Today was my first visit here, and it was pretty much kinda sorta perfect.
This church fits this day and age perfectly. It's in a known area, Buckhead, it's diverse, it appeals to our short-span with being 1 hr... just alot of check marks. Details:
LOCATION:
In Buckhead, off Peachtree. There are technically two entrances, but coming from Midtown... you pass Bistro Niko, turn left then start following the signs... its a bit of a maze, right turns, left turns, but then you see the police parking guys and know you've found the right place. There's a parking to your right, two parking lots actually... the other one is the parking deck (so one outdoor lot and one park deck).
FIRST IMPRESSION:
Lots of greeters, everyone was nice and sweet. There were no shortages of smiles and welcomes from their staff. This made me very comfortable and made the place feel inviting.
MUSIC:
Like the others said... it's a concert. A production for sure, complete with a full band, singers, flashing lights, etc.
CONGREGATION/PEOPLE:
Very diverse, Very multi-cultural. I guess I've been under a rock lately, but after visiting several different churches this month alone it seems Atlanta churches are almost all pretty much mixed in regards to race, age, etc. Every race was present, families, singles, alot of couple, groups of friends, older, younger. Someone said there seemed to be only people 33 and younger there, but not for the service I went to. There was equal distribution, if I had to give a median age I'd say 39/40... basically it seemed to be alot of folks in there 30s, 20s, and 40s, but then also people in there 50s+ and teens.
SERVICE/SERMON:
Yes it was broadcasted on the screen like everyone said, but how they have it setup and the high quality of the projection and images, as well as the set design/decor (which matches the actual church walls and lights perfectly with the projected pastors picture) makes it all seem like he's there. I thought I would mind and not like it, but I actually didn't mind at all. The sermon itself was good, he does come from the Bible-- it's non denominational, but Jesus is believed here (which is good of course). They are on certain series right now, today was part 3. He let us know that this sermons well as others are online.
Music (2-3 songs), welcome/prayer, offering), sermon. 1 hr in and out.
SUMMARY:
4.5/5. I enjoyed myself. Very lovely, clean, inviting atmosphere. As a former "mega church" member, I thought this mega church was gonna be super crowded, crazy traffic when leaving, etc. But nope having 4 services (9AM, 11AM, 1PM, 3PM) perfectly divides up the crowd and makes coming a breeze. I can technically only speak for the 1pm service I visited, but I would imagine they're all pretty similar. This is the perfect church to go to if you are church searching, or if you're in town visiting and want to get a good word, or if you are hosting guests and they want to go to church. You can literally go to church (just 1 hr), then go eat, then go shopping all in the same area.
UPDATE (April 2014): 3/5. I went to the 11am service and it was cray cray crowded... which is actually fine because you can see and potentially meet more people, it's the parking though... I sat in the parking lot for a LONG time, about 30 minutes, the parking guys didnt evenly let us out in the outdoor parking lot. They let the sides nearest the exit out for more time meaning they gave those cars waaay more time to go equaling about 10 cars and my side which was at the end only got like 5 cars. COUNT THE CARS, LET AN EQUAL AMOUNT GO FROM EACH SECTION. 5, then 5, then 5, then 5. Its so easy. I could literally change my rating to a 2 for this irritating, non sensical parking situation. But I'll just learn from it.
UPDATE (5/4/2014): 5/5. I went to the 6PM service recently and it was great. They're on the Starting Over series and the sermon given was touching. Honestly I was just SO happy to be able to go to church at 6PM. I missed a 5PM service at another church I wanted to try and then looked to see if Buckhead Church had any later service and low and behold they did. What a blessing to the community! I'm so happy they offer so many service times.
UPDATE (5/20/2014): They have a special singles series going on right now for May and I've been able to get a little church in twice a week, yay! And the coolest thing is that there's an actual pastor there-- no screen guys it's an actual LIVE PASTOR preaching lol. (His sermons have been just okay though, idk about this particular pastors interpretation of God's word... grace is a wonderful thing, but its not a free pass to be a bad person... a sidebar of "you should try to be good though" at the very end doesn't makeup for it, lol ). The band, man oh man have they been rocking it lately... I can't get "Christ is Enough" by Hillside out of my head-- and I love that! I'm changing my 4 stars to 5. Praise the Lord for the variety of service times they have! read more