Orange County Churches Review & Guide

http://www.marshillchurch.org

Review: I know that this church isn’t anywhere near Orange County. But I was in Seattle last weekend and went to visit this church and was thoroughly impressed.

Mars Hill meets in the “Ballard” district of Seattle, Washington, in a large warehouse painted grey. On one hand it just looks like another industrial building in the middle of many but on the front wall next to the Mars Hill Church sign are the words, “Truth, Meaning, Beauty, Community,” in large white letters. As you walk through the church doors the foyer has indie style art hanging on the walls. Throughout the rest of the building hangs large vintage style lamps from the high, black painted, warehouse ceilings.

The time of worship consisted of singing, preaching, and the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. The time of worship in singing was led by a tall young man with a long goatee. The music was a sort of an inventive rock style with electric guitars, drums, a fiddle, and a accordian. The songs were not the normal pop Christian worship songs you hear at most churches. I discovered later that they write most all their own lyrics and music. The lyrics had a distinctly doctrinal focus. One song was almost word for word the Nicene Creed.

The time of worship in the study of God’s Word was lead by Mark Driscoll, one of the founding pastors of Mars Hill. We studied Gen.19:30-38. Mark was rigorous in his work with the text. He did not use it as a spring board to talk about himself but rather spent much time attempting to demonstrate why this text was in the Bible. He spoke openly and honestly about the issues the text raised like incest, rape, drunkenness, homosexuality and sexual abuses. He challenged the men of the congregation to be strong spiritual leaders in their home by following hard after God. He concluded by showing how despite the wickedness of the sin in the passage that God Sovereignly used the family line that resulted from the sin of Gen 19 to be the line from which Christ was born. The thrust was we are all screwed up but there is hope for us in Christ and that what is evil God means and uses for good. At that point he prayed and invited people to come to Christ and worship by partaking of the elements which communicate his body and blood.

After the service I discovered that Mars Hill Church also has an art venue and a music venue where many “secular” artists are invited share their creativity. There was a mixed range of people present at the service I attended. I read an article in the newspaper about Mars Hill which said that it has a reputation for being a popular church for outcasts who smoke, are tattooed, have piercings, are gay and many other things. The article also said that Mark Driscoll has a reputation in Seattle for being the “cussing pastor.”

The overall experience at Mars Hill was very good. There was a strong artistic presence and open welcoming of all different types of people. At the same time there was high view of God and His Word communicated throughout the service. They seem to have a very good grasp of both doctrine and mission.

http://www.hopechapelhb.com

Church Review
Scriptural View: 3/5
Beliefs: 3/5
Community: 4/5
Preaching: Expository
Worship: Choruses
Service times: Sun. 8:45, 10:30 AM

Website Review
Site Usability: 3/5
Site Design: 1/5
Site Content: 1/5

Review: I attended a service at Hope Chapel in the summer of 2004. This church is not far from the hub of downtown Huntington Beach. When I walked in I was greeted by all different kinds of people from older men in suits to surfers in shorts and sandals.

The worship in song time was led by an older man on a guitar along with a drummer and some backup singers. We sang a number of older Christian worship choruses mixed with a couple of newer ones.

Apparently the Pastor of the church was gone that day and there was a guest speaker in his place to preach. The guest speaker was very passionate and preached from Mark 4:35-41. He magnified the authority of the Bible and the power of Jesus Christ as the God of the universe. Part of his sermon included a vivid acting out of the scene to help understand the mood of the story and the weight of the words that are spoken in this text. His application focused on encouraging the people to believe in the power and ability of Jesus to work in our lives and their problems.

After the service the college Pastor spoke with me for a little while and told me about a service they have on Friday nights called “Friday Night Live.” He said that worship band at that service plays “a much louder and rock and roll style set.” He also said, “all kinds of people come to this service and that they have been seeing many people getting saved.”

I was impressed with the guest speaker’s reverance for the Bible and the varience of cultures represented by the people present. Hope Chapel seems very evangelical and missional. However, it is part of the Foursquare denomination whose doctrinal statement lacks strong commitment to the convictions of the Reformation and thus I must give it a lower rating on Scriptural View and Beliefs. I spoke with the guest speaker after the service who communicated a mix of theological persuasion regarding Reformed doctrine, which he admitted is somewhat maverick in the Foursquare movement he is licensed in.

http:// www.crystalcathedral.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 1/5
Beliefs: 1/5
Community: 1/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Hymns
Service times: Sun. 9:25, 11:05 AM; 6:05 PM

Website Review
Site Usability: 3/5
Site Design: 2/5
Site Content: 2/5

Review: Crystal Cathedral is a church in the heart of Orange County. The building itself stands a few hundred feet high and is wall to wall glass. It sits adjacent to the shopping mall, theatre, skatepark known as “The Block.” When you drive up to the Crystal Cathedral the first thing you see is a full color digital marquee with rotating messages. After parking in a sea of cars on Sunday morning you walk up to this enormous building and pass by a graven image of the Pastor, Robert Schuller, made of bronze.

With the choir singing the camaras run, recording the next episode of “The Hour of Power.” “The Hour of Power” of is a nationally televised broadcast of the Crystal Cathedral Sunday morning service. The name is quite appropriate for it summarizes the teaching of Robert Schuller and his son who is the soon to be successor. The time of worship from the preaching of the Word is an amagalmation of new age self-help philosophy with Scripture quotations mixed in-between. Schuller teaches that sin is a problem that we can fix. The solution, the power of positive thinking through reading about Jesus’ life following his example. By going to the Crystal Cathedral or by watching the Hour of Power, you can learn how to throw off negativity and exercise your power to heal yourself.

I recommend that you avoid this church. The are part of the Reformed Church of America denomination but have moved away from core tenants of the gospel and their denomination. Tenants such as the sinfulness of man and salvation only through the justifying work of Christ on the cross in our place. God’s Word is not truly studied here and instead is syncretized with the new age worldview, where self is the highest order and prosperity is only a matter of your willpower.