Church Search Church No. 1 - Buckhead Church

This morning we officially kicked off the Church Search by attending Buckhead Church for the first time. I didn't know much about the church, other than that it was in Buckhead and is very big. We have some friends who are very actively involved in Buckhead Church and others who have checked it out and never returned. But since I didn't know really what to expect, I went with an open mind.

While I didn’t do any research on the church before this morning, tonight I went on the website for some info. Here’s a little bit of background about the church courtesy of buckheadchurch.org:

The church’s mission is “... to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.”

The beliefs:

“We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that men were moved by the Spirit of God to write the very words of Scripture. Therefore, we believe the Bible is without error.”

“We believe in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity (the Son of God) who became flesh to reveal God to humanity and to become the Savior of the lost world. “

“We believe that all people were created in the image of God to have fellowship with him but became alienated in that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, people are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own efforts. “


“We believe that the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sin. Therefore, God freely offers salvation to those who place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as sufficient payment for their sin.”


“We believe all Christians should live for Christ and not for themselves. By obedience to the Word of God and daily yielding to the Spirit of God, every believer should mature and be conformed to the image of Christ.”

“We believe that the church is the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The members of the church are those who have trusted by faith the finished work of Christ. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving him and by making him known to the lost world.”

The first thing that jumps out at you upon driving up to the church is the non-traditional look of the church. Mr. Cob said he’d always thought the building was an office building…it’s a four story glass building and the inside is all state of the art. Our friends Katie and BJ met us when we arrived and guided us to the sanctuary, which looked more like a concert hall. The room is HUGE and the “pulpit” is a stage flanked by two huge projection screens. The stage was adorned with a drum set, guitars and lights – lots of lights. It honestly felt like we were going to a concert. Not your typical, traditional church experience.

The service opened with three Christian rock songs. The acoustics were amazing and the music was great. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the music. Probably because it was like we were listening to our typical music, just with different words (i.e. religious words). The singers had wonderful voices, and the concert-ish venue, made it difficult to not appreciate and feel the music. I was thrown off because I’d always assumed I liked traditional hymns better than “contemporary church music” but I now think I might have been mistaken. So far, so good.

As the music comes to a close, Katie leans over and says, “You do know the minister isn’t actually here?” “Um, no”, I say, “what?” Just then a third projection screen dropped over the center of the stage and the minister appeared on the screen. He wasn’t there in person because he was preaching at the Northpoint church. But our service was live – we were getting live feed of him preaching 20 miles up the road. The technology was really quite amazing if you think about it.

Today was the last of a three part series entitled “The White Flag” which examined the story of Jonah. From the brief description of the last two weeks’ sermons, I think I’d have been better suited for one of those services as they discussed people “resisting God” and trying to find their religious path. But today’s service, while not exactly on point with the current status of my own personal religious journey, was still very interesting and thought-provoking; two things that I hope to take away from every church service I attend. The overall message was to not just be a good person and a good Christian, but to get involved and have compassion for all people regardless of the depths of their own commitment to God or Christianity. Mr. Cob and I both left feeling like we wanted to get more involved in our community and the world at large.

Overall, I enjoyed the service and our experience this morning. It definitely is not your traditional church service or atmosphere, but perhaps that’s fitting for me given my non-traditional church-going background. I do want to return and go to a few more services to see if the substance speaks to me. The one major draw back is the enormity of the church. The sanctuary seated more people than the Fox Theater. Not exactly an intimate feeling. But there seem to be many ways to get involved and join smaller groups to meet people and feel more of a connection, if this is the church we do end up picking. The other off-putting part of the sermon was the multiple mentions of managing your finances in accordance with God’s law, which was just kind of confusing and I didn’t really understand what he meant, especially because when the offering was passed around, it was done with very little pomp and circumstance. It was just a bit odd.

Well the Church Search will definitely continue, but we’ll be keeping Buckhead Church on our list.

My New Obsession

As if I really needed something else to distract me online, I've recently become a fan of a certain website.  A money-management website.  As you may recall, I'm often thinking about money, specifically the Swans money situation and how we're handling it.  I never did jump on the Dave Ramsey band wagon and I've really just had this vague idea in my head as to how we're going to navigate our financial future.  But I have a new plan.  I have a budget thanks to mint.com.

Mint.com is similar to Quicken, which we have on our home computer, but for some reason, I love mint.com so much more. For one thing, you can log on to it from any computer and you’re emailed weekly updates. Here's the skinny - you enter all your bank accounts (savings, checking, credit cards, 401Ks, IRAs, etc.) and then mint.com lays out your complete financial picture. You can even add any cars you own, your mortgage, and the like. Mint.com clearly sets out how much cash is in your pocket versus the amount of debt you're carrying.

The most eye-opening aspect for me is seeing exactly where our money is going. Mint.com categorizes all of your transactions so that you can view how much you spend in each category each month. For example, my $70 trip to Kroger goes under "groceries" and my $2 coffee goes under "coffee shop", and both "groceries" and "coffee shop" are under the bigger umbrella of "Food & Dining." You have to manually fix some of the categorizations, but then going forward mint.com remembers the categories for a particular merchant. So step one for me was making sure all the categorizations were correct and then viewing our spending habits over the past three months. I will only say that I am utterly amazed and quite embarrassed about the amount of money we spend on Food & Dining. It is not right. I would tell you, but you really don’t want to know. And I thought I did a good job cooking at home a lot! Well our $60 dinner here, $12 Saturday coffee shop run there and $5 subway lunches all adds up to a HUGE chunk of change. I also spend a lot of money on groceries. Mr. Cob has been saying for a while that I overspend at the grocery store and we end up throwing out maybe 20-30% of the things we buy because they go bad before we can eat them. Well after seeing the proof in the numbers, I fear he's right.

So mint.com is here to help. It assisted me in creating a budget and we're going to try to stick to it. I think it will take a few months to get the hang of it, but the first step is knowing you have a problem and taking the necessary action to fix it! And now that I've set up our budget, I get an email from mint.com if we've gone over budget in any category. For example, we're already $47 over on Bills & Utilities for the month, so in order to defray that overage, I'm going to cut down in another category - perhaps Food & Dining. My goal is to use mint.com to help us reduce some of our spending so that we can (1) pay off our roof/credit cards ASAP and (2) build up at least 6 months of living expenses in our savings account. Here’s to money management!

Church Search Recon

This weekend over brunch I was talking with my girlfriends about the Swans' upcoming Church Search.  As these are my friends and I know they're not judging me, I got in to some detail about my worries and hopes for the Church Search.  I then continued my discussions with my mom and sister-in-law last night.  One of the things that was brought up was what type of churches we were going to look at - are we just sticking to Christian churches?  And my initial response (though I haven't talked to Mr. Cob about this), is no.  Although, I do think we'll end up at a Christian church of some sort, I'd like to explore lots of options.  

But this lead to the big underlying issue that I have with churches in general: I'm not sure how I would categorize my religious beliefs.  Specifically, I'm not sure I would call myself a Christian.  Sure I celebrate Easter and Christmas, but that alone does not make one a Christian.  My problem is that I know the "gist" of Christianity, but not much more.  I can't really explain the core concepts of Christianity aside from knowing that Christians accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior.  And I'm not even sure exactly what that means.  He died for my sins?  That's not an explanation - I need more substance and understanding.  I clearly have much to learn.

So one of my friends suggested I do some background reading before beginning my Church Search.  I think her exact suggestion was to read Christianity for Dummies.  I thought it was a good idea, and didn't realize there's actually a book with said title!  I took Religion 101 in college, which examined Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Unfortunately I no longer have the text book (I'm sure I sold it back for beer money) and I don't recall what we discussed.  But, I perused our home library last night in hopes that Mr. Cob had some book that might help, and sure enough he did.  So I started reading  Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His Father's Questions about Christianity by Gregory and Edward Boyd (which after opening the front cover, I realized actually belongs to LaVidaLeipprandt!  I'll have to return it when I'm done...I think Mr. Cob took it sometime in high school - over ten years ago!)  So far it's an interesting read and is expanding my knowledge of Christianity.  Yesterday I was also given the book Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine, an Autobiography by religious scholar Huston Smith. 

So in addition to my 30 books challenge, I'm adding some religious reading to my plate.  Anyone have any good religion books you'd recommend?  I'd like to read some non-Christian books as well - at least one on Buddhism.

But even though I'm not up to par on my religious background reading, we're still starting the Church Search this Sunday.  Our destination is yet to be determined.  Stay tuned. 

Another book down

Reading total: 5 books
Books to go: 25
Months before 30: 14
Library Fines: same
 
I have finished another book - The Count of Monte Cristo, all 507 pages of it!  This is a great book with a wonderfully written story.  Although there are so many characters and story lines that I found myself getting confused on a regular basis - but that's probably because I was only reading a chapter here and a chapter there so it was choppy in my mind.  Luckily, the front of the book has a list of all the characters, which helped.
 
This book again proved that the book is nearly always better than the movie!  And quite different.  I haven't seen the movie in years, but I'm pretty sure the endings are completely different.  This book is one that I would categorize as a classic - there is romance, betrayal, revenge - all the makings of a wonderful story!
 
So next I was planning to start on one of the three books I recently picked up at a yard sale, but I just checked my list and none of the books are on "the list".  Hum, what was I thinking when I bought them?  So now I have One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, A Farwell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, but won't read them until after the 30 books challenge.  Instead, I think I'll pick what is perhaps the shortest book on my list...The Little Prince.  I read it in French class in high school, but don't think I've ever read the English version, and considering how bad my French was, I'm pretty sure I didn't understand most of it back then!

Girls Getaway

I'm going on a girls trip this weekend with some of my favorite ladies from law school.  We're taking over Washington, DC and are sure to have a fabulous time...that's not even a question!  Our last trip was to Charleston in July, so we have a lot of catching up to do!

But that means I'm leaving these two behind....

I'm going to miss them.  And Bailey Ann.  But I'll be plenty occupied, so I think I'll be okay.  And from what Mr. Cob has planned, they're not going to even notice I'm gone!  Tomorrow he's brewing a new batch of beer.  (Have I mentioned Mr. Cob is a home-brewer?  He even has his own brewery - The Mad Swede Brewery.  It's been temporarily shut down for about 13-14 months.  But it's back to full operating capacity.)  And he's going on a bar crawl tomorrow night with some buddies.  And he claims to be cleaning up our back yard ... it really needs some help.  It needs so much help that he rented a 20 foot dumpster to haul it all away!

So I'll be away from my beloved this weekend.  But I think we're both excited.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?!

Also, a girl needs some time with her girlfriends - it makes her a better, more sane person. 

On the Hunt

Let the search begin: the Swans are looking for a church! I’ve been saying for a while now that I’d like Mr. Cob and I to find a church where we feel comfortable and can see ourselves becoming a part of. Admittedly, I haven’t done much to further this desire, but that’s about to change.

About two years ago we found a Lutheran church in Midtown that we both liked – Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on Peachtree. Mr. Cob grew up a Lutheran, so we thought that would be a good starting point – at least one of us was comfortable with its teachings and philosophy. We both really liked the pastor and felt that his services were not overly “preachy” (one of my fears) and we could relate to what he was saying. But we fell off the wagon and stopped going. And now it turns out that particular pastor is no longer with the church. I think we’ll definitely check it out again, but there were a few things that I didn’t particularly like about the church. I felt that there weren’t too many people there around our age – it was mainly older families. And they all seemed to be of the “upper class” Buckhead types, which just doesn’t resonate with me. In a word, it felt stuffy.

I didn’t grow up going to church on a regular basis. Part of the reason is that we moved every couple of years and it seemed that by the time my parents found a church they liked, we moved again. In California we went to the Crystal Cathedral who’s mission is “"To inspire and motivate persons through possibility thinking to grow in a loving relationship with Jesus Christ so they can be the persons God dreams, desires, and designed them to be." I went to Sunday school and remember the Christmas and Easter services were especially grand. In Virginia I don’t remember going to church aside from holidays. And then in Boston we went to the Unitarian Universalist church in our town. According to the UU website, “Unitarian Universalism is a caring, open-minded religion that encourages seekers to find their own spiritual path. Our faith draws on many religious sources, welcoming people with different beliefs. We are united by shared values, not by creed or dogma. Our congregations are places we gather to nurture our spirits and put our faith into action by helping to make our communities—and the world—a better place.” And once we moved to Georgia, we went to the Unity church. Unity’s website states that “Unity is a positive, practical, progressive approach to Christianity based on the teachings of Jesus and the power of prayer. Unity honors the universal truths in all religions and respects each individual's right to choose a spiritual path.” And then Mr. Cob and I were married by Brian, a Methodist pastor from my great aunt’s Methodist Church in Greenville, GA. Brian really opened my eyes and squashed a lot of my preconceived notions about “men of the cloth” and religion in general and piqued my interest in religion and finding a religious/spiritual home. If Brian had a ministry in Atlanta, without a doubt, we would be members of his church.

So between us, Mr. Cob and I have a wide range of religious exposure, which I feel is a testament to our openness on the subject. Ideally, I’d like to find a church where we connect with other couples and young families who are similar to ourselves. I’d like to find a place we are both comfortable and can grow in our spirituality individually and as a family. I’d also really like to find a place that our future children can flourish and have a religious home. Mr. Cob feels that being a part of church in his childhood was a positive experience and we’d both like that experience for our children.

So we are on the hunt. Over the next couple of months I plan for us to attend a variety of churches in the area with the intent of finding one we both like. We have at least two on the list, but are looking for suggestions of others to add. The first is Buckhead Church, which our good friends Katie & BJ attend. The second is giving the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer another go-round. Anyone out there have any thoughts or opinions on other places we should try?

My plan is to chronicle our experiences at the various churches we try, so check back for updates!

Kids don't need real toys

They just need a silly uncle who ties shoelaces on their heads.

And who joins in the fun...

Mr. Cob is going to be a great daddy one day, because he sure is an awesome uncle!