October 19, 2008 - Buncombe Street United Methodist Church (visisting Greenville, SC today)

Church: Buncombe Street United Methodist Church

Date Visited: October 19, 2008

Pastor: Jerry E. Temple

Debbie's First Impression: Beautiful facility; love the steps to the main door.

Butch's First Impression: Traditional, Old South

Were you greeted? Yes

Were the people friendly? Yes, we were also with a member.

Did you feel comfortable and welcome? Yes

Was the facility easy to find? Yes, but Amy (Debbie’s sister) drove us and knew where she was going.

Parking: Lots of parking across the street from the church. We didn’t see any volunteers in the parking lot but there was easy access.

Dress Code: This is a more formal dress code.

Was it easy to find your way around? Yes because we had Amy with us.

Was there easy access to information? We went to the “welcome table” after the service. We received a wonderful gift of home-made bread and some other information in the “visitor’s welcome packet.” Our favorite item was a colored picture by a child with a magnet on the back that we now can put on the refrigerator reminding us that we were at Buncombe Street.

Flow/Time of Service: This was a very traditional service; nice flow of service.

Prayer time: There was a prayer before the offertory and a benediction prayer.

Bible Teachings: The sermon was Biblically based with numerous scripture references.

Holy Spirit: This is a spirit filled church.

Band: Since this was a traditional service, there wasn’t a band. We learned later that Buncombe Street does have a contemporary service and we will check it out next time we visit.

Music: The music was very good. All of the voices sang together – sometimes you hear a warble or somebody sticking out…not at Buncombe. Beautiful music and there was lots of it today too! We also enjoyed hearing the youth choir today. A small group but great voices!

Vocalists: There weren’t any individual "vocalists" but the chancel choir was very good. We could hear all 4 parts of the harmonies. Great music!

Coffee and Food: We didn’t see any coffee or snacks.

Bookstore: We didn’t see a book store.

Bathrooms: We saw the bathrooms but didn’t check them out like we usually do. We did however visit the children’s wing where there were lots of kids enjoying their Sunday morning with very friendly volunteers.

Exit Greeting: We had a few people tell us to have a good week!

Debbie's Opinion: This worship service was very traditional. We enjoyed the service and will go back next time to check out the contemporary service. Rev. Temple delivered a positive and inspiring message.

Butch's Opinion: I really enjoyed going to Buncombe Street because the worship atmosphere is relaxed in the style of the Old South. The traditional, ‘high” church order of worship is inspiring and returned me to my traditional, Methodist roots. Although the worship service is traditional in nature, the worship environment is not “stuffy” or overbearing. Rev. Temple is an excellent preacher whose message is Biblically based and easily applied to everyday life. I will always go back to Buncombe Street when I’m in the Greenville area.