A Mormon visits Calvary Chapel

A few weeks ago we went on a little weekend trip to a town a few hours from here.  On Saturday, we noticed a sign advertising the local Calvary Chapel’s annual Church in the Park was to be the following day only a few blocks from our hotel, and decided that it could be a fun part of our vacation. (Not to mention there was to be free lunch, which was a pretty motivating factor.)

Now I have to confess, although I've listed to hundreds (thousands?) of Christian sermons, and watched a great many Christian worship services on video, I have never attended a worship service (aside from Catholic Mass) that wasn't a Mormon service.  I did, however, go to my friend's Christian youth group regularly in High School, so that combined with what I've watched/listened to gave me an idea of what to expect, and I was excited for this new experience.  I know a bit about the Calvary Chapel in my town, and occasionally listen to their radio station and shop at their thrift store.  They always seem to be so excited to serve and befriend others, which is something I really admire.  The Calvary Chapel that I visited seemed to be much the same – very welcoming and friendly in a way that is generally not too pushy (I say generally, because there was one usher who was a little over-excited about pushing free Bibles onto people).  That is something I really admire.  It takes guts to extend yourself out to complete strangers when you don’t know how they’re going to respond. I’m much too timid to do that kind of thing!

The service started with over a half hour of contemporary Christian worship music.  I expected the music, I did not expect it to go on so long.  I do sometimes listen to contemporary Christian music on the radio and there are a few songs I really like, but I do not enjoy it in a worship setting, at all.  I prefer calm, contemplative, reverent worship - not a cheerleader for God but a deep, sincere, and personal thank you to God.  But knowing that Calvary Chapel did contemporary music I didn't plan on any quiet, contemplative worship today.  While having a couple songs at the beginning of service is a great idea to be sure that even latecomers get to hear the sermon, (Mormons, take note!) a half hour was just too long. The problem with contemporary Christian is that nearly every song sounds the same - same chord patterns, similar lyrics - even my friend who plays in his church's worship band agrees.  It got boring. Before the music was over, my mom (who usually listens to boring repetitive pop music) said "Is this just a concert? I can't take it anymore" and asked my kids if they wanted to go play on the playground. 

Eventually someone gave some announcements, and I shuffled through the bulletin that was handed out. (I would normally call it a program, but it didn’t really outline the day’s service.)  It involved much more paper than I’m used to, but much of that was due to the lyrics to all the songs being printed.  It was also much more colorful and professional looking than what I’m used to. There were very colorful, professional looking flyers for an upcoming broadcast and a men’s conference, which in my church would probably have been printed up in plain black and white.  Such a small thing but I had mixed feelings about it (yes, it looks really nice, but it also is an extra cost to design and print – something a church running on donations might want to forgo.)  The ‘Statement of Faith’ on the back will have to be discussed at another time.  Before the announcements were over, my dad and brother had wandered over to the playground as well.

A few minutes after the sermon started, I was bored and confused, but was willing to keep listening expecting it to get better. My husband was not.  He muttered something like "wow this guy's not even worth the free lunch" and left me alone to listen while he watched the kids on the playground.  Having seen the rest of my group walk away, pushy Bible guy moved closer and kept his eye on me.  I’ve gotta be honest that I found it a bit sexist that he offered a free Bible to my dad, my brother, and my husband, but not me or my mom.  But pushy Bible guy is what us scientifically minded people call an ‘aberration’, so I am not factoring him into my opinion of the church.  I was honestly trying to follow along, but the pastor seemed to go on tangent after tangent until I had no clue what his point was.  I’m sure he’s a great guy, and he must be a good preacher given the size of his congregation, but today was not his best work.

In only the 20 minutes that I listened, he had managed to fit every stereotype of mainstream Christian preachers that I had expected –

-Talking about how wonderful the Bible is and mentioning that we are really digging deep into the scriptures when he only preaches out of a couple verses in Mark, Corinthians, and Romans.

-saying negative things about specific religious groups (in this case, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus)

-Backed up his opinions with something nonbelievers can’t connect to. (In this case, the Bible is amazing because it is old.  It is true because it says it is.)

-Talked down to his audience, treated everyone like they were children or skeptics (by spouting random useless facts and explaining even the simplest concepts like we had never heard of them)

-Had “Jesus Saves” as the theme of his talk and “because the Bible says so” as his evidence. 

After I’d had enough, I waited for pushy Bible guy to stop standing behind me to go help someone find Romans and joined my family at the playground. We could hear bits and pieces from there, and it seemed every sentence was so stereotypical that my husband and I were constantly giving each other ‘the look’.  The rolling eyes “I can’t believe he’s really that clichéd” look. (Here, I have to say that the idea of church in the park was great, and it allowed us to casually walk away when we felt like it rather than feel trapped.)

On the way out, we passed the youth group on the far end of the park.  We walked slowly, hoping to catch a snippet of their sermon. What I heard was a story I’ve heard over and over from Christians who preach an absolutely no works salvation – the ‘death bed conversion’ story.  What about someone who accepts Jesus and dies a couple minutes later? They don’t have time for works! That means they can’t be saved!!  This just shows ignorance and an unwillingness to listen to someone else’s beliefs.  No Christian who believes works are necessary salvation would say that this person is not saved.  God knows this man had no time to be baptized, no time to serve God in this life, but God knows his heart!  If he would have done those things, had he the opportunity, God will reward him accordingly.  God is merciful, He is understanding, He is loving, He is all-powerful.  Salvation doesn’t come after completing a checklist of works, salvation comes from God while our works prove our hearts.  Please, please, stop accusing me (and millions of others) of not being Biblical on this point.  Hearing that story was like the final smack-in-the-face blow of everything stereotypical and clichéd, everything I dislike about mainstream Christianity was there. Although I came excited for a new experience, I left extremely disappointed, having lost much of my fascination with all things “Christian” and gained much appreciation for my faith.

Overall, the feeling I had was not what I expected.  Usually at church, while I might feel bored at times, I feel peace, openness, and love. I feel edified and filled. I feel bigger – empowered and renewed.  I honestly leave church feeling closer to God – every single time! Even if I spent most of it in the hall with a whining baby!  At this Calvary Chapel service, I expected to feel some of that, perhaps in a different way, but still feel the Spirit of God as I have listening to many Christian sermons on the radio.  I didn’t. Before the sermon even started I felt like there was a block in my heart. I felt confused, belittled, frustrated, and even a little offended.  The only word I can come up with to describe the feeling I had there is gray. Just blank.

After leaving early, we drove a couple blocks to the local Mormon Temple.  I know it sounds cliché but the second I walked onto the temple grounds I felt peace wash over me. The negative feelings I had from the park vanished and I felt comforted that God’s truth is bigger than the garbage I had just heard.  I felt reassured, comfortable, and so joyful that I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I felt so grateful for the knowledge and faith that I have.

I'm really sorry.  I went excited, I went hoping my expectations of predictable and boring would be wrong, and part of me thought that just maybe this would be an eye-opening spirit-filled experience.  It wasn't. It completely changed my view of mainstream Christianity, and not for the better.  It confirmed all the stereotypes and preconceived notions that I had, and I left feeling sorry for the people that were buying into that garbage.  I really truly hope that once my interest in mainstream Christianity returns I will be able to find the good in it, but for now I feel disillusioned and have no positive feelings toward it.