Church Review: Hawera AOG
I am currently looking for a church home and part of my strategy to find the right fit is to try a few local churches out. On Sunday the 16th November (Oh my where did the year go?) I attended the local AOG church, with my sister who was visiting me at the time.
Overall I quite enjoyed the church visit. The people seemed nice and friendly. I even knew most of the worship songs and could join in which was lovely. The sermon was unusual but snappy. Most of all I did feel the presence of God which is key, no point in finding a church where you can't connect with your creator! But there were a few minor quibbles too. Is this the right church for me? Who knows.
The people seemed really nice. When we first walked into the foyer we were greeted by a lovely lady who gave us the church notices. She then asked us if we were "huggy people" in a non-scary or weird way, so after we confirmed we were "huggy people", she gave us a hug. It was quite a nice way to be welcomed in to visit a new church. I especially loved that we were given the option to be non-huggy people, and I got the impression she would not have been offended if we had said no thanks to the hug.
The worship was both lovely and a bit awkward. Lovely in that the songs were modern and popular so we knew most of them, joining in to singing is one way to feel part of a church immediately and is such a powerful way to calm down and get into the right headspace to communicate with God. However the worship didn't have a definite start so when we came into the church it seemed as though the musicians were practising, but after a few songs everyone just started to join in. I do prefer to know what’s going on, should I be singing now or not? The other minor quibble was that there were parts of the songs that were definitely off key and it did bring me back out of the quiet, calm mind-set when they occurred. However - everyone is human and we all make mistakes. These people are not professional musicians and it would be silly to expect perfection. I did LOVE their enthusiasm.
There was also a little bit of awkwardness (on our part) when the church broke out into singing in tongues at one point. I think the awkwardness was due to the fact we were not expecting it. I also couldn't help but think, "what if a new Christian was here today? Would they understand what is going on?” So maybe (if I was in charge....) I would have a brief explanation beforehand about the purpose and what it is.
The sermon was unusual in that it was not a dry intellectual lecture (which sometimes I do enjoy I admit), it was a sermon that involved a discussion from the point of view of a daisy which was a new point of view for me :). But as I can't stand a sermon that drags and repeats itself it was new and interesting, and most importantly the daisy conversation did help to illustrate an important point.
The church notices were really nicely done, so easy to follow and I loved how they outlined the missionaries that the church supports as well as the news for the week.
I liked that there was a mix of ethnicities and cultures represented in the church family. It can be so easy for Christians to get caught up in their particular group of people and miss others viewpoints when a church is made up of one ethnicity.
Overall I got the impression that this church is family. That men and woman are viewed as equals and that all people are respected and valued. It was a lovely visit.
Afterwards I did contact the pastor via email to ask a few questions, as to the official views/beliefs/teachings and I received a lovely kind response.
What a nice church!
KG
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