA)- July 3rd, 2011
- Part 1- Background and "Big Box"
- Part 2- Worship and Contemporary/Traditional
- Part 3- Sermon: Rehoboam and Jeroboam
- Part 4- The Artist Tribe, Closing Thoughts, Personal Reflections
Austin Stone Community Church (Austin, TX)- July 17th, 2011
- Preface to Austin Stone and Hill Country
- Morning Service at St. John Campus (Part 1)
- Morning Service at St. John Campus (Part 2)
- Evening Service (Part 1)
- Evening Service (Part 2)
- Epilogue: Evangelical Youth Culture
Hill Country Bible Church (Austin, TX)- July 17th, 2011
- Worship (Part 1)
- Worship (Part 2)
- Part 1- Prosperity Gospel and Welcome
- Part 2- Getting the Lay of the Land and Worship
- Part 3- Worship Continues, Things Get Weird
- Part 4- Sermon: "God Is a Rewarder"
- Part 5- Joel Osteen: Friendly, Well-Intentioned, Dangerous
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church (Houston, TX)- July 24th, 2011
- First Visit to Lord of the Streets (July 20th, 2011)
- Part 1- Arrival and "More than Conquerors"
- Part 2- Sermon, Departure, and the Fence
Ecclesia (Houston, TX)- July 24th, 2011
- Part 1- Background and Arrival
- Part 2- Worship
- Part 3- Sermon: Trust, Faith, and a Small Miracle
- Early Reactions to T.D. Jakes
- Part 1- Preliminary Comments
- Part 2- Welcome, Worship, Frustrations
- Part 3- Announcements, More Music, and a Quick Promo
- Part 4- Sermon: "Shake It Off"
- Part 5- More Sermon, Altar Call, Dismissal
- Part 6- Lingering Questions and Epilogue
Other Topical Pieces:
- Why Study Megachurches?
- The Life Cycle of a Church
- Generational Warfare in the Church
- "Real Ministry"
- Kenyon Visit and "Barbed Theology"
- Thoughts on Privilege
- Guest Commentary: Erin on Missions
- Panhandlers
- The Prayer of Jabez
- Dante
- On Creation
- What I've Learned from Batman
Personal Stuff:
- Testimony
- Why I Identify as Baptist
- Confession of Faith
- The Phoenix Prayer
- More Information on Post-It Art
I hope this has been useful! It was a long journey, and a lot of this may yet find its way into a book, but for now, I simply carry these experiences with me. Feel free to contact me with questions, comments, and insights!
Peace and Blessings,
Tom
