The people who have been standing in the area in front of the stage take their seats. Announcements follow. Here’s a surprise – the announcements have been prerecorded, and are playing on all the television screens! Upcoming events include a play open to women only, “Total Women Expressed,” and events for men, such as a golf league and a motorcycle club.
After the announcements, the speaker asks first-time visitors to raise their hands and be recognized. Immediately, I chicken out! I should have thought of this ahead of time and decided what to do about filling out those visitor cards, since I plan on being a first-time visitor approximately 51 more times this year. There seem to be at least ten or twelve visitors (plus me, churlishly refusing to be recognized.)
By this time the auditorium is a little less than half full; I estimate there are about 400-500 people present. (I should mention right now that my crowd estimation capabilities are not the world’s best. I think I got better at this as the year went on, but these numbers are very, very approximate.)
The next event is the dance ministry. Seven women and one adorable little girl participate, although the little girl leaves the stage after the first few minutes. The dancers wear white tunics and those big, flowy pants that modern dancers favor. The song is an upbeat message about becoming your best self.
After the dancers exit, a man takes the stage and announces that “your dad” will be preaching next Wednesday night. This arouses very enthusiastic clapping and shouting. It seems he is referring to Lamont McLean, who co-pastors the church with his wife, Constance. On the morning I visited. Pastor McLean had been out for a while, ill.
No comments:
Post a Comment