Abbie Holaway-Church Visit #1

Church name: Temple Baptist Church
Church Address: 2501 Northshore Blvd., Flower Mound, TX 75208
Date Attended: September 20th, 2015
Church Category: Different Ethnic/Cultural Background

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar or different from your regular context?
I was in Texas last weekend for my cousin's wedding. The wedding was on Saturday, so the next morning I went to the church of my extended relatives who live in Texas. Being from the North, this Southern style baptist church was different from what I was used to, but similar in some ways, too. The church was big and there were a lot of different ministries where people can get involved and serve in, which is similar to my own church. The style of the church was more contemporary and relaxed than my home church, and the people of the church were mainly caucasian people who grew up in the South. Generally, the people of Temple Baptist Church were friendlier and louder than the conservative church that I attend in Wheaton. There were also a lot of young families at the church. 

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

I found the music of the service to be very interesting. The style was contemporary and the music was loud, which I liked. More importantly, the people of the church seemed to be very passionate about the worship, and it looked like they generally liked singing and rejoicing as a group. 

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
The service was great overall--good preaching and good worship--so the most challenging part of the worship service was being someone from a different region and being unfamiliar with the church style. The church was big, so my family and I did not necessarily stand out too much, but I think it was obvious to the people we did talk to by our accents that we were not from Texas. Overall, everyone was very nice, though.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
Temple Bible Church really emphasized the importance of joining a bible study when I attended last Sunday. It was neat to be reminded that not only should we be reading the bible, but we should study the bible with other people so that we are in community with one another. It is easy to only be in communion with other believers on Sunday morning, but I think the Pastor had a great point when he emphasized the importance of committing to a weekly bible study and the benefits that it would bring to the church as a whole.