"With kids, the days are long, but the years are short." - John Leguizano

We went to that new-to-us church this morning. They meet in the gym at South Eugene High School, "Home of the Axemen." (Timber country) We figure there were between 300 and 400 people there and the pastor mentioned a couple of times that attendance was "thin" because of the holiday weekend and because 120 college kids (!) were on a retreat. Yeah, it's a mega-church.

That description fits it for more reasons than its size. I'll spare you the technical specifics that lead to that characterization - the three sizes are single cell, multi-cell, and mega church - but it fits squarely within that latter category. In this case high production values were the medium for vertical worship, not narcissistic sentimentality. The leadership dynamics are clearly top-down; the pastor mentioned in his sermon that the elders approved the purchase of an apartment building for $1.4 million within hours of considering the possibility, with no thought of congregational approval. Big staff, with professionals heading up key ministries.
We figure the pastor is mid-50's (he was in H.S. during Vietnam) and his sermon from Acts 13 was biblical and delivered effectively. He's easy to listen to, almost too much so. His low voice stays as steady as he does (stands still throughout) and both of us struggled to stay attentive, but we pushed it pretty hard yesterday and I was up at 2:30.
Bottom line? We talked at lunch and ruled it out. There was nothing about the morning that was off-putting, except maybe that no one said a word to us except for the guy at the door who asked us if we wanted a bulletin. And in a church that size we could probably attend indefinitely before that changed. A church that big comes with a certain level of anonymity, and some people prefer that. We're small church folk, just like we're small town folk. We accept that a smaller church means lower production values, sometimes rough, unsophisticated ministries - music, preaching, structure.... But for us the upside is a strong sense of community, something I see as more consistent with the NT teaching on the local church.
I don't know where we'll go next week, but it won't be to another mega church.

This afternoon I did some chores, including getting the back wall of Fred done. When were were in Prunedale ('76 to '83) the church changed its name from Prunedale House of Prayer Church (whew!) to Grace Community Church. I made a sign out of redwood (the south end of the redwood range was just a few miles north of us, so it was a "local" wood) and routed out this name sign to hang underneath it. I figured they wouldn't need it after we left, so on our way out of town I snagged it. Been carting it from one place to the next for the last 33 years and it finally has a "place."
The stained glass window we bought while in MI and I made the frame out of wood from one of the old storm windows we didn't need from our second century-old house.
The other frame holds a photographic reproduction of a page of from Beethoven's original first draft of Moonlight Sonata.

It's gonna be a big week here on Baker Rd. We have two families coming over for dinner tomorrow. We got to know them while attending Emmaus and we agreed we wanted to stay in touch even though we wouldn't be attending there anymore.
Thursday at 9 a.m. Robin is coming over. She's the local rep for the OR State Dept. of Forestry, and she's going to tell me what I can and cannot do with the dying and dead White Fir trees down by the creek. This is a pretty big deal, the first step in what could be a smooth solution to a potentially serious problem, or the first step in a total FAIL with really bad outcomes.
A week from now Josh and Aubri will arrive with Megan & Caedon. WOOT! They'll stay here for a few days, head up the coast for some camping, and then down to the south OR coast for more of the same. We'll join them with our teardrop - I got a spot right across from theirs - for the last two days of their stay there.
I'm really looking forward to seeing them all.
Don't you think Steve & Michelle need to bring Jason & Emily up, too?!