There are some caveats in writing a review of a house of God. There are some precautions that…read moreare... advisable. First off, you don't want to judge, in the biblical sense, others. Now usually I'm a pretty funny guy, but on this one, due to the nature of the subject matter, pardon me if I'm a little more circumspect.
This review, and all the other ones I'll be doing as I search out a "HoW", (House of Worship), in Santa Rosa, are and will be aimed at believers. If you don't "get down" with the whole "Jay-Zuhs" thing, move along, there's nothing to see here. My churchy reviews are to be viewed through the prism of a) my faith and b) what I have been used to in the realm of congregational experiences.
A little background: I was raised an Episcopalian overseas, which was probably closer to British Anglican than anything else. Think Roman Catholic lite. (All the ceremony with only half the guilt.) Then I went off and was a really crappy human being for about 15 years and then became active in a Presbyterian (USA) church in California, (and tried real hard to not be a crappy human being). Ah, the Presbys, masters of the potluck, though Lutherans and Methodists can give us a run for the money any day of the week and, of course, twice on Sundays. But I digress.
So here are the criteria that I think may be useful to you to be able to gauge whether this church is the place for you and maybe your family.
1.) Congregation size: Based on number of people present the day I attended.
2.) Warm Fuzziness: This is how welcomed did I feel. Did people come up and introduce themselves?
3.) Demographics: Age spreads, % of young families, children, racial mix, etc.
4.) Facilities: Seating, layout, AV, etc.
5.) Bulletin/Program/Service Structure: How well the flyer they hand you reflects what goes on during the service. Like the old baseball adage goes, "You can't tell the players without a scorecard."
6.) Preach-a-fyin': This is highly subjective, but it will tell you a little about the pastor who is giving the sermon. I'm of the mindset that says I don't care what else a church has going for it, if the pastor is a gasbag I'm not going to be happy there.
7.) Music ministry: Shout to the Lord, baby! (But do it on key!)
8.) Minutiae: Were the cookies good? Was the offering request heavy-handed? All the other things that can be relevant.
Okay, there's the criteria. Now that I've set these down, let me now rate Foothills Community Church.
1.) Congregation size: 60? +/- 10 people. For me that's about right as I'm from a slightly smaller church, though I'm not freaked by a congregation twice that size. No star rating per se, as this is a personal preference thing.
2.) Warm Fuzziness: Five stars! Greeted twice coming in, twice by people in the pews. There's a lot of genuine love going down here.
3.) Demographics: 60% Anglo, 30% Asian & Pac Islanders, 10% other. Good mix of young families, middle aged couples and seniors.
4.) Facilities: Parking in the rear, lots of space. Building and grounds in great repair, church clean and newish, AV platform, good sound, good acoustics, excellent lighting, in general, five stars.
5.) Bulletin/Program/Service Structure: Okay, this is where I may lose some of you. If you are used to having a mix of praise songs and traditional hymns, scratch that. It's strictly praise songs and there is no sequencing in the bulletin. I showed up 10 minutes before the service began. People seemed to drift in slowly over the next 30 minutes w/o any apparent particular logic. Nobody seemed tweaked about it.
6.) Preach-a-fyin': This I'm going to have to split. Five stars: Pastor Tim Swanson, who was not doing the sermon, but running the service. Five stars: Pastor Mark Stone, on content, one star: on time management. Pastor Mark must be ADD or Robin Williams's twin brother. He's funny, intelligent and a brilliant, inspired proselytizer. That said, he ran an hour, an hour into the service. Ended up being a two hour service. It didn't bother me, but if you're a clock-puncher then
maybe Foothills ain't for you. Tough? Deal with it.
7.) Music ministry: Solid. Praise songs that were new to me but very, very singable.
8.) Minutiae: Cookie time - One star, no cookie time that I could see. That part of the "fellowshipping" was in my opinion a little weak, but not the end of the world. Offering hit: The bulletin had a nice piece that said: "If you're a visitor don't feel obligated to participate in offering." Very cool. I dropped a sawbuck. For a guy who ain't working right now, it was an act of faith. Yeah baby, I believe. Also, their finances are in the bulletin for all to see. Very Protestant.
Note: If you are planning to attend July 25th, 2010, don't. They will be holding their service elsewhere that day. Come back next week. Otherwise, disregard.
