Sabbatical visits: The Journey, New York City, NY

What was your first impression as you entered?

Walking up from the subway station to street level, my first sight of The Journey consisted of a half-dozen friendly, attractive young adults on the sidewalk outside the Manhattan Center-- not far from Penn Station. They were offering packs of Doublemint gum to pedestrians and inviting them to come in for a casual, contemporary Christian worship service. Although functionally equivalent to the old circus side show barkers, they were devoid of the seedy and obnoxious mannerisms associated with barkers. Instead, they were well-mannered, friendly, non-threatening, and happy to answer questions.

One directed me inside to the elevator, up to the seventh floor. There I entered the grand ballroom, set up with hundreds of chairs, huge stage, information tables, refreshment tables (coffee, tea, juice, water, donuts). Perhaps two dozen young adults manned the information tables and greeted the entering crowd, seeking out the newcomers to make them feel welcome. It felt like arriving at a huge, happy party. There were hundreds of young adults, and a handful of people my age.

How long was the service?

Exactly one hour and ten minutes.

How was the service structured?

There were 5 movements:

Music – Exactly 15 minutes

Welcome – orientation (“here’s how to get connected with us”) announcements

Sermon – Exactly 40 minutes

More announcements and more invitation to “get connected with us”

Offering with music.

What did you like best?

These people know exactly what they’re doing, are well-focused, well-practiced, well-organized, and are having a great time doing it. I thought their band was the best rock band I can remember hearing anywhere. Their opening piece (U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”) was powerful, stirring the heart – and had me weeping in 30 seconds. (My impression was they did U2 better than U2 – but what do I know?) Their sound and projection system was absolutely perfect – excellent, clear sound for music, vocals and speaking, and a wonderfully creative mix of images, text and video. There were no glitches. There was a lot of humor. Their lead pastor, with an M.Div from Duke and a D.Min from Southern, seamlessly and thoughtfully mixed Scripture, theology and culture together in a winsome and engaging way. During the five different movements of the service, they managed to invite people to “get connected” with them probably 30 different times.

What did you dislike?

I had trouble finding the men’s room. (I know, that sounds petty, but it’s the only negative thing I could come up with.)

What were its greatest strengths that you’d like to import?

Their clarity of focus and mission, their resolve, their savvy, their sense of fun, their strong sense of community.

If you were looking for a church, would this be it?

Because this was clearly an evangelistic, invitational and instructional gathering, as are most non-liturgical services, the service lacked the liturgy that forms the central focus of worship as I understand it. So by itself, the service wouldn’t be enough for me. On the other hand, it would be a simple matter to gain liturgical worship in one way or another. But the church itself, the people, are so clear, focused, and winsome, that I could happily become part of this congregation.

What did you learn from this visit?

These people demonstrate clearly that we may use the things of culture to discover the Good News of Jesus and the presence of God – without selling out to the culture, dumbing down the Gospel or Christian theology, or confusing the various elements. They demonstrated that one may be unapologetically evangelistic without being in the least fundamentalist, legalistic, narrow, judgmental or offensive. I was most surprised to see first hand that projected text can overlay live video (of the band) and remain legible from the rear of the room.

Is there anything else you want to say?

These people give me real hope for the future of Christianity in the United States.

This is my opinion; I could be wrong.

The Lord be with you.