Matt Paprocki - Church Visit #1

Matt Paprocki - Church Visit #1

Buckhead Church

3336 Peachtree Rd, Atlanta, GA 30326

9/13/2015

MegaChurch

The worship service at Buckhead Church had a similar format from the church services I am used to attending at home but the delivery was probably the biggest difference. The service began with worship songs from a band. The church I normally attend opens with worship songs as well, and the music is similar in genre being a more modern, Christian music style. The worship songs were followed by a sermon as well. The biggest difference I noticed was the delivery from the pastor. Maybe it was due to the primarily southern demographic he normally speaks to or simply his style but he delivered his message from a platform rather than creating a sense of community with his audience. I noticed this through his diction of consistently saying what “you” are doing wrong, rather than what “we” are doing wrong. Also, he did not use much scripture in his sermon but rather application of ideas from the Bible. I was not used to this as scripture is utilized more frequently in my home church. The reason for this could be because as a MegaChurch with a diverse audience demographically, socially, etc., Buckhead wants to reach out to as many as possible and by applying ideas instead of direct scripture they may feel they have a better chance to reach out to a wider audience who is not as familiar with scripture.

Both of these differences are what I found interesting about the experience as well as how many series the church offered for people. Personally, the diction gave me the feeling that I was being talked down to and that the pastor was on a higher plane than his audience. This came after the church had advertised multiple different series trying to encourage community for a multitude of people, such as adults, high school students, college students, couples, singles, divorces, etc. I’ve seen series presented before for separate, specific groups of people but the large variety of group meetings made the church feel a bit divided. The church encouraged community but it seemed to me divided at the same time. The use of little scripture was also interesting. The church’s stance is that scripture is the Word of God and without error, yet with such little emphasis in practice I did not sense this as one of their goals.

This particular service was the middle of a series on prioritizing happiness over pleasure so as guests we had missed prior context but even so the pastor did not review certain elements that he was building upon from previous sermons. Coming from a smaller church setting at home the MegaChurch concept of trying to reach as many people as possible in that one sitting caused the entire message to seem generic, rather diving into specifics and details. I think this takes away from the power of the message. Since the sermon was trying to reach such a large audience it could not effectively connect with individuals. This also led to it feeling like a business. One series it offered for married couples was a single night that for two hours would cost those attending $20 to be part of a discussion on married life.

By not emphasizing on Scripture or specifics of theology the experience showed me just how important those elements are to a service. As previously mentioned, the sermon felt generic so that it could reach a vast audience. As a result the impact of the message was diluted and I walked away not feeling a strong connection or application of the message to my journey.  Regularly being part of a small church setting where the pastor reaches out on a more personal level caused me to expect that from most services. Experiencing Buckhead showed me how fortunate I am to have that environment in my life. Covering the ideas of pleasure and happiness in a generic fashion did not create a sense of impact.