Hmmm...I'll pass. Visited this church (TBC-West) on Easter Sunday 2018, and it was much of the same as most mega-churches...or mega-church-in-the-making. Sure, there were some positive things about my experience there: (1) The ushers were friendly and smiling. (2) The building/sanctuary/bathrooms were super clean. (3) The singers can REALLY SANG!!! (Though it still felt empty...not like the Spirit-filled singing of yesteryears. Very commercial-sounding.) (4) The church chairs were nice and comfie. (5) The sound system and video graphics were well structured and on point. OK, so obviously I'm reaching reeeeal hard, cause when it came to the people and the overall service? Ummm, no. 'Fraid not. I felt like I was back at my former (mega)church in Atlanta. No real theological substance. Cold atmosphere. Overzealous parking lot attendants. Too many unmarried men in leadership -- my DL/gaydar alarm was going CRAZY...I had to mute that sucker just to get thru da service. Strong churches typically have a foundation of strong marriages/families. (Not to say that a pastor can't be single, but one shouldn't just see a bunch of singles across the board with the pastor, his assistant, the music minister(s), musicians, etc. Waaay too suspect! But hey, in their defense, I realize that this satellite location is newer...maybe there are more married leaders at the main church.) Grumpy-faced Christians who didn't look happy to be there. And people just lacked a true spirit of fellowship (except that famous fake moment in the service where the puppet strings are pulled and you're directed to go "greet 2 or 3 people." LOL!) The service was noticeably rushed... 'cause Passa gotta get back to the main church. (I'm so sick of this multi-locational franchise-oriented practice in the church...it serves no other purpose but to maximize profits and to continue perpetuating the notion of personality worship! I mean, really? All them people sitting in both the downtown and Columbia Co. congregations and NOBODY ELSE HAS A CALLING TO PREACH? Goodman is the only person God can use?!?! SMH...) So yeh, he has everybody to close their eyes and go into prayer mode, and while you do that, Passa hands the mic to his assistant and quietly escapes. A stealthy move that hopefully no one will question. You open your eyes, and Rev. Assistant Pastor is now speaking. Goodman has dipped, off to the next service at the main store...I meant, church. Highly distasteful. If a preacher doesn't have the time to journey to the conclusion of service with his people and occasionally greet them afterwards, in the name of all that is holy, let somebody else lead / preach!!! Or at least make a cleaner and more honest/straightforward transition: let your people know you're handing off the mic to your assistant. I mean, he can't stay on the pulpit (while the assistant leads) and pray with his members for 2 or 3 minutes, and then dip! SHEESH! I mean, daggum, Homie...offer SOME kind of farewell to your people before you dip! This cat didn't say "Bye." He didn't say, "God bless you." He didn't bid "have a wonderful week" to his people. He didn't say, "I love you, and I'm praying for you." NONE OF THAT! Just disappeared like a fart in the wind. Does he not know that somebody sitting under the sound of his voice will be dead and buried by the time he returns the next Sunday?!?! It's doubtful that he even cares. Just shows up to drop a quick sermon, and then he's gone. I'm just so OVER these money-grubbing, attention-seeking, self-aggrandizing spiritual "leaders" who have absolutely, positively NO GENUINE COMPASSION whatsoever for the people of God. Jesus would NOT have led in this manner. This is part of the reason I quit attending church. I tried to give it another chance, but all TBC did was confirm for me that I made the right decision. Furthermore, we are waaaay too generous with the term "pastor." A pastor is a shepherd leader (shepherds don't just "feed," they genuinely CARE for their flock), and the term "pastor" connotes an element of SERVANT leadership. Nowadays churches offer little more than "speakers" and "entertainers," never interested or evidenced in serving...only BEING served. Mature and discerning people are not moved nor fooled by mere impressive oratorical skills like what Goodman offers. True, Spirit-filled ministry is so much more than that. Hopefully if you visit you may have a better experience. But I graduated from "blind sheeple" a long time ago, and it's hard to pull the wool over my eyes anymore. To be sure, there are plenty of genuine, loving and good-hearted people at TBC. Personally, I feel sorry for them in how terribly they (and their precious time) are being devalued and short-changed. I was sooo not feelin' this church. Peace and Blessings! read more