Hrm....how do I start this one. Since it's a church, I should be respectful to a certain degree, right? Heheheheh let's see if I can keep it that way.
The Wife and I came by here to do a little "church shopping" and see how things are there - it's a part of us trying to "plug in" to the Korean community here. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut...I didn't get a good vibe from this place. Here's why:
1. When you walk in, there are greeters at the door. However, these folks somehow manage to be familiar with the several thousand faces that walk through those halls every Sunday. When my wife and I went to walk in, one of the ladies stopped us and wanted us to fill out an address card. I declined since 1) doing so only invites unwanted visitors to your home and 2) we didn't make up our mind that this was the congregation that we wished to join. Her mind didn't seem to process this as she continued to press me to fill out a card. When I told her we were "church shopping," her response was, "well look no further, you found the congregation you need." Ummm....what? How do you know this?
2. The place is too damn big. Seriously. It actually starts to give me the creeps. I understand that immigrants to the area, particularly in the Korean circles, tend to gravitate toward population venues such as churches and associations. But man, this is out of control. They're burgeoning so much that they had six different services. It's almost too robotic and impersonal.
3. After the service, the folks were so big that no one even bothered to stop and talk to us. Now, this isn't me in some narcissistic tendency thinking that everyone should talk to me. However, every religious institution I have attended in my lifetime usually has a cadre of folks who do seem to gravitate to new faces and gently introduce themselves whether out of pure curiosity or other motive. Not here. Everyone had their own cliques and groups so we slowly blended out.
Personally, unless you have some sort of friend or other connection into the church. Otherwise, you'll have to gut through their new congregation member "indoctrination" program. Yeah, another red flag. You have to go through a new member program for a few weeks before you're allowed to join the remaining groups in Bible study.
Meh. No thanks. read more