emergent seattle

just got back from a couple days in seattle. i checked out 2 churches - 1 was VERY emergent and the other was contemporary w. some emergent aesthetic to it.

church of the apostles and karen ward are well known in emergent circles in the U.S. it is featured in "emerging churches" by gibbs/bolger. they have created a nice funky, artsy sacred space in an old church. they had participatory worship and worship stations set up around the sanctuary.

the second church is called sancuary. they meet in a community center and have a lot of young couples and singles. fairly straightforward worship followed by a thoughtful message. had a long chat w. the pastor after - he felt that church of the apostles is the only truly emergent church in seattle - all other "emergent" churches were just contemporary worship services w. candles.

the thing that stood out to me was the need for "high touch". as the pastor of a church i rarely have the chance to visit other churches anymore. when i went to church of the apostles i felt quite nervous and insecure - being a stranger. a few people welcomed me and that made a huge difference.

we can have excellent worship and preaching. we can be emergent, seeker sensitive or whatever but if the "high touch" and sense of genuine love is not there, people will not feel at home or may not be willing to be vulnerable and honest. if i went to a new church and no one genuinely welcomed me and made an attempt to get to know me, even a little bit, i probably wouldn't go back.

long post - sorry.