After I went to San Francisco for church and commented on how long it takes to get there, my father wrote to me about a church in Palo Alto he suggested I try.  The church is Peninsula Bible Church, and he said a former pastor of the church (now deceased) had written a book about what the church was doing that the church I spent my teen years in had picked up.  When I looked up the church to get the address and schedule a visit in my day planner, I found someone had left a negative review, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

As I arrived and turned into their driveway, it appeared to be a whole complex.  I got parked but wasn’t sure which building to go to, so I followed some other people who were walking through the parking lot.  At first, I thought I had made a mistake in following them, because the way lead through a courtyard of playground equipment and children’s Sunday School classrooms.  There were children everywhere; my first clue that this is a vibrant, growing church.

At the far side of the courtyard I finally saw doors that seemed to promise a sanctuary.  I stepped into a large sanctuary with wings on either side of the main room.  There were colorful banners in each of the wings, the first two having pictures on them.  The lights overhead also had translucent pictures around them, two of which matched the pictures on the banners.  There was a picture of the earth depicted as an apple with a bite taken out.  The second was a house with a stylized father, mother and child in it.  Up front there were two large screens, and the word “Epic” emblazoned on them.  The church is on the second Sunday of a series that’s going through the Bible as an epic tale.  Today was about Abram and entitled, “A Family Born: God’s Heroes”.

The service started with singing led by a 7 piece band (including violin and bass) and 3 singers.  Only 2 of the songs were familiar to me, but I liked the music.  A woman stood and shared a bit of her testimony and led us in prayer, and then one of their 11 pastors gave the sermon.  He talked about God having chosen Abram, a most unlikely hero, to do something as small as have a son.  Nothing particularly heroic about that, except that it grew into something great.  He talked about the many stupid mistakes Abram made, and how God never allowed his mistakes to divert God’s ultimate plan.  He also said that Abram’s faith grew, as demonstrated by his willingness to sacrifice his son.  He said the power of faith isn’t in how much of it we have, but in Whom we have faith.  It isn’t in what we do, but in our trust that God will keep everything on track according to God’s plan.  The sermon was so good, I took notes!

The congregation was large enough that I thought I’d finally be able to sneak in and out without being noticed, but as I was leaving the sanctuary a woman caught my eye and came up and asked if I was new.  I said I was, and she said, “Let me give you my phone number in case you have any questions.”  I said, “I live up in the mountains and don’t have phone service, but I’ll take your e-mail address,” so she wrote her e-mail address down for me inside my bulletin.  The bulletin listed numerous programs, and each of the 11 pastors is responsible for one or two aspects of ministry.  I even marked down on the attendance card that I might be interested in learning more about their women’s ministry.  They have things going during the day throughout the week that I might be willing to try, even if I proceed as planned to attend the Mennonite church in San Francisco.

So, Dad, thank you for the recommendation!  Negative reviews notwithstanding, I’m glad I went.