5510 Matlock Road
Arlington, TX 76018
(817) 468-2722
This church is one that I drive past quite often. It came up as the fourth or fifth church in my Google Maps search on Monday. They advertised a singles group. As promised, I went there today to check it out.
When I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed that the lot was small, and there weren't a lot of cars around. There are two buildings--an older one with a steeple, and a newer one of the sheet metal exterior type. I saw everyone walking into this one, so I reasoned that the sanctuary must be in this building. On my way I saw that there was more parking in the back of the buildings, so there may be more capacity than I originally thought.
When I made it into the sanctuary, it was a little bigger than the one I was in last week, but still fairly small. I estimate it's capacity to be between 250-300 bodies. The sanctuary is modern. There are no pews, just the standard linked chairs. The stage was deeper than last week's, but not as many modern instruments. I saw a violin, a piano, an acoustic-electric and an electric guitar. There were drums, but I didn't see (or rather hear) them until the service was underway. There is a space for a choir, and this church does have a choir. There are no hymnals here either, just the standard projector/screen arrangement.
The service started with the standard musical worship time. Worship wasn't as modern this week, but it was somewhat Baptist in taste. That's fine with me--I hail from a Baptist background anyway, so I knew some of the songs and was familiar with what to expect. The songs were a mix. We sang a version of Amazing Grace, some older modern worship tunes, and a few I didn't recognize (which I'm guessing were later tunes). Midway through there was an open prayer time. Congregants are invited to come forward to pray at the altar or on the steps. These congregants, unlike some others, do just that. The offering is one I've only seen done in one other church (although I'm sure many do it this way). There are three boxes, two at the front of the sanctuary and one at the back. Congregants leave their seats and put their offering in one of those boxes.
The preaching was worlds better than last Sunday. This pastor has a commanding voice, but is very reserved in his style. He had a good message that stuck together. We actually did pull out our Bibles and read from them. (I must confess I got off without my Bible, so I had to share with one of the other members.) I enjoyed the message thoroughly and didn't take any notes concerning the operations of the church. I did jot down a couple of points concerning the sermon in the spaces provided on the back of the bulletin (really handy). At the conclusion of the service was an altar call, some announcements, and then we were done.
Two things to note. I met a man named Rene (didn't get his last name). He was very welcoming. He went out of his way to make sure I was included in the service. Afterwards I talked with his wife and him. They were quite charming and completely open. I asked about the singles group the church had advertised on their website. They immediately introduced me to a Mr. Kawamoto.
The Kawamotos are in charge of their singles group. No, it's not a singles group, according to Mr. Kawamoto. It's the "Young Adults" group. It meets for Bible study each Sunday at 9:15am. There were 9 people this morning, although there are more: on the order of 12 or 13. The age range is 18-36, so being 31, I fit in the range. I enjoyed talking with the Kawamotos, and I left with two invitations: one for a movie at their house with the young adults next Saturday at 5pm, and another to join in the Sunday cookout at the church after the service next weekend.
My plans are forming for next weekend. I will go to movie night, the class on Sunday and the cookout. I hope this is a good sign of things to come!
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