Churches in California
August 31, 2008
So… many of you know that I come from quite a small church in Markham, ON. In all honesty, we’re quite lax and dare I say, not-at-all inspired/motivated people. So two Sundays ago, my parents and I attended this baptist church called, North Valley Baptist Church. We parked on the street and the FIRST thing I saw: a big African-American man fully-suited (a REALLY nice suit to boot) with tie and everything. So I thought, whoa, must be chairperson or something. As we near the entrance of the church, my parents and I, were fully shocked. Groups of every sort of people – kids, teens, adults, seniors, of all ethincities – fully suited up and dressed as formal as you can be. So naturally, my parents and I felt entirely out of place – we stuttered and decided to go in anyway.
We entered the sanctuary and we were totally in AWE (and VERY intimidated – picture below). We found a seat amongst a thousand people and opened a really cool bulletin (on par with Creekside quality). The chairperson started to lead through the service. Each session was a jaw-dropping experience. Let me list some of the ‘features’ of this traditional baptist church:
- MASSIVE choir
- 4 bright-shining, eye-hurting pearl white grand pianos. (2 full-sized, 2 smaller)
- 4 pianists (and a rotation with another 2 depending on the songs the choirs sang)
- Miniature orchestra, complete with a harp
- Four-man acapella group (with an ! asian!)
- Loudest sounding singspiration ever, complete with beautiful solos, orchestral pieces etc.
- One of the most insane hardcore sermons I’ve ever seen (imagine P. Andrew sermons x 10)
- Baptisms every week (2 people during the Sunday I went)
- Alter calls every week (5-ish people accepting Christ the Sunday I went)
- Services for hispanic, filipino, and soon, an indian service)
- Mornign, afternoon, evening and Wednesday services
- Lower deck, fully-packed with people
- Upper deck, half-packed with people
