Recommended

The evening discussion was certainly good and enjoyable, but amidst the sharing time and our various interjections there were a number of interesting topics that were touched on, but not delved into, and at least one immediate concern in particular was not directly addressed.

Trey mentioned having grown weary of searching for a church in LA, and we jumped to discussion of various disappointing church experiences and then to great podcasts/sermons/etc. Great stuff to be sure, but listening to a podcast from New York doesn't help you find a community in LA.

I'm not sure how specific I got in sharing about my church experience, but here's the nutshell version as a quick backstory: I grew up going to a Calvary Chapel in Sacramento that had a community of less than 500 people who brought food or bags of clothing to the needy in the church and the community at large, and who held various weekly Bible Studies (not "small groups"). The pastor basically conducted a college course every Sunday morning, teaching what was in the Bible, how it fit historically and today, and why it was important to lives and our walk with God. The worship was very simple, not always technically that impressive, but earnest praise of a living God was the primary goal.

Finding all these elements, or even reasonable facsimiles, in LA is frustrating, as Trey expressed. For a number of my years here in LA I've attended Calvary Chapel Metro, in Santa Monica. There's great teaching, as I expect. Sometimes there has been great worship, sometimes not so great, sometimes none at all. The community is small, but the involvement within that community is negligble. And for me, currently living in Pasadena, it's an impossibility.

SO. If you're still reading, here comes the recommendation. I've a number of good friends who I've known a number of years, who have attended Reality LA. I've now gone twice, and both times I saw and heard everything that I expect of a Godly, biblical, healthy church community. I know, I know, the name is borderline laughable, but we are still in Los Angeles. The name aside, the teaching/sermons have been excellent. Deeply rooted in scripture, and not just one passage, but illustrating how other parts of the Bible reinforce and validate the points being made in other parts. The worship is good, not showy, and the community, while largely of the 20-something/30-something range, does have a decent amount of older people, and the elders of the church are actually elder, experienced Christians, not excited new believers who wanna lead.

I'm very strongly leaning towards making this my church, but that aside, I'm definitely going to continue attending, testing and (hopefully) approving. There's a 9 am and a noon service on Sundays. Dan has said that he wants to join me for the noon one (he works late), but I may do both. For Trey (and Erin) and anyone else who is interested, please let me know.

Start by checking out the beliefs.

That's all for now kids.