This post is a little different because it does not represent a first impression of a church I visited, but that's OK. In the summer of 2008, one of my housemates worked at World Overcomers Christian Church, and I attended a few of their worship services, including one at which he was baptized. That housemate is now a housemate again (just around the corner!) and still attends WOCC. We had our house retreat this past weekend, and we went to WOCC's Saturday evening service last night, so I re-experienced World Overcomers for the first time in a few years.If I could use one word (or phrase?) to describe WOCC's worship, it would be "high-energy." I remember the second time I went there back in undergrad, a very kind woman welcomed me and said with sweet caution, "Now just so you know, the music here is pretty loud!"
I need to back up. WOCC is a predominantly African-American, contemporary evangelical church that might qualify as a megachurch, though I'm not sure of the membership. I had my own (amusing) thoughts about why that woman felt the need to warn me about the volume, and race was definitely a component. WOCC is not an exclusively black church, and I have always found the people there more than hospitable, but its atmosphere does seem to cater to the younger black population.
Back to the high energy. The service started with several back-to-back praise songs led by a sizeable group of vocalists (including my housemate) and a stacked band that was rocking out. I didn't know any of the songs they sang, which was a little distressing in that I once was up on contemporary gospel music...but that's OK. Every song had the theme of (and often the exact words) "God is mighty." Having spent the past few weeks talking to my biblical lit class about how the Bible holds God's majesty and God's intimacy in tension, I naturally got to thinking about why certain songwriters or worship leaders or whomever might choose to emphasize God's might (as, say, the Genesis 1 creation account does, whereas the Genesis 2 creation story describes a much closer, more anthropomorphic God). Just a runaway train of thought.
Pastor Nate, whom I remember as having been my housemate's supervisor the summer he worked there, offered a greeting and announcements after the worship set, then the musicians came back on to lead another song before giving the stage to Pastor Andy, the tall, charismatic
senior pastor of WOCC. As part of their current "Ready Set Grow" series, Pastor Andy preached from Romans 15 and Philippians 1, encouraging the congregation not to be self-satisfied in any blessing or strength they may experience but to use those gifts for others. "We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me'" (Rom. 15:1-3). My housemate had mentioned that a major emphasis at WOCC lately has been encouraging people to mature in faith, as increasingly its membership includes many new believers, and this message seemed to fit that agenda.If you want to get pumped up for Jesus and feel effusively welcome in a space that does not look like a church, go check out World Overcomers.
I'm headed back to Durham Resurrection Community tonight (we're meeting in a house again), but I figure by the third visit it's no longer "church hopping." :)
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