Bringing out the best in you, part 2

As I turn into the parking lot, I see that this is going to be one of the largest churches I’ve ever attended. Parking lot attendants wearing bright orange vests are directing traffic. The next thing I notice, as I walk through the entrance, is that this is a mostly African-American congregation. I haven’t attended many black church services, so already this is something a little new to me, on two counts - a big church, and a black church.


There seem to be a tremendous number of ushers and greeters; every few feet someone directs me toward the sanctuary. The very first greeter I encounter, a woman standing just outside the entrance, hands me a brochure, says hello, and hugs me. I don’t know what the greetings will be like in the other churches I visit this year, but I doubt they will be warmer than this.


Inside the sanctuary, I find more guides, who direct me to a seat. Guiding people to seats seems like a good idea, because the very large meeting space is less than half full. Left to themselves, people inevitably fill up a church sanctuary from the back, leaving uncomfortable open gaps in the front, and forcing latecomers to walk past everyone else. The ushers at Living Faith very efficiently avoid those problems.

A choir is already singing enthusiastically on the stage in the center of the auditorium, and several dozen people are standing in an open area in front of the stage, clapping and singing along. The words “Jesus is Lord” are proclaimed in gigantic letters across the back wall. A few potted plants sit on the stage, and lots of television lights beam overhead.

Most of the people in the seats are not singing, although many are standing and some are swaying or clapping along with the music. Off to the right, the band includes several electric guitars, a saxophone, two keyboards, and a drum set-up. Four cameras on tripods are manned by operators on raised platforms in the middle of the seating area, and many television screens hang throughout the auditorium, so that you can watch the choir on the stage, or glance up and watch it on a screen.

I have arrived at the advertised 11:30 starting time, for the third of three services that morning. Around 11:45 the choir stops, and a distinguished-looking older woman takes the stage and says repeatedly, with quiet authority, “God is in this place.”