Sunday Worship

I attended church this morning at Shandon Baptist Church (www.shandon.org). It was wonderful to worship and not have to worry about leading worship. It is a large church, and parts of it reminded me a little of Church of the Cross (LCC). The service itself was very simple, but elegant. Worship was led by a choir of about 60 people, with a full band/orchestra. Traditional music, done with a lot of joy. Not as contemporary as LCC, but the simplicity of the service made me feel at home. They did communion before the sermon. Communion included a prayer of confession and time for reflection (!), and was served "family style," where each person is given the bread and grape juice while seated. Then, the Words of Institution are spoken, and everyone eats together.

The sermon was excellent, and I felt like I had been fed. The pastor, Dick Lincoln, preached on death, and how to be prepared for it. Good Scripture references, relevant stories, and a very calm yet engaging manner. The sermon ended with an altar call, though I didn't see anyone in a crowd of 500-800 (my estimate) go forward. Seemed like it was mainly believers in worship.

Total service time: 1 hour, 5 minutes. The sermon was a little more than 30 minutes, communion took about 15-20 minutes, so there was not much singing overall. Felt a little like the standard "Lutheran hour," and it would have been nice to have some more singing! But it was great to be in worship, and I could tell God was moving in that church.