From Poles to Pews!

I haven’t had many updates the past week so let me do a quick recap… I have spent the last week in Rossville, Georgia, with Jay, Jen, Landen, Anna, and Addison Shankle. They have been awesome hosts and just fun to be around, especially as the kids have given me countless laughs. I posted a video of Anna singing to Taylor Swift, and it turned into what 4 minutes is like at the Shankle household. It might look staged, but I guarantee Landen hates girly music that much and would have that reaction every single time we would play Taylor Swift. And Anna is one of the funniest, genuine girls I might have ever met. From asking why a lady would wear sneakers with a skirt to telling me “I’m gonna screw you” after her first day of Kindergarten she has given me countless laughs! I have also had a great time with Jen as we sit in the same room and Facebook each other and compete in Farmville. But today I left for Atlanta.

I have heard of North Pointe church and some of the conferences they have held so when I googled them and saw that it was only 15 minutes from where I will be spending the next 3 days I decided I should check it out. I got directions and left this morning; however, when I got out of my car I thought the church looked a little small for a megachurch. Sure enough, it was the wrong church! The lady who welcomed me told me that they get that all the time because for some reason North Pointe has the wrong address on their website so she asked if I would like directions to be able to go there but I decided to stay.

I’m not sure if there is such thing as a perfect church in a sinful world, but this is what my mind has pictured a perfect church as for many years. I loved this church! I walked in and was immediately welcomed and never felt a moment of awkwardness. When I walked into the worship center I was immediately intrigued because it was very simple. Finally, a church that doesn’t go for the glitters of new technology and the perfection of up to date style! I sat in a fold out chair and was immediately talked to by an older man, that later I found out was the pastor; he left that detail out while we were talking. People sat all around me in this center that could have fit a few hundred chairs but only had maybe one hundred. The worship had awful sound equipment, which again, I loved. I got into the worship and enjoyed it more than any other church service because they were not running around trying to find the perfect sound. They allowed the hollow center to eat up most of the sound and so you could not even be embarrassed that you can’t sing a single note because you can’t even hear the person next to you. Worship was not about the band, because you could barely hear them, it was about authentic time with you and your creator. During one of the songs they had communion and offering but it was not passed to you, you would get up and put it in the respected areas, kinda like a prayer walk. I felt a lot less awkward visiting because I did not have to walk around to do that because you did it at your own pace and I did not have to worry about the man next to me wondering why I just passed the plate without putting offering in. Hooray for low pressure but genuine praise.

The message also hit the spot, of course, as it was all about community. The pastor, which I had previously met, told stories that anyone could understand but it did not make the “mature” Christians feel like the message was sugar coated, they were definitely challenged equally. The message started with a group project and I sat there terrified that I was going to feel like the kid in gym class that wants to be picked but just sits there and hopes someone makes eye contact with them and that they are not the last one to find a team. This was not the case at all. I was picked before I could even look around the room and so I looked around the room to see if I just got lucky, but no, this is how the church operates. Everyone had a group immediately and it was as if they had all known each other for years. These groups also were interesting to me because they were not divided into wealthy or poor, young or old, white or not, etc. One group had a cool biker chick next to a homeless man next to an Asian teenager next to a grandpa with suspenders next to an emo newlywed couple and so on. Hooray for losing boundaries within a church!

As I walked out the church I felt so confident that I was meant to be there. They talked about how community would be easy if it didn’t involve people (sound familiar Chad?). And how people hesitated going into communities of people because of disappointment, divorce, and death. How true is that? When bad things happen in my life I tend to shut people out because people tend to disappoint me, or divorce/leave me, or die; however, that should not make a difference on how we live and cause us to live a life of seclusion. We need to keep giving community a chance despite hurts.

Before I left I talked to the worship pastor and a few others who gave me directions to a cool coffee shop and asked all about what I was doing. They were interested in me! Not just “hi, glad you came, bye”. They wanted to know details and they maintained eye contact and responded back. He also told me that if I moved to the area they would love for me to help with a ministry called Serve the City. I sure love connections :)

I did more research of this church once I reached this super cool coffee shop I’m sitting in right now and the church has made many headlines such as “From Poles to Pews”. This church was planted 5 years ago and caused quite a noise in the large city of Atlanta because they took over a building that use to be a strip club. The people who built the church decided to leave shortly after the church was planted but they seem to still be doing amazing. I hope they make more headlines that rock Atlanta and turn a lot of heads because in my eyes they are the perfect church!


Now I am on my way to stay at an intentional community that lives in a Homeless Shelter. I’m so excited! I doubt I will have much internet access but keep looking for updates if you are interested. This could be an experience of a lifetime for me!