Just another day in paradise

Kathy and I visited WestHills church in Villa Rica this morning. They had an unusual service that they do once a year and our hosts wondered if we would we enjoy it. They had no preaching (which we would have loved to hear), instead they had different booths set up around the building. We moved from booth to booth at our own pace and the over-all theme was prayer. We prayed for ourselves, missionaries, leaders and our families. I think I can also speak for Kathy and say that we really enjoyed it.

Most of the people we met were probably under 40, although we met a few people in our age range. That didn't matter at all. In fact, it was one of the friendliest churches I've ever visited. We were met outside by a group of young men who made us feel very welcome. It might have helped that I knew the worship leader and he introduced us to a few people, but I don't think it would have mattered that much. We were confronted by a lot more overly friendly people once inside. I'm not sure if someone put a tag on our backs that said 'visitor - please greet me' or not.

The music was understated this morning since the service was focused on prayer. They only did 2 slower songs but the band sounded tight and the lead guitarist had a nice touch. The worship leader played an acoustic guitar that I was not familiar with but it sounded very nice. Had a good bright sound but wasn't missing the mids.

I'm glad the band didn't play much. Everytime I go to a church I'm picking through the music, trying to decide what I like and what I don't. It's rather annoying and often times prevents me from enjoying the service. This short music presentation was short enough to enjoy and slow enough not to distract me from the words or music.

In short, we enjoyed the visit and enjoyed the service. Westhills is a very friendly Baptist church who is breaking all the 'Baptist' rules. I'm sure we'll visit again soon.