Church

Church
Well, the first thing to be noted, which was different than any other church experience I've had, is that their church has an Israeli flag hanging in the sanctuary. When asking Joel about this later, he said that they believe, and this is a paraphrase “God is not done with Israel. We believe that God still has a plan for Israel. We don't know exactly what it is.”

It seemed like a normal non denominational church. A big open room with a few screens that displayed the music verses, and lots of chairs. People were friendly, greeting us and Joel and Teresa on the way in. There was singing beforehand, and Joel sings REALLY loudly, reminding me of my Uncle Joe. This fact is neither here nor there, but I didn't know a single song that was sung. I didn't feel judged at all for not singing along.

At the beginning of the service, they ask if there are any guests, so I introduced us to the congregation.

The preacher that week was the youth pastor, and it was the first time he preached the Sunday service. He was excited to be able to preach in shorts and sandals. I would say it was about an hour long.

Teresa had some catching up to do, so Vince and I stood with Joel in the back of the church while she socialized. We talked a little more about our faith backgrounds.

Once we were back in the car, Joel apologized. He said that they would like to have us back to their house for lunch, but they have houseguests and a really busy schedule, so they wondered if they could take us to Chipotle for lunch. The particular Chipotle they wanted to take us to is one that serves Polyface pork, so they were anxious for us to try some of their food (without spending an arm and a leg at a nice restaurant).