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.