Greater Grace

The place was a little hard to find, as the church isn't allowed to put up signs at Meadow Mill. Nonetheless, it's worth a visit.

Location: 3600 Clipper Mill Rd, suite 114. It's tucked into Meadow Mill, which you can access by going under the bridge by car or foot on Clipper Mill Road off of Union Ave, right behind the Woodberry Light Rail Station. Once you get there, go 3/4 around the building clockwise and come in the open doors.

The church actually started outdoors and moved into the Mobtown Theatre space last winter. See www.ggch.info for updated locations and events.

Worship time: 10:30 a.m.

Spiritual Leader: Pastor Ben, a younger man who works carpentry full time and volunteers on Sundays. Like all the staff, he doesn't get paid to do what he does, yet he prepares a text-rich comparison of various people and events in the Bible. He is enthusiastic but business casual professional.

Congregation: Only 16 people were there today, but a few were out of town for the weekend. Exactly half the congregation was male. Pretty much everyone but Pastor Ben wore jeans. Everyone was very friendly, and though the ages varied, it ran toward young college graduate age.

In September a Sunday school curriculum for the kids is to be implemented.

Interior: It was inside a small theatre with very nice seats that slid out a little to give more room. The sound was good, and it was intimate enough to work well for a small group. Apparently, sometimes they have to trip over the theatre group's props on stage.

Presentation: The adaption of the theatre space worked well and likely attracts people who have worshipped in similar conditions at college. There were no available Bibles, given the location, but the verses were on screen for easy access.

Sermon: The message was about getting away from following the law just to avoid punishment and moving toward God's grace just making us want to be good. A plethora of seemingly unorganized verse choices followed. One main focus was Moses, who didn't talk to the rock as he'd been told but struck it to give the people water. This sin caused him to be banned from the Promised Land. A few other connections were placed out there, but the organization of them could have been better.

Music: The songs were so new I hadn't heard of any of them, but all the lyrics were put on a projector. A musician with a guitar led the music part, which wasn't as long as I might have liked but was very pretty. A few talented singers in the congregation added harmony.

Overall atmosphere: It was friendly and welcoming. I get the feeling that, with continued community outreach such as the Saturday morning Royal Farms prayer breakfasts at 10:30, the group will continue to grow.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church

A church review of the Hampden area would never be complete without the beautiful St. Thomas Aquinas, a combination church, school, and convent that rises high on Roland Ave near the fire station.  

Location: The church is on the corner of Hickory Ave and 37th St., but it's most visible from Roland.

Time:  I attended the 11 a.m. Sunday service.  Mass is also held at 9 a.m. Sunday and 5 p.m. Saturday.  Confession is at 4:15-4:45 on Saturday or by appointment.

Leader: Reverend M. Shawn Mahon, a man in the later middle age.  He hadn't done a lot of research for the lesson, and it showed.  He talked about immigrants speaking their native tongue, "Yugoslavian--or whatever language they speak," and I couldn't help but squirm and think that it's not hard to look it up and find that it was Slavic.  He also could have just avoided trying to name it, if he didn't know.

He used a lot of vocal fillers and didn't seem very impassioned or sure of himself.  He also was one of the few pastors I've ever met who didn't make an effort to greet me.  I also experienced another first--a pastor saying, "Have a good day" in bland monotone after the blessing.

Hilarious.

Congregation:  Some of the older generations were dressed up, but I also saw several people in sports T-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops.  However, no one said anything to me, and they didn't seem overly friendly among themselves, either.  There was a much younger crowd than in most of the other area churches, and there was more diversity, maybe 5% non-Caucasian.  This, and the attendance of 113 people, really impressed me.

Interior:  The altar was beautiful, with statues abounding. There were donated stained glass windows and dark oak eaves stretching high.  Ironically, the wall outlining the elaborate altar said (in incredibly fancy script):  "What does it profit one to gain the whole world but suffer the loss of his own soul?"  I wonder if those putting it up thought about how the money going to make the church that gorgeous might have been more practically spent.

Presentation:  There was no point by point bulletin to help me follow along, though the hymn numbers were posted.  The weekly bulletin, sponsored by several local businesses, including two wine stores, did have contact information and the weekly prayer concerns.  The bulletin did say, though, that 43% of American women have an abortion, which I thought was really high. It was.  Please see http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html for accurate statistics.  It really upsets me when churches do this--people should be able to trust those guiding them on how to live their lives.

I did enjoy the little baskets on sticks the ushers used to collect the offering from.  

Sermon:  The lesson was about the eucharist and letting yourself be transformed by Christ, focusing on that we should learn to be Christ in one another and to one another.  The examples, however, were bland and didn't reach out past Christians at all.  

Part of the prayer after the sermon asked for people to be called to be priests, nuns, etc.--a sweet self-preservation for the church.

Music: Organ was the only instrument.  A young woman with a sweet, delicate voice led all the singing responses and songs. Unfortunately, it was hard to hear her sometimes, and she didn't always give page numbers for what wasn't posted.  As a visitor, I found this difficult and discouraging.   The hymns, all traditional, often only had the line for the melody written out, though some people improvised the harmony quite well.  

Overall atmosphere: The church, as mentioned, is something to be seen and experienced.  I do think, however, that I'd prefer to visit on my own than during service.  It just didn't speak to me, despite the visuals.

Community Pentecostal Church of Hampden

Location: 1301 Dellwood (basically the corner of Union and Conduit towards the Light Rail station)

Time: 7:30 p.m., which I found intriguing.  

Leader:  Reverend Allan Snyder, who went by Brother Ted, was an older man who played electric guitar and was all positive parts of brimstone and fire. He stomped on the floor, pounded the pulpit, squeaked the microphone with his shouting of praise, and had to pull up his pants as he hopped around the altar with his praises.

I can only hope the reason he used a microphone despite his apparent natural volume was that his hearing was going.  His Bawlmer dialect was sweet, but I felt I could easily have heard less painfully from the house next door.

Congregation:  There were 21 people there tonight, mostly dressed quite nicely, which often coincides with an older audience like this.

Interior:  The church was always built to be small, which works well with the smaller congregation.  It is wood-panel colored with some mauve accents.  Fake candles and flowers were set in the window sills.  There are no stained glass windows at all. 

Presentation:  There was a lot of congregation participation, with shouts of "Hallelujah," "Praise God," and "Yes" echoing and interrupting each message, point, or prayer.  

Sermon:  The hour-long message was very disjointed and disorganized, partially because of all the "Yes, Jesus" praises thrown in.  It was about Saul who thought he was doing good for God because he was arresting Christians but had to listen to God to know what was really expected from him.

Most of the hour was actually about a congregation member's baby who was born fine, despite warnings of danger.  The doctors that said the baby might be born with a condition was called agents of the Devil. 

Music:  Few people in the church could either keep rhythm or tune, though a few people enthusiastically clapped off beat and used their tambourines.  Unfortunately, it wasn't until a few hymns in that Brother Jim realized he should shout out the page numbers of the hymns, since there were no bulletins or signs to say what numbers they were.  Singers were enthusiastic but sang not a single song I'd heard before.

Overall atmosphere:  Despite no formal meet-and-greet time, a few members did come and say hello.  However, in general, the service and style were a little much for me.  

Baltimore First Free Methodist

Today I visited Baltimore First Free Methodist, a church from 1907 tucked away between the row houses on Keswick. I did have to wonder what the "free" meant since there are other Methodist churches in Hampden. I was told that the Free Methodists broke apart from the others in 1860 because Methodist churches were charging rent for their pews and because the Free Methodists didn't support slavery. Ironically, today the Free Methodists are more conservative.

Here's the scoop:

Location: 3441 Keswick Ave.

Time: 10:30 a.m. The 9:30 on the sign actually is for bible study, which is held downstairs. Originally, I came early and was confused until I picked up a bulletin.

Leader: Pastor Loren Edwards, a middle-aged man who seemed to hold his enthusiasm back a little more than he might have wanted to. Very kind, and if he mispronounced hyperbole, it can only be said that most of his audience probably had no idea (as an English teacher I winced).
I do have a feeling he's a little more conservative than he lets on--he mentioned praying for his granddaughter to meet better friends, friends who were Christian, and didn't say anything about either Jesus hanging out with local prostitutes and tax collectors or the ability to witness through word and action, even and especially to people who aren't Christian.

Congregation: There were 21 people there, many of whom arrived late. Almost a third of the congregation was under 50, a feat for the neighborhood. I was greeted by quite a few people during different parts of the service.

The congregation will be helping to remodel the Fellowship Hall next month.

Interior: Although the worship space had been very warm at 9:30, it had been cooled for the service. Pews were comfortable, and while the decorations were sparse, two simple stained glass windows with diamond shapes brought in a little light and color.

Presentation: Things were a little off of the order I'm used to. Both offerings and greetings preceded the sermon.

People were encouraged to come up the altar to pray during different times, and a woman was annointed by a blessing from the pastor and the hands of other parisioners to take blessings to her grandson in the hospital. A little more hands-on then some churches.

A few fun activities and groups were mentioned, such as Kidz Club and the ministry to local Chinese restaurant workers held the last Sunday of each month at 10:30 p.m., when they can actually come. This impressed me--it makes for a long Sunday.

Sermon: The sermon seemed a little unorganized and spent more time on the whole message, not on historical context. Smatterings of Matthew 5-7 were hit on in seemingly spontaneous order in a "People Power" message about Christians and the Golden Rule. The one historical point made was that Confucius also had a version of the Golden Rule before Jesus.
The usual humor and jokes made an old message fresh and fun.

Music: The traditional hymns were sung from the hymnals and a cappela; newer songs were presented on Power Point and accompanied by a single guitar. Surprisingly, the harmony of the small congregation was quite good.

I approved of the song leader stopping the guitarist when we got off on a new song so that the verse could be started again. It saved that awkward rush that one can get trying to finish the song without admitting that there were issues.

Overall atmosphere: People seemed genuinely interested in why I was there and respected that I had already found a church I wanted to attend--and still wanted to talk, something one can't say about all parisioners. The congregation and pastor continually work to make the church work for multiple generations. I wouldn't be surprised if it survived long after some of the other churches in Hampden dwindled; it is the attitude, not the building, that's important.

Church of New Hope

Location: Hampden Family Center on 36th (The Avenue)

Time: 10 a.m.

Leader: Things were split up between the Worship Leader, George Merson, and the Message Leader, Maxwell Brown. Mr. Merson was a sweet kind of cheesy middle-aged white guy; Mr. Brown was a serious but kind black guy who also played piano for the service. Multitalented!

Congregation: There were 16 people there, including three babies. Originally, I thought that this number was down due to HonFest outside, but it turns out that there were actually a few visitors, making the congregation larger than usual. Most of the people were middle-aged and wore casual clothes, though no jeans. Tattoos were visible on a few of the women.

Interior: The church was set up inside a community center, so the room was used for many things. The walls were a warm tan and the chairs, padded fold-out seats, were comfortable and set up to make the space look perfect for a small group of people.

Presentation: The bulletin had the music and words, though the hymns were placed in the bulletin so they fit, not in order that they were sung.

There was "Caring Time" to share joys and concerns out loud, which many did.

Sermon: Mr. Brown's message ("I Was Found by Those Who Did Not Seek Me") centered on not trusting religious people to have faith and distrusting the zealous, whom he maintained were either more into the culture of the faith or did what they did to earn points instead of out of faith. In the sermon, several other religions inside and part of the major three were insulted as zealous but wrong.

The entire message was a sort of logical ethos. The main points were numbered and referred to in order. Actually, there was little emotional swaying or personal story to any of it.

Music: Again, Mr. Brown played piano beautifully, and while there was no choir, many of the members sang with confidence and key. The hymns were upbeat if a little too traditional.

Overall atmosphere: The people were kind and invited me to have refreshments with them afterwards. They are nice people, but I'll be looking elsewhere for a little more zest and openness.

Good Shepherd United Methodist Church

I apologize for the long delay.  I didn't want to get too much of the Christmas effect, which would skew the data I'm trying to collect, and then, when it was cold outside, I got lazy.  Now that it's warm and bright, I'm back to exploring.

This Sunday I went to Good Shepherd, the church that is offering its building to the congregation that lost a church last year.  The services are still separate, though.  I found out that the temporary group mets at 11:30, with just enough time for the Good Shepherd regulars to leave.  

Good Shepherd is celebrating its tenth anniversary in October and seems optimistic.  Though the bulletin says it needs $2310 weekly to survive and is collecting only $698, the parishioners still gave me a gift bag with a pen, notepad, information about the church, and pumpkin bread.  Also, to fundraise for the new hymnals, they're encouraging people to buy one for the church in honor or memory of someone to get a name plate in the hymnal.  This sense of ownership just might work, at least for this occasion.

Location: 3800 Roland Ave.

Worship time:  10 a.m.

Spiritual leader:  Pastor Amy Sarah Lewis, a younger middle-aged woman with short-shaven dark hair and an avid smile who nonetheless seemed to lean towards the conservative and traditional, studied the Hebrew Bible at Colgate-Roster Divinity School and is currently working on her doctorate.

Congregation:  There were 25 people there and six choir members.  Four-fifths of the congregation was female.  Most were over 60, and 96 percent was Caucasian.  Yet, all were very friendly; I was literally greeted and welcomed by every member of the congregation either before the service or during the Sharing of the Peace.

People wore nicer casual clothes, so khakis and a nice shirt would work well.

Interior:  Four enormous stained glass windows take up most of the wall space while the pews are arranged in a semi-circle, helping acoustics and general feelings of community.  It was a little warm today, but the heat may not have been adjusted yet.

Presentation:  The order was a little reversed from what I'm used to.  The transitions felt short because the announcements and Sharing of the Peace weren't until after the sermon, though it seemed to work that way as well.  

Much of the service was call and response. The only real creative aspect occurred during prayers, when parishioners called out names to be prayed for.  

Sermon:  The lesson was on the trouble with being just an "Instant Christian" and that people need to make sure they "take a hard right over an easy wrong."  Only a little of the history was given.  Pastor Amy noted  that Mark is one of the most critical of the other disciples and that Peter wanted a steadfast general, not a man who says he's going to die...it's just not that good for morale.  

Pastor Amy did throw in a reference to Freud's Id, Ego, and Superego when she was talking about how people get focused on the "I" but didn't really explain it.  Based on the congregation, I am not sure how many people understood her allusion.  Perhaps that's why she used not wanting to go to the hospital to see a dying friend as her personal example; it was a perfect example for her audience. 

Music: The service started out with a song doused in Hebrew words.  "El Shaddai" didn't seem to trouble any of the parishioners in either pronunciation or melody.  This, like many of the other songs, had more of a minor key feel to it, perhaps because of Lent.

The choir of six, though predominately female, kept tight harmony.  

During Lent, the other Methodist church in Hampden on Falls Road is sponsoring midday concerts and food.  While some high school groups will be there, a few military brass sets will also brighten the Lenten mood. 

Overall atmosphere:  I felt very welcomed.  Parishioners came to talk to me about random things, not just if I was planning to join the church.  This church is very willing to work with other churches in the area and in fact will host a joint service with its sister church, Mt. Vernon Methodist, next week at 10.  It will be followed by free pizza.

The church is very pleasant, but getting involved might be challenging; the choir, for instance, meets at 2:30 on Wednesdays.   A lot seems to be geared toward the parishioners that are already there instead of trying to get new ones, which may continue to make the church struggle in the future.