Posts tagged ‘large church’
The Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church
Just The Facts
The Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church
1879-1921 Glenwood Avenue, SE
Atlanta, GA 30316
(404) 377-0561
http://www.pineygrovebapt.org
Location
Southeast Atlanta (Near Charles Yates Golf Course)
Sunday Service Times
7:30 am – Traditional
9:30 am – Contemporary
11 am – Evangelistic
Church Type
Denomination – Baptist
Size (Small, Medium, Large, Mega) – Large (Over 7,000 members)
From the church website…
“The Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church is structured around a five pillar ministry of Missions, Fellowship, Evangelism, Teaching and Worship. Rich in our History & Heritage, we embrace our mission ‘to be distinguished by our words and our deeds as the Church With Helping Hands’. Our vision ‘In this Church you can be Redeemed, Reconciled, Restored, and Revived” is shown through our Ambassador staff, various ministries, and community sharing & caring programs.’
About Service Times:
7:30 Traditional ( Lifting what we know, love, value, and appreciate about being “black” Baptist.)
9:30 Contemporary (An effort to reach the 18-45 age group) Sermon and song to encourage and allow expressive worship in a congregational fashion. Song and sermon should deal with family values; marriage; rearing kids, career choices.
11:30 Evangelistic – We will keep this at 90 minutes, but if the spirit says so, there is no time restraint. This will be a soul winning/soul seeking service. Good live singing and moving preaching. Power packed from beginning to end.”
My Impressions
Unreviewed at this time.
Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral
Just The Facts
Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral
212 Riverside Pkwy
Austell, GA 30168
770-874-8400
http://www.woffamily.org
Bishop Dale C. Bronner
Location
Austell, GA (off the Six Flags exit on I-20)
Sunday Service Times
8:30 am & 11 am
Church Type
Denomination – Interdenominational Ministry
Size (Small, Medium, Large, Mega) - Mega (10,000+ Members)
From the church website…
“The primary purpose of the ministry of Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral is to teach the uncompromising Word of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ! The vision the Lord gave me was of a church without division. That is, a church void of segregation because of race or nationality. I saw a church without the walls of denominational barriers where God’s banner over us is LOVE. I saw a church of born again, Spirit-filled believers who are governed by the principles of God’s Word and lead a victorious life. I saw a church of believers where the fruit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and temperance are abundant.“
My Impressions
scale of 1 – 3; 1=below average; 2=average; 3=above average)
Sermon Style (preaching/teaching) – Conversational Teaching
Music Ministry – 3
Friendliness (of members to me) – 3
Happiness Quotient (feeling of people receiving the spirit) – 2
Children/Youth Activities – 3
Service Time – 11 am – 12:40 pm
Unique Observations- After being out for a couple of weeks sick, I am happy to return back to sisterhill.com and comment on Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral. I’ve seen the billboards and heard a radio talk show host talking about Word of Faith, so I was quite anxious to visit. It is conveniently located right off I-20 (Six Flags exit) for those of us on the west side of Atlanta. Luck was on my side as I found a parking space fairly close to the front. I was greeted by a warm hostess that gladly assisted me in finding the nursery check-in. Baby girl checked in, I proceeded into the main sanctuary. I must admit, Word of Faith is by far one of the most beautiful churches I have ever visited. The interior of the main cathedral is setup in an open room with stadium style seating and decorated with warm gold colors. It immediately made me feel quite at home and comfortable. The church choir sang traditional gospel songs and the spirit was in the air. Offering was a bit interesting in that the entire congregation says a building fund confession similar to many affirmations churches have congregations say prior to offering except this one included…”Therefore, as a result of our obedience and love in giving we thank You for raises and increases, borrowed money to be returned to us, bonuses and increased commissions, rebates, dividends, gifts and inheritances, cancelled debt and surprise checks in the mail…” Now that’s what I call a comprehensive list of the financial blessings! To be fair, it also included gratitude for health, mental sanity, quality relationships among other things, but the quoted text here truly stuck out in my mind.
As for the actual sermon, I would describe Bishop Bronner’s sermon style as conversational teaching. He possesses an easy-going spirit that reminded me of a laid-back uncle but is entirely engaging and non-threatening. Unlike many churches of today that have the technology wizardy of video feeds and lighting changes, Bronner’s sermon was not bullet-pointed out on the screen. Instead, it was a from the heart conversation that at times made me feel as if he and I were the only two engaged in a dialogue. Unfortunately, I was paged during the middle of the sermon to retrieve my daughter from the nursery. (Note to the Children’s Ministry – you may want to use a numbering system instead of the child’s full name for less distraction and privacy.) After picking up my daughter, I finished watching the service in the Chapel which doubled as an overflow room.
In summary – Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral is definately I a church I would recommend and I will visit again. Bishop Bronner’s easy conversational manner and the music ministry’s traditional approach to preparing you for worship combine to form a spirit filled experience. When visiting, remember Word of Faith is a large “mega” church, so be patient with parking and stadium style seating arrangement. However, the members, hosts/hostesses and ushers go out of their way to make you feel at home. The Children’s Ministry even gave me a cute little baggy and their sincerest apologies even though it wasn’t there fault my daughter is a handful! Now that’s what I call friendly! I will continue my search, but keep Word of Faith on speed dial.
Destiny Metropolitan Worship Church
Just The Facts
Destiny Metropolitan Worship Church
1775 Water Place
Atlanta, GA 30339
770-509-9010
http://www.destinymetro.org
Bryan R. Crute – Senior Pastor
Location
Marietta, GA
Windy Hill Road area – in office park behind Chick-Fil-A
Sunday Service Times
8:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.
10:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.
12:00 p.m. until 1:30 p.m.
2:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m.
Church Type
Denomination – Christian
Service Style (Traditional/Contemporary) – Contemporary
Size (Small, Medium, Large, Mega) – Large
From the church website…
“Destiny’s message of maximizing potential for God’s Glory has transformed countless lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ is preached here with practical application, yet without compromising the intricacies of the God of the Bible. With a commitment to building strong families, Destiny, under Pastor Crute’s teaching and example, has presented a model of purpose-driven living that has as its goal reaching more people with the love of Jesus Christ everyday. “
My Impressions
(scale of 1 – 3; 1=below average; 2=average; 3=above average)
Sermon Style (preaching/teaching) – Teaching
Music Ministry – 3
Friendliness (of members to me) – 3
Happiness Quotient (feeling of people receiving the spirit) – 2
Children/Youth Activities – 3
Unique Observations- This church was recommended to me by my best friend, so I was extremely excited to visit! Destiny Metro is still undergoing growth expansion. It appears they have already outgrown existing sanctuary that was opened in 2005 – as it quickly filled up with no overflow area for late comers. Clearly underscored by the fact that I was asked on 2 occasions about the seat that my 1 year old daughter occupied. Order was the rule of the morning. Church goers had to stand in line to go down the stairs to the sanctuary and enter into a single doorway. Ushers were extremely efficient in ‘herding’ people to where they wanted them. While the line and ‘herd’ effect could have been a bit off-putting, I passed several smiling faces along the way and everyone had a nice hello. Service was contemporary and definitely had a younger feel to the ceremony. Clearly why it was recommended to me by my friend. The service itself was extremely efficient as well – prayer, praise, giving and message. I made it through prayer, praise and giving, but unfortunately, a busy-one year old had other plans for the message and I had to leave service early right as the pastor was standing up for the message. Without an overflow area, I basically had to leave church. In summary, Destiny Metro is a friendly, young, contemporary church committed to engaging its members (as shown via its focus on Small Group sessions and Youth activities). The church is clearly going through a growth phase, that at times made me feel a bit crowded, although everyone went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable. I didn’t get a sense that I was ‘just a number’ as you do in most large churches, but rather I had a sense that if I joined and got involved it would be like a second home. My only regrets are not hearing the message – so I will visit again and next time place my daughter in the nursery so I can have the ‘full’ experience.
