September 7, 2008 - Grace Fellowship UMC

Church: Grace Fellowship United Methodist Church http://www.whatisgrace.org/

Date Visited: September 7, 2008

Senior Pastor: Jim Leggett

Debbie's First Impression: Cool Mansion! Very friendly folks.

Butch's First Impression: The atmosphere is so friendly and relaxed and the facility is extremely homey and comfortable.

Were you greeted? Yes! Very warmly by many people. We never had to open a door anywhere went in the complex. Someone was always there opening the doors and greeting visitors and members alike. Very, very welcoming and friendly.

Were the people friendly? YesDid you feel comfortable and welcome? YES!

Was the facility easy to find? Yes.

Parking: LOTS of great parking spaces for visitors and people with special needs. They even put a postcard on our window to tell us “thanks for coming”! Very cool!

Dress Code: Of course there isn't a dress code but most people were very casually dressed; shorts and jeans. EVERYONE in the band, praise team and worship choir had on jeans (except one lady). A very casual and comfortable feel.Was it easy to find your way around? Yes, there are signs and volunteers everywhere to assist you.Was there easy access to information? Yes, once you get into where the service is, there are information tables and people to help answer questions everywhere. They have a mansion at the front of the property and this is the main entrance. We think this is where the classrooms are. They also had a prayer room as you walk in the front/main door.

Flow/Time of Service: A good flow; 3 songs then announcements, silent prayer time and offertory and then Jim Leggett spoke for about 20 minutes.

Prayer time: This church is VERY focused on prayer. If there is ONE thing that you get out of your visit to Grace Fellowship is that prayer is the center of this church’s spiritual life. Very cool! They ask everybody to complete the registration information and then there is a prayer space on the registration. People fill those out and then the following week each bulletin has a DIFFERENT prayer request in it. The congregation is given a few moments during the service to specifically pray for the pray request received for that day. It was really neat! THEN, there was a specific prayer time during the service where you could come to the altar to pray. The band played a song and then someone came to give a closing prayer. BUT, they made it very clear that if you weren’t finished praying at the altar, you were to remain there as long as you wanted – and 2 people stayed there until we left the building! They also have prayer partners so if you go to the altar and would like someone to pray with you, someone is right there. People felt very good about staying as long as they wanted and asking for prayer from others. I haven’t seen that in a long time!

Bible Teachings: The congregation is encouraged to bring their Bibles to church and the Bibles are used during the entire sermon. Jim Leggett is a GREAT teacher! He had sermon notes in the bulletin and referred to them frequently. He continually went back to his references of scripture. We really liked the sermon!Holy Spirit: We didn’t really feel the Holy Spirit in the same fashion or intensity that we did the first time we visited a few weeks ago.

Band: They had a keyboard player, 3 electric guitars, a drummer and a bass player. The drummer had a great set up but he was far away from everyone. As a drummer, I would have liked to seen him not “stuck in the corner” but that is probably just me. J

Music: We only recognized one of the songs selected this week. The songs they sang were not quite as upbeat as we are used to. They had great music playing in the speakers prior to the service and after the service.

Vocalists: There was the main worship leader and then 2 other women and 2 other men. The keyboard player sang also. The worship choir composed of about 12 people (all ages and backgrounds). They were a lot of fun to watch and very enthusiastic about the music. We got the impression that they switch musicians and vocalists because we were there in July and we didn’t see any of the vocalists that sang today or any of the band members. The band and vocalists didn’t seem to “gel” this week. When we visited in July the band and vocalists were amazingly together.

Coffee and Food: They had FREE bagels and muffins as well as hot tea and coffee. They had a few café tables where you could sit with your friends/family and have a quick breakfast.

Bookstore: They did have a bookstore but it was very minimal (a few bookcases). What they did have though was GREAT stuff and very popular material.

Different: One of the neat things “Grace” had was a HUGE covered patio with lots of rocking chairs. People were just sitting in the chairs rocking and relaxing. Also, close to the covered patio was also a beautiful water feature that was beautifully landscaped.

Bathrooms: The bathrooms were roomy, clean and up to date with beautiful fixtures and a big space for changing the baby. You are probably laughing but a nice ladies room is important!

Exit Greeting: Many folks told us to have a great week.

Debbie's Opinion: I loved this church when we came in July but we didn’t get to hear a sermon because we came on 4th of July weekend. Today the sermon was GREAT! It was more of a teaching than a “preaching” which is totally fine with me. He used video clips of very appropriate movies and they fit exactly right into his lesson. I was disappointed in the music this week but am told that they rotate bands and vocalists. The location is great, the people seem really neat, the Senior Pastor is wonderful so we will probably go back for a 3rd look.

Butch's Opinion: I loved the worship experience this week. A very different environment and experience from last week’s worship service at Fellowship of the Woodlands, but just as meaningful. Grace Fellowship is a very “down to earth”, relaxed, and “prayer focused” congregation and worship experience. I too, was somewhat disappointed in the song choices, but I think had the songs been more familiar or “upbeat” I would have had a more positive reaction. Jim Leggett is a superb “Teacher” of the Bible and scripture. He has a very gentle and clear way of applying the teachings in Scripture to everyday life. He has an excellent sense of humor and is very engaging. I loved his use of video clips during the sermon/lesson in order to emphasize the main points of his sermon. I left worship knowing that I had learned something I did not know or practice in my everyday spiritual journey. I also loved the altar prayer time at the end of the service and will definitely take advantage of that opportunity on our next visit to Grace Fellowship.