Sunday I worshiped with part of our group at Westminster Chapel. We were given several choices and I chose to go to Westminster because Ed Stetzer was speaking. I was pleasantly surprised with the service.

I had expected a high church service with an older congregation. Instead we were greeted by people at the door and when we entered the chapel there was a praise band getting ready for the service. The leader was at a keyboard wearing short along with a couple of guitars and singers. They used a combination of hymns with updated accompaniment and choruses. The choruses were not new but they seemed to be fresh and nothing was done as a matter of habit.

Stetzer did a great job even though he preached a little shorter than the pastor usually does. From what I can surmise, the pastors here must preach for an hour as a matter of course. I don’t have a problem with that as long as he has something to say for that long, and from what I heard from some others in the group, they had hour long sermons but he may have had 15 minutes worth of materials.

Following the service we met in an art center lead by some IMB missionaries who are reaching to all types in the arts culture. They use the arts to build relationships with the community which gives them opportunity to speak into their lives. It is great to see people using their skills to reach out to people the traditional church seams to either forget or hold at arms length.

One of the major themes during this week had been how the church can be relevant to the culture they are trying to reach. For too long we have invited people into our culture, which for the most part the unchurched does not understand and we do not go out of our way to make it easy from them to enter. Being culturally relevant does not mean we compromise our beliefs or standards, but it does mean we seek to understand their viewpoint and do everything we can to meet them where they are.

I do not know the cultural norms of those around Westminster Chapel, but it appears they are reaching people. There were people from various races and age groups and they truly seemed excited about their gathering.