churches Cincinnati - part 1

Sunday we had a great time visiting 2 amazing churches in Cincinnati. Both are reaching out to their communities in unique and exciting ways.

The one pictured is a church that has been in existence for around 10 years. Their children's ministry facility is capable of handling up to 1,000 children per service hour...and they have 4 identical services. Can you imagine ministering to 1,000's of kids every week?

This church is straight up rock and roll. The light show, sound and staging was like being at a Coldplay concert. Averaging more than 8,000 in worship attendance, the message was a powerful dialogue about the messy-ness of relationships and how we need to be more forgiving and trusting.

I shouldn't take pleasure in this...but it felt kind of good to see technical glitches in this church that is more tech savy than most any in the nation. Half the time, when someone would walk to the platform, thier mic wouldn't work. It reminds us that we're all just human and glitches happen no matter how hard you try to avoid them.

One interesting observation was their commitment to being in the heart of the city. They purchased a lot that must have originally been a warehouse or factory. They demolished the whole block and built this massive facility. It had a very urban industrial contemporary flavor.

I know this picture is sideways, but notice what they installed outside the entrance to the children's department. The line of kids waiting to ride this one slide was as long as 10 minutes. On their way out, a child's last memory was the coolness of sliding down from the 2nd floor on their way to the exit!

Small things can make a big difference in capturing a child's attention so that they are excited to come back to church.

In the next post, I'll tell you about our visit to the Vineyard.