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.

http://www.alccpasadena.com

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 5/5
Community: 5/5
Preaching: Exegetical
Worship: Hymns & Choruses
Service times: Sun. 10:00 AM

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

Review: I attended the Sunday morning service in May of 2004. The moment I walked through the front door, several people greeted me and began asking me many questions. They were very friendly and invited me to sit with them.

The service began with prayer of petition that God would be glorified in the service. Abundant Life Community Church is part of the Sovereign Grace denomination Sovereign Grace Ministries . Sovereign Grace is the denomination from which PDI music (People of Destiny International Music) was formed and so we sang many PDI songs. All of the them were very lyrically strong (God-centered & man minimizing) and musically pleasing (led by a young man on an acoustic guitar). A couple of the stanzas of a song called “Haven’t You Been Good” particularly impressed me:

Thank you for the cross
Thank you Lord for drawing me
Out of millions lost
Thank you Lord for saving me

Haven’t You been good
Haven’t You been so good
Glory to Your name
Glory to Your holy name

Sovereign Grace is not only a Reformed denomination doctrinally but also a charismatic one. This was evident during one portion of the song time when someone went forward to the elders whispering something in their ears. When the current song we were singing was over, one of the elders, Ron Boomsma went up to the microphone explaining that the Holy Spirit had moved upon someone present to share something with everyone. He then handed the microphone over to that person who shared about her overwhelming feeling that we shouldn’t hold anything back because God was so worthy of our praise.

The sermon was delivered by one of the two elders who lead the church named Lynn Baird. He began by explaining that their church teaches through the Bible book by book and deals with every verse and every word. On this Sunday they were continuing their study in the book of Acts and were in chapter 16. Lynn was very passionate and at the same time very careful with the text explaining the genre and purpose of Acts, the relevant historical and cultural background and he dealt with the individual words of the chapter. The main thrust or theme of the message was reaching out to the world with the gospel.

At the conclusion the sermon there was a time of prayer and service ended. As soon as the service was over my wife and I were swarmed with people coming and talking us. We were actually invited out to lunch by three different people. One man took me to see their bookstore and ended up buying me three different CD’s. During the following weeks after we attended this church two different men called me to see how we were doing.

I would highly recommend Abundant Life Community Church as a great place for anyone to grow in their knowledge and love of God through the study of His Word and fellowship with His people. They are somewhat conservative culturally (some of the women wear head-coverings and wives are discouraged from working outside of the home) which may inhibit them missionally. But their doctrinal strength and devotion to God’s Word makes this church an excellent place to worship.

http://www.motifs.com/firstchurch/

Church Review
Scriptural View: 0/5
Beliefs: 0/5
Community: 1/5

Website Review
Site Usabilility: 1/5
Site Design: 0/5
Site Content: 0/5

Summary:“Christian Science” is a cult started in the 1800’s by Mary Baker Eddy. They use the words ‘christian’ and ’scientist’. They are neither Christian nor scientists. I recommend you visit the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) to study this cult.

Not only does it deny the essential doctrines of Christianity, but it has completely reinterpreted the Bible. It drastically redefines the Bible’s culture and terminology and rips thousands of scriptures out of their historical and biblical contexts. The result is a non-Christian mixture of metaphysical and philosophical thoughts. Christian Science is so foreign to the Bible that, if it didn’t use words like Jesus, Trinity, Love, Grace, Sin, etc., you’d never suspect it had anything to do with the Bible at all. Additionally, the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which is the Christian Scientist’s mainstay of spiritual knowledge, reads with a rhythm of pseudo logical statements that has the tendency to dull the senses when read long enough. Is Christian Science Christian? Definitely not.

Above quote from CARM.

Christian Scientist churches are part of a cult. Their churches and reading rooms are not places of true worship and study of the Bible. I strongly recommend you avoid them.

http://www.ocuuc.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 0/5
Beliefs: 0/5
Community: 2/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Hymns
Service times: 9:15 & 11:00 AM

Website Review
Site Usability: 4/5
Site Design: 2/5
Site Content: 4/5

Review: I attended a service in January of 2005. The service began with the singing of a number of songs out of a hymn book, led by a woman playing the piano. After the time of song there was a ceremony where a chalice was lit and everyone spoke out a phrase together which was printed in the bulletin. The chalice is intended to symbolize openess to all according to reason, justice, and compassion and the flame lit inside its bowl is intended to symbolize love. There was also a time of giving money. When the plates were passed around to put money in, everyone turned to each other and sang, “From you I receive, to you I give; Together we share, and from this we live.” After the offering there was a time of meditation. During this time, perhaps two or three minutes, most of the people closed their eyes and repeated the act of taking long breathes of air in and then exhaling.

The woman leader and minister of the church, Karen Stoyanoff. She was speaking about Martin Luther King Jr. Her sermon was titled “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.” The three dimensions were, one: love yourself, two: love your neighbor, three: love the cosmos or life itself. She used excerpts of King’s sermons to illustrate each point but when she came to the third she said that King believed in God, but those of here do not accept the notion of a traditional “God” so she said what we need to do is love the cosmos. She defined the cosmos as that which unites us all to gather in an interconnected web of life.

WARNING! I recommend that you avoid any Unitarian Universalist church. They are a cult. The reject the existence of God, the deity of Christ, the authority of the Bible and a host of other things. (To read more about Universalists see Christian Apolgetics Research Ministry )

http://cmmethodist.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 2/5
Beliefs: 3/5
Community: 2/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Hymns
Service times: 10:00 AM

Website Review - website currently down
Site Usability: 0/5
Site Design: 0/5
Site Content: 0/5

Review: I attended the weekly Sunday service in January of 2005. The First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa meets in their historic church building complete with pews, a high vaulted ceiling, an orchestral organ, and stained glass windows. As I walked in I was greeted by two elderly men who handed me a bulletin containing the order of worship.

The meeting was led by a woman pastor named Julie Elkins. She directed the service in various prayers, responsive readings, and a message from the pulpit. She began by asking any visitors to stand up and introduce themselves to everyone. After this, everyone was to go around and greet each other.

Throughout the service there were several times when everyone was directed to either stand up or sit down. One time, while we were sitting, Julie Elkins asked for anyone who had any prayer requests to share them out loud. Julie had a prayer request for a good friend of hers who was recently diagnosed with cancer. She was very emotional and after collecting herself she prayed for her friend and for blessings upon the people present.

There were a couple of sections in the service when a man led the congregation in singing some hymns while he played the organ. In addition, there were two very talented younger children who played special music right before the time of offering. One played a beautiful piece on the violin and after that the other played a wonderful piece on the oboe.

The time of offering was led by a man who performed a ceremony where money from plates that been passed around were put on an alter in front of the church below a cross. He prayed a prayer announcing the money as a gift to God.

Later, Julie Elkins had this same man read a passage from the Gospel of John, after which she proceeded with her Sunday morning sermon. Her sermon was topical in nature. She said there was a principle in this passage of John about coming to see Jesus. The thrust of her sermon was that Jesus was a good teacher and that we all need to be taught, so “come and see” and be taught by the master teacher.

I cannot recommend this church for several reasons. The most obvious reason is infringement of Scriptural teaching concerning the roles of men and women and the leadership of the church (for questions see Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood ). Other reasons include the low esteem of Scripture (demonstrated by the non-exegetical nature of the sermon), and the low esteem of Christ, who was not only a good teacher but the Son of God. In addition, there appeared to be no mission mindset whatsoever. Nearly everyone present was elderly in age.

http://whittierhills.org

Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 4/5
Community: 3/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Choruses and Hymns
Service times: 8:00, 9:30, & 11:00 AM

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

Review: I attended a service during Christmas time of 2004. The time of worship in song consisted of singing a couple Christmas carols and a few worship choruses. This was followed by a time of prayer and then an offering..

At the beginning of the sermon time the minister announced that some people in the earlier service had responded to the day’s message and become Christians. He pointed to a cross on the podium where he was standing which was backlit with soft lights. He said the cross was lit up today because people had come to Christ. The preacher’s sermon initially was introduced as an expository exegetical sermon from the book of Hebrews. However, during the message we turned to one passage after another as he tried to tie it all together. There was no main thrust to the message except that in the end he encouraged people to respond to Christ as saviour. The preacher offered himself to pray with whoever desired prayer at the end of the service in the front.

As I walked out of the building I was greeted by a number of people. There was a wall covered with a world map you see as you leave. On it were the pictures several people who were living as missionaries in different parts of the world. Outside there were a couple small booths giving out information about how to get more involved in the church and one booth was giving out free coffee.

As I sipped my coffee somehow I got involved in a conversation with a group of people. A couple of them were church members who said that they get the most out of going to this church by being a part of one of the mid-week bible study fellowships called “life groups.” They told me that a few of the professors from Talbot Seminary lead some of the lifegroups which has really helped their study of God’s Word to be profitable.

If you were going to be part of one of the lifegroups I would recommend attending this church. The Sunday morning service was quite traditional even though it is called one of their “contemporary” services. The congregation did not seem very diverse culturally. It seems they put more of their mission focus abroad. Their doctrinal statement is strongly evangelical and well-worded, but the sermon on this Sunday was weak exegetically.

http://www.gracechurch.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 5/5
Community: 3/5
Preaching: Exegetical
Worship: Hymns
Service times: Sun. 8:30 & 10:15 AM

Website Review
Site Usability: 5/5
Site Design: 4/5
Site Content: 5/5

Review: I attended a Sunday service at Grace Community Church on Mother’s Day of 2004. After parking across the street I walked into the large sanctuary and found a seat in one of the many pews. First there was an opening prayer and then the choir and orchestra played led the congregation in singing a number of hymns which focused on the greatness and majesty of God. The general feeling in the air was one of utmost reverence and awe for the God this significant amount of people had gathered for. After the time of worship in music and song, John MacArthur, the well known Bible teacher and commentator, delivered the Sunday morning message from the Word of God. MacArthur teaches through the Bible book by book, dealing with every verse and every word. At that time he was in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 12. MacArthur put a lot of emphasis on the historical background of the text, the narrative framework of Matthew, and the weight of Jesus’ words and actions in the passage. In conclusion he called upon people to apply the text by believing in Christ instead of standing by demanding a sign as an evil and adulterous generation does.

I highly recommend this church as a great place for one to grow in their knowledge and love of God and His Word. Grace is very traditionally conservative regarding cultural freedoms in Christ, which can easily inhibit gospel mission and openness to all people types communally. However, the strength of Grace is their high view of God and their commitment to the careful exposition of Bible. The comment posted includes a more in depth review which would be important if you are seriously considering this church.

http://www.rockharbor.org

Church Review - 3 stars
Scriptural View: 3/5
Beliefs: 3/5
Community: 3/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Choruses
Service times: Sat. 6:00; Sun. 9:00, 11:00 am & 7:00 pm

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

Review: I attended a Sunday morning service at Rock Harbor in October of 2004. With huge Rock Harbor banners and other artistic additions, the church converts a senior citizen center in Newport Beach into their meeting place for worship.

Inside, a few hundred college-aged people enthusiastically sang songs while a big video camera at the back recorded the service. After a few songs a guy with dreads shared a brief story about his life and how getting involved at Rock Harbor had really impacted him. He concluded by encouraging everyone to get involved more.

During the time of worship to God through the study of His word, the Pastor, Mike Erre began by reading John 3:16. He said that they were doing a series through the book of John and that this week he was going to focus on just that verse. After reading it he said he wanted to talk about hell. Pastor Mike read several verses which mentioned hell and then summarized them all by saying that God never sends anyone to go to hell but that they choose to go there. Then he read from Genesis and said that the whole point of story of Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge of good and evil is to teach us that God values human free will above all things. He said this is because God wants us to love him and that God cannot make us love him or it is not real love. Mike also said he wanted to emphasize that part of main purpose of his sermon was to answer the question many people have about why God would create people He knew were going to go to hell. At the end of the sermon Pastor Mike read John 3:16 again and concluded in a prayer for people to choose Christ as their savior. After praying he pointed to a few nearly life size crosses placed at different parts of the room. At the crosses anyone could go to pray, take communion, or talk to someone.

At the end of the service there was an offering and a song. In the bulletin there was a card for visitors to fill out and ask any questions if they wanted. I filled out my personal information and asked why Mike did not consider Romans 9:22-23 in his sermon since in it Paul raises the very question Mike raised but answers it extremely different.

Though this church seems to generally be evangelical I cannot recommend it for the lack of emphasis on the actual words of Scripture. Much was said but the handling of Scripture seemed to be very driven by an unorthodox Christian philosophy that does not acknowledging God’s perfect justice or His Sovereignty over human decisions.

http://www.mosaic.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 2/5
Beliefs: 2/5
Community: 3/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Choruses
Service times: 9:00 am

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

Review: I attended a service at Mosaic in the summer of 2004. The church meets in the heart of downtown Los Angeles in a dance club/bar. As I walked to the building from the parking lot there were a number booths I stopped to look at. Some sold food or coffee, some sold books, and some others were giving out information about Mosaic and various ministries of the church.

Inside the building it is obvious that it is a club. There is the bar at the back, disco balls hanging from the ceiling and a stage where the d.j. usually spins records in those early morning hours. But on Sunday mornings Mosaic converts this building into a place for worship by hanging various art pieces all over the building, by adding two big screens on each side of the stage, and by filling the place with chairs.

The worship of God in song was led by an eclectic group of musicians and singers who traded off taking leads. For example, one of the guitarists ,who was wearing a leather jacket and jeans with a bunch of holes in them, played right next to one of the singers who was wearing tight corduroys and a beanie. All of them appeared to be enjoying what they were doing, often closing there eyes or lifting up their hands as an act of worship to God. They played only choruses because they believe “hymns have no cultural relevance in a multiethnic, multicultural urban church.”

When the sermon time came I expected the pastor of Mosaic, Erwin McManus, to preach. Erwin McManus is the author of “Seizing Your Divine Moment” and a couple of other books. He calls himself a “cultural architect” and apparently has become what the L.A. times reported as “a guru among many younger American church pastors.” Mosaic hands out copies of the L.A. times article to people at one of their booths and has it on the front page of their website to see and download. But Erwin McManus was not there to speak on the Sunday I attended. Instead a young man shared a long story about a chain of dorm pranks he was involved in when he was in college. At different parts in the story he would reference various passages weaving them into his story. The point of his message seemed to be that he thought he wasn’t very loving when he was involved in those dorm wars and that we need close communities where we can really love each other.

Mosaic is to be commended for their interest in the arts and their courage to meet in a bar. However, I cannot recommend this church for their lack of esteem for the Word of God in their desire to reach out to culture. The doctrinal section on their web page offers nothing but simply says to get to know the lives of people at Mosaic. It states that if you are really wanting to read a “statement of faith” to read the Baptist Faith statement. Yet in the L.A. Times article Erwin McManus admits that though “Mosaic is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention it does not subscribe to many (of their) stances…for example Mosaic allows for women pastors.”

http:// www.gracelb.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 4/5
Community: 5/5
Preaching: Exegetical
Worship: Choruses and Hymns
Service times: 9:30 am

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

Review: I attended a service in July of 2004. Their website states that they are “a multi-congregational and multi-generational church” which is a fairly accurate description. There was quite a wide range of different types of people there from dressed up older men, to college age men dressed in holy jeans and other rags, to Asian girls dressed in hip Japanese fashion, to Mexican moms with their kids huddled around them. The church was founded in Long Beach 1913 and meets in a fairly large church building. It has a very artsy feel inside. Seventies style lights hang from the high ceiling. Pews fill both the main floor and the balcony. And older carpet covers the platform.

I sat in the balcony and looked down at the band which led everyone in singing a couple hymns and a couple choruses. The words were projected on a large screen while a young man led everyone in singing them while he played his guitar. Most the time he simply stood there with his eyes closed and his head looking upward while he sang.

After the time of song the senior pastor, Lou Huesmans, preached a sermon out of the book of Proverbs. He spent a significant time explaining the historical and cultural backgrounds that need to be understood in order to interpret Proverbs correctly. He illustrated how wisdom was seen during that time period and how Proverbs was a book of wisdom. Pastor Huesmans defined wisdom as “the right application of truth in one’s life.” He also spoke about the background of the author of Proverbs, Solomon and the various events of his life. After this he went through a few verses of the passage of Proverbs he was preaching from, dealing with each of the words and sentences and how the instruct us to live a life that is pleasing unto God and not foolish. He concluded with a time of response wherein all the Christians present, and all those who desired to put faith in Christ as their savior for the first time, were invited to read a confession of faith out loud that was printed in the bulletin. As we finished, he prayed a prayer a concluding prayer and everyone was dismissed.

When I walked outside there were a number of people just hanging out in the courtyard area in front of the building. There were a number of canopy covered tables some with information about different outreach ministries, some with information about different Bible studies and one with free coffee and doughnuts. One fellow with long brown hair, a beard, and a heavy metal t-shirt came up and introduced himself to me. We talked for awhile and he told me about an “Labrys,” art gallery they have there on campus. He took me over to another building where a good sized room was filled with art pieces on the walls a couple small tables , some chairs and a counter where they have coffee available. Apparently, he explained that on some nights they have film screenings and theological discussion about them afterward.

I would definitely recommend this church as a good place to grow in one’s faith and in their knowledge of the Word of God. They seem to have a good grasp on missionally reaching out to their urban community and culture. It is unclear about their stance regarding the some of the major tenants of the reformation. Deeper involvement in this church would ultimately demonstrate their convictions regarding them. I would encourage you to read the comments from a Pastor of the church. They will be helpful in your determining to visit this church.

http:// www.newsong.net

Church Review
Scriptural View: 1/5
Beliefs: 2/5
Community: 2/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Choruses
Service times: 9:00, 10:15 am & 12:00 pm

Website Review
Site Usability: 5/5
Site Design: 4/5
Site Content: 2/5

Review: I attended a service in the beginning of November 2004. Newsong is located in an industrial area of Irvine. I attended the 10:15 service. There were several people talking outside and in the foyer. I walked through the people to the entrance to open the door and walked in when a young girl stopped me and told me they were not ready and for me to leave and come back later. So I went back outside into the foyer and went into the a small room off in the corner which was their bookstore. They had one wall with a bookshelf containing a few select books and also a small table in the middle of the room displaying the books: “The Purpose Driven Life,” “The Prayer of Jabez,” and “Letters From a Skeptic.” I turned to my left and noticed everyone in the foyer had started to go inside.

As I entered the large wherehouse my eye was immedietly drawn to a picture projected on one of the side walls which said “Misfits.” I later discovered that Newsong teaches series to series and the series they were in at that time was Misfits. The theme of Misfits is that God accepts Misfits if we choose Him and follow His plan for our life. I sat in a seat sort of in the middle of the room. As I looked around at the hundreds of people around me I noticed that everyone, literally everyone, was Asian. The music began and a band, which descibes themselves as a band playing “contemporary rock and R&B.” There are large video screens to the left, right, and behind the band, which picture flashing images of the people in the band and their instruments while the words displayed. In addition, colored lights constantly flash while they are playing, much like you would see at a large concert.

The sermon was from an excerpt about Moses in the book of Hebrews. The speaker used this text as a springboard to talk about His own personal story and how it compared to Moses and how each one of us can have a “God moment” and “do great things for God.” He quoted several other passages and told stories about how he used to be a “Misfit,” acting up in class as a kid and playing pranks. He told us a story about how he had to be put in a special class for difficult kids but how his mom prayed for him and his life began to change and how he eventually became a pastor.

Newsong prides themselves in being a church reaching out to culture who has been on the front page of the L.A. Times three different times for that very reason. The head of the church, Dave Gibbons, describes himself as a “entrepeneur and lead pastor.” I have sent two different e-mails to him inquiring about the theology of their church since the books emphasized in their bookstore do not represent the orthodox Christian faith, particularly “Letters From a Skeptic,” written by an open theist. (Suggested Articles: Decreasing God So As to Increase Ourselves, More about Open & Process Theism) But there has been no response to either of my e-mails.

It seems to me that in their desire to reach out, Newsong Church has sold out. The gospel Newsong Churches professes in their statement of faith seems very different than what is expressed in their service and in the books commended in their bookstore. Until I receive further clarification on these issues I cannot recommend this church and advise that you stay away from it. If they are advocates of open theism they worship a different God than the God of the Bible and the God of the historic Christian faith. In addition, they do not demonstrate careful concern for the right exposition of God’s Word but put more emphasis on human experience.

http://www.fefcful.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 4/5
Community: 3/5
Preaching: Exegetical
Worship: Hymns and Choruses
Service times: 8:30, 10:00, 11:30 am

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

Review: I attended a Sunday morning service at the First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton on memorial day of 2004. As I drove into the parking lot some men in orange vests helped direct me and the rest of the traffic to open parking spaces. I followed the other people getting out of their cars and walking into a large building with a cross on top of it. I walked into the dimly lit building and found a seat in one of many pews that filled the building .

The service was composed of four main segments. It began with some opening words about it being a day to remember those who have died. This led into the first segment of the service which was a audio-video presentation of several pictures and short clips of people who had died in the church in the past years. The second segment of the service was a time of singing, wherein we all sang a couple hymns and a couple choruses. The third segment was an interpretive dance by a young lady dressed in a white ballet dress. With a smoke machine blowing smoke across the stage and with colored lights changing back and forth she danced across the stage for several minutes to the song, “I Can Only Imagine” by the band, Mercy Me.

The last segment of the service consisted of a somewhat rigorous Bible study led by the Senior Pastor, Dale Burke. The primary passage of Scripture he was dealing with was 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, though we did look up several other verses. The main thrust of his message was that we as Christians do not “grieve as the rest who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13).” Pastor Burke attempted to demonstrate why we have hope by using other passages to present a case for a physical and spiritual death and the nature of the time that we live in as being a “time between the times.” He argued that the kingdom of God is both “now and not yet” and that Jesus will physically return in body, prior to a significant period of tribulation the church will undergo. In addition, he also explained that there will be a period after this tribulation when Jesus will reign on earth for 1,000 years as a king.

Fullerton Evangelical Free Church prescribes to a very particular type of eschatology, which may not be completely substantiatable biblically. However, the Bible does appear to be highly esteemed there since the Pastor cared very much to demonstrate that what he said was biblical. To grow in your faith at this church one would need to reach out to one of their many Bible study groups or ministries in order to get involved. It is unclear what their position is regarding our protestant reformation heritage.

www.saddleback.com

Church Review
Scriptural View: 3/5
Beliefs: 3/5
Community: 3/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Choruses
Service times: Sat. 4:30 & 6:30pm, Sun. 9:00 & 11:00 am, 4:30 & 6:30 pm

Website Review
Site Usability: 4/5
Site Design: 3/5
Site Content: 3/5

Review: I attended a service on Father’s Day of June 2004. Going to Saddleback church is an experience not unlike going to a resort on a vacation. As you turn onto “saddleback parkway” you drive up a winding road through a luscious landscape complete with rolling hills of green grass, palm trees, big red rocks and a waterfall. As you follow the signs and the parking attendants, they kindly help you find a place to park among the sea of cars that fill the lot. Sorry, no valet though.

As you walk onto the campus there are a number of large buildings. I wasn’t quite sure where to go so I walked over to a tent covered information booth. The person there explained to me that there were seven different “venues” to choose from. A “venue” is a “worship center” that conducts the service in a varying styles and settings. The “main worship center” is where the pastor of Saddleback Church, Rick Warren, speaks in person. His presentation is delivered on a live video feed to a large screen in each of the other six venues. Essentially what is different with each of the venues is the music and the decoration. There is a “rock-n-roll” venue, a “gospel choir” venue, an “island style” venue, a “saddleback with an edge” venue, “intimate younger” venue, a “Spanish” venue, and the “main worship center” venue. I decided to go to the “main worship center” venue because I wanted to see the famous Rick Warren in person.

The building is state of the art. There is a wall of glass that makes up the entrance. It is a good 50-75 yards long, has words and phrases frost-etched all across it and is inset with several glass doors. As you walk into the building there are at least a couple thousand seats to choose from. There is a main level of seating on the ground floor and then huge stadium like section of seating directed behind the ground-level seating. At the front is a huge platform with three large screens, one in the middle, two on each side. The two sides of the building are all windows. I sat down in the ground-level seating area and looked out the windows to see the sun reflecting off the mountains and the clouds hovering in the distance.

The service began with the musicians playing and the worship leader welcoming everyone and we all clapped for some reason. The music was top notch. Superb sound quality just as good if not better than a concert at the Verizon amphitheatre. There were all kinds of musicians, guitar, drums, a trumpet, a trombone, a violin, a keyboard, a group of backup singers and more. It was quite exciting. I kept turning my head to look at the screens and then at the stage and then back to the screens. I finally decided to just watch the screens because here were two guys on stage with these huge video cameras that kept running around filming everyone. But you didn’t see them on the screens. Instead, somehow they compile the live videography in real-time and project it on the screens into what looks a lot like a music video with different shots constantly changing back and forth.

After the music time everyone was quite pumped up! There was this intense sense of excitement in the air as Rick Warren walked out on the stage. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and khakis and as he began to speak it got real quiet in the building. While he was walking up to the microphone a row of men also walked in and sat at a line of seats behind him on the platform.

Pastor Rick began his talk by welcoming all the fathers and then proceeded with his sermon. His sermon consisted of reading a verse or two, usually from the paraphrase of the Bible, The Message and then he would immediately go on to explain how to apply that particular idea to our lives. This would take about three or four minutes for each verse. After each time he did this he had one of the men who were seated behind him come up and share about how they had applied what Rick had just talked to their lives about and how much better they were because of it. All this took about forty-five minutes. After the last guy shared, Rick said a few more words then the worship leader returned to lead everyone in another song and then we were all dismissed.

I cannot recommend this church as a good place for a Christian to grow the goal of becoming God-centered, Christ-saturated and Bible-intoxicated. From beginning to end the philosophy of ministry Rick Warren has written about in His book The Purpose Driven Church and expressed at Saddleback church is extremely man-centered. So much is done according to what people like and what is comfortable rather than focusing on careful exposition of Scripture and following it wherever it leads. I am not convinced that the strong focus on “purpose” from Rick Warren and Saddleback is healthy for Christians. What we need is to find value in making much of God, not Him making much of us.

www.hfcathedral.org

Church Review
Scriptural View: 2/5
Beliefs: 2/5
Community: 2/5
Preaching: Liturgical
Worship: Hymns
Service times: Mass- Sun.6:45, 8:00, 9:30, 11:15 am; 12:45 pm (Misa en Español); 5:00 pm & 10:00 am (Mass in sign language: At the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse Chapel). Sat. 8:15 am & 5:00pm. Weekdays 8:15 am, 12:15 pm.

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

Review: I attended a service in May of 2004. The church is located on Glassel street just before you get to the circle in downtown Orange. As you walk up the stairs to the church you see a bronze statue of a women holding some flowers to the left. You walk through large wood double doors and into the sanctuary. Inside, the building has a high vaulted ceiling and several wood pews to sit in.

The service began with several readings from the priest. Most of the readings were prayers or confession to God through Jesus Christ though one of the readings was directed to “mother God.” Sometimes everyone would respond together out loud and other times we would all simply stand up or sit down. There was a time of singing as a group from the hymnals placed in the back of the pews. After the time of singing there was a time of greeting the people seated near us and then the priest made several announcements about things going on during the week. After the announcements the Priest walked behind a large elaborately decorated table and proceeded to perform the transubstantiation ceremony to celebrate the Eucharist.

The people at church were friendly and there seemed to be a lot going on at the church during the week according to the priest’s announcements. I also overheard some people talking during the greeting time who apparently knew each other and were quite involved at the church.

Throughout the service there was a sense of awe, mystery, and significance in the actions we were completing. God is presented and revered as holy other and the partaking of the bread and the wine are considered precious gifts from God that are essential for life.

The service concluded with the priest stretching out his arms toward us and pronouncing a blessing for everyone. As I walked out to the parking lot there were tables set up where some women from the church were selling roses for men to give to their wives or their mothers for mother’s day. Even though my wife is not a mother I thought it would be a great idea to buy a rose for her, so I went ahead and bought one. The lady who sold it to me smiled very big and wished me well as I walked away.

Though the respect and fear of God in Catholic churches is to be commended I cannot recommend this church due to their lack of commitment to God’s Word. The Roman Catholic Church believes it possesses a higher authority than the Bible and therefore believes in unbiblical doctrines such as the meritorious nature of the sacraments, papal infallibility, transubstantiation, purgatory, indulgences, the immaculate conception of Mary, veneration of saints, and many other things. The priest’s mediation in the giving of external objects, bread and wine, is the primary purpose of the service rather than expositing of God’s Word so that Christians may come to believe in its truth.

http://www.porticochurch.com/

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 5/5
Community: 5/5
Preaching: Exegetical
Worship: Choruses
Service times: 10:00 am

Website Review
Site Usability: 4/5
Site Design: 4/5
Site Content: 3/5

Review: I attended a service at Portico in November. The meeting I attended was at the Ugly Mug coffee shop in downtown Orange where the church gathers on Sunday mornings. The Ugly Mug is a old-town house converted into a coffee shop and has sort of become the hip, indie, gypsy, artsy (and whatever other cool adjectives you want to fill in) hang out for many of the Chapman University students over the last few years. The main room packs out around 50 or more people on some nights when the coffee shop hosts poetry readings or live music.

Shortly after walking through the doors I was greeted by a couple of genuinely nice guys. They told me that they had just recently started having church together there at the Ugly Mug last month. We chatted for awhile and then the service began. Everyone took a seat and then one of the guys I had been talking to led us all in the singing of a couple popular worship choruses of petition while playing his guitar.

After the worship time in song, the Pastor, Jon Cochron explained that Portico believes in studying God’s Word by going through the books of the Bible and dealing with each verse. This week’s passage of study was Philippians 2:12-30. Pastor Jon passionately proclaimed that the command of verse 12, “to work out your salvation” is not a working for salvation but is rather the proper result of God’s saving work in our lives. He showed how verse 13 clearly states this salvation is because it is “God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure.” Pastor Jon held out his forearms showing his tattoos which have the words “sola gratia” (grace alone) inscribed on one and the words “sola fide” (faith alone) inscribed on the other and explained that salvation is always by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus in Scripture. He was rigorous in pointing out that salvation is something God does in us and that the faith he gives us is shown true by the good works He enables us to perform. Pastor Jon followed the text closely teaching that good works are what enables us to shine like lights so that people might see Christ and be compelled to worship and love God through Him. As a group we looked at the three examples of such lights that this passage of Philippians refers to: Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. It was pointed out how each example challenges us as Christians to be more than just what Pastor Jon called, “the frozen chosen.” Instead, he said we as Christians need to reach out and take the gospel to our neighbors and co-workers and everyone else with Christ’s love and good deeds. Pastor Jon spoke many other encouraging words and concluded his sermon with the serving of the Lord’s Supper. People intermittently walked up to partake of the elements while the guy I met at the beginning of the service led everyone in a few more songs of human petition and a couple of songs of declarative praise to God for who He is.

I would highly recommend this church as a great place to grow in your knowledge and love of God both because of their strong commitment to the study of God’s Word and because of their strong commitment to reach out to the neo-pagan culture of our day.

http://www.laicc.net/Content/Regions/OC/index.htm

Scriptural View: 0/5
Beliefs: 0/5
Community: 2/5
Preaching: Topical
Worship: Choir
Service times: 10:00 am

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

Review: The Los Angeles Church of Christ Orange County Region is part of the larger movement known as the International Church of Christ (www.icoc.org). The International Church of Christ demands “total commitment” from its members, called “disciples.” They originally came from an American religious movement of the early 1800s called the “Restoration Movement”, and represent a conservative wing of that movement. The independent “Christian Church” and “Disciples of Christ” are two church denominations that came out of the Restoration Movement along with the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, (Mormons). Though their name is similar, The International Church of Christ should not be confused with the United Church of Christ, which came from a different branch of the Protestant Reformation and holds very different beliefs than the Churches of Christ or Restoration movement as a whole. ICC believes the church has apostasized and sees itself as God’s movement to restore true “New Testament Christianity.”

ICC believes in following the Bible only and no “creeds of men.” Is that a creed? Any religious practice not specifically commanded in the Bible is termed “unbiblical” and is rejected by the International Church of Christ. A common saying among them is that, “We speak where the Bible speaks, and keep silent where it is silent.” Yet interestingly, Kip McKean, the World Missions Evangelist and head of the ICC, is the ultimate authority and source for ICC doctrine. Nothing any other ICC minister writes is published by the ICC or used without his approval. He alone claims to have the correct interpretation of Scripture, and anyone disagreeing is dismissed (see reveal.org for several testimonies).

ICC embraces a belief that one must be water baptized by immersion in one of their churches in order to be saved. They believe that the act of baptism actually saves a repentant believer and refer to Acts 2:38 as support for such a belief. The ICC holds that denominations and sects are sinful and not of God and that all non-ICC churches are not true churches. Because of this, there are never two ICC-affiliated churches in a single city or town and in order for one to be saved they must be a member of an ICC church and be baptized in their church. I spoke with Anthony, a member of the L.A. Church of Christ who said that they frequently re-baptize people who were baptized as Christians in Protestant churches.

ICC rejects the use of musical instruments during worship as deeming them unbiblical. Passages in the Bible describing the use of musical instruments in worship are ignored because they are descriptions and not commands.

ICC does not emphasize theological issues in its preaching or teaching; it has a utilitarian, results-oriented approach. The ICC tends to view serious theological study as a waste of time for most of its members. Gordon Ferguson, an ICC leader states, “Any religious group who strongly emphasizes doctrinal accuracy runs a risk of losing perspective and losing God. (Progressive RevelationBoston Bulletin, May 1988).”

Based also on Matthew 28:18-20, the ICC also believes in a system of discipling, which means that every member is assigned another member as a mentor, to whom he/she reports, confesses sin, and which he/she is expected to obey and emulate. In turn, each disciple is to actively be evangelizing, which means finding people for them to disciple. This activity is very important for making other disciples also contributes to the aquiring of your own salvation along with baptism and ICC church membership.

WARNING! I recommend that you avoid any International Church of Christ Church! They are extremely cultic. ICC sounds Christian but they severly distort the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Church Review
Scriptural View: 4/5
Beliefs: 3/5
Community: 2/5
Preaching: liturgical
Worship: hymns
Service times: 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00 am

Website Review
Site Usability: 4/5
Site Design: 3/5
Site Content: 2/5

Review: I attended a service in September. As I drove into the parking lot I found a space among a litter of Mercedes, BMWs, Hummers, and Cadillacs. Everyone was dressed pretty formal and acted very official.

The service was liturgical in format. Episcopal/Anglican churches attempt to take a “middle of the road” position regarding the differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant doctrine. This comes out a little bit in their liturgy. The service coupled readings and a time of preaching with a ceremony of the Eucharist. Throughout the service there was a sense of awe and wonder and a focus on the total “otherness” or transcendence of God. Perhaps it was merely the liturgy but there was a stark recognition of mystery and reverence during the church meeting.

The worship in song included singing a couple of hymns accompanied by an organ. Few people sang despite the God-rich words of the songs being sung. There seemed to be little emotion or joy in the singing. The singing was intertwined with segments of standing, sitting, reading outloud, and praying.

The sermon at St. James Episcopol was on Hebrews 2:1 “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” Apparently St. James had recently broke off from the Episcopal denomination over their embracing of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle both for their members and ministers. So it was stated that this sermon was intended to address the justification for breaking away. The sermon was very passionately delivered with much conviction. It was not expositional but rather focused of trumpeting sola scriptura (belief in the authority of the Bible alone).

The service concluded with some business matters. Due to their breaking off of the Episcopal church, the denomination was requiring that they relinquish their building. Yet, the bishops at St. James were announcing to the parish that they were determined to fight that demand legally since they thought hey owned the building since it was payed for by their church’s tithe. I found this whole reasoning sort of odd since church is not about a building and tithe is not a payment but a gift offering unto God. But perhaps there is more involved than I know.

It is great that St. James Episcopal is taking a strong stance for a confidence in the authority of the Bible! I see this as a great step in the right direction. However, I cannot yet recommend this church because there are many other doctrinal beliefs St. James embraces where this confidence has not yet been applied (the total sinfulness of man, the unmeritorious nature of the sacraments, egalitarianism, veneration of the saints, and inerrancy to name a few). In addition, St. James cultural sensitivity and mission seems pretty limited to the upper class.

Website: http://www.cefconline.org/

Church Review
Scriptural View: 5/5
Beliefs: 5/5
Community: 4/5
Preaching: Exegetical
Worship: Hymns & Choruses
Service: 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m

Website Review
Site Usability: 4/5
Site Design: 3/5
Site Content: 2/5

Review: I attended the a service in August. The people there were very friendly. Someone met me at the door when I first walked in and asked if I was new and helped me to find a seat. There seemed like there were a lot of things going on in the church and that it would be fairly easy to get more involved.

The service consisted in worship of song and of worship in the study of God’s Word. The worship of song was a blend of hymns and contemporary choruses led by a young man. The sermon was excellent. The study was from Ephesians 3:14-21, a prayer of the Apostle Paul’s. The study not only rigorously dealt with the text but rigorously gripped my heart stirring me not only to want to pray more but to pray with the glory of God in view. Pastor David Hegg, the preaching and teaching elder, leads in the study of God’s Word by going through books of the Bible and studying them verse by verse. Apparently this was his twenty-third sermon in Ephesians.

Corona EV Free is firmly committed to inerrancy both in their doctrine and their practice. The whole service was very God-centered and very biblically oriented, holding fast to the spirit and passion of the reformation. You kind of got the feeling that the whole service was about the Bible and that these people all gathered because they loved studying that book together.

The soundness and depth of biblical teaching and reflection is definitely Corona EV Free’s strength. However, they seem to be somewhat insensitive to cultural issues. While people were very friendly and I believe truly desirous of being missional, they lacked cultural (not racial) diversity and therefore cultural relevance. Most were dressed nicely, anyone who was not might feel out of place. The music (not the hymns or choruses) were reflective of the seventies music era when churches first started using pianos instead of organs.

I would highly recommend this church as a great place for someone to grow in their faith due to their strong commitment to the Word of God in all things.