We debated a bit over where to land this week. Ideally we'd grid the city and shift into different areas over the course of each week. However, I'd heard from a coworker at Western Seminary about the new building at Village Baptist and my curiosity was peeked. We had 3 service options - 5:30 Sat or 8:30 & 10:30 on Sunday morning. Again - without a need to arrive early and already having plans for Saturday evening - that 10:30 hour looked mighty attractive! So, again - the trek from Gresham to the west side!
Village Baptist Church (vbconline.org) has a unique dynamic on a couple of different fronts. In addition to offering a variety of services (a worship gathering with a band, a worship service with choir & organ, & an emerging service) it also shows visibly their commitment to ethnic diversity.
On entering the campus we were guided to our parking space and then used some ingenuity to find our way upstairs to the main gathering place. The building is incredible - most notable - a large artistic portion of scripture woven together in several languages. It's truly beautiful.
There was a crowd. Quite a crowd - really. We've been in church long enough to understand the between-service crunch. We made our way from the hub of activity to the gathering room and were stunned by the contrast. It was quiet. Real quiet. We weren't really quite sure how to take it in initially - we're used to making the people around us feel welcomed. Ah ... then our eyes fell to the screen and we took note that this was preparation time. Ok - we can do that. Be still. Yes - this is good.
The worship team for this particular service was clearly talented and vibrant. A contrast to the quiet, to be sure! The speaker was Dr. Joseph D'souza - who shared a powerful message of compassion, hope and challenge as he shared about the poor and outcast. (see dalitnetwork.org or dalitchild.com) We were reminded - so little can do so much. Yes - many applications. Jesus cares about the poor, the outcast, the blind, broken and imprisoned. He was sent to bind their wounds, heal, set them free ... (so are we!)
Summary: Village Baptist very much appears to be a church with a global view - not just in other countries, although that is true - but for people groups, no matter where they are. This can't be missed when you visit.
Noteworthy feature: The new building has a feature I haven't seen before or heard of that intrigued us much. They have 4 stations on the perimeter of the room where the service takes place. In each of those are places to meet the Lord in relationship. 1) communion, 2) a bowl to wash hands (with thought filled guidance offered in print if you were to choose) and 3) a journal along with candles (light indicating truth in darkness). The stations were mentioned during the service but it wasn't until after the service Randy and I poked around to check them out (we knew little of them). So private and personal. Seriously great. Praying for you at Village.
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