"Christ risen was rarely
recognized by sight
They had to get beyond the way he looked.
Evidence stronger than
his voice and face and footstep
waited to grow in them, to guide
their groping from despair,
their stretching toward belief."
-from a poem by Lucy Steele
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I wandered in to this church one Sunday morning a number of winters ago. Immediately I was overwhelmed by the warmth of the place. To the untrained eye, this could be attributed to any number of things. I know now it's nothing less than God's presence seeping through a hundred different small places all at once. In the music, in the friendliness of the people, in the poetry and Scripture that was read. The poem above was shared that Sunday and I still remember it all these years later. It had a heartfelt impact on me.
It was sweet, before the message, a young woman gave a slam poem about Buffalo that was very charming and full of life. My friend Angela, who is very outgoing, befriended a bunch of the young people and invited them over to my apartment for lunch afterwards. At least five people came and the next Sunday, around eight came. All of those people are still friends to this day. It was a very beautiful moment in my life especially because it was a time when I was praying specifically that God would help bring community into my life. I'm super thankful for that!
Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead and is still alive. They believe Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to fill and empower people to be like Jesus was when he was on earth. This church definitely believes that and the people are really faithful to live out that faith in ways that are pretty simple, straightforward and creative. Most of the church is in their 20s and falls into the Elmwood Village crowd. They all really love Jesus and really love people. And that's what Christians are supposed to do so I would say this is a really great church.
I wouldn't be surprised if you have seen or will see in the future people with Village Church shirts walking around the neighborhood involved in different things. It's really cool to see a church full of young people passionate about getting involved in the community in so many ways! read more