A Texas Detour

Many of you may have heard of Chuck Swindoll, pastor of an extremely large (and still growing) non-denominational evangelical church in Frisco, Texas. His sermons are broadcast on the radio under the program name of "Insight for Living". He's also authored several Christian books.

As I am visiting a family member in Frisco at the moment, I decided yesterday to visit his church, Stonebriar Community Church, attending the earlier of two church services held on Sunday. Even though I arrived close to 30 minutes early, there were folks standing at open doors on the outside of the church, greeting me with "Good Morning." Inside, there were more folks at open doors leading into the sanctuary, one of which also said "Good Morning" to me as she handed me a bulletin that contained an outline of what the service would include. There were many musical pieces, three corporate hymns, a violin soloist, and more; and, of course, Chuck Swindoll preaching, for which I was thankful (he had been out of town the earlier weekend, I was glad he was here this particular weekend.)

I have been in extremely large churches before, the ones that hold thousands of people, rather than only hundreds. This was similar to many others I have seen, with one exception: dominating the entire wall behind a huge stage area, was an immense pipe organ with a simple wooden cross in the center of it. Fifteen minutes before the service was to start, an organist began playing those pipes. It was majestic. And when the 100-person choir and the 50 piece symphony orchestra joined in, I decided this might just about be what it sounds like to hear multitudes of angels worshiping God.

All of that was just an opening to the service. The pastor walked up to the pulpit, gave a few words, asked everyone to greet each other. I turned to the lady next to me, extended my hand, said good morning, and told her my name. She told me hers as well, but then I realized as this continued on for another moment or two, that no one was really doing that. It was just shake the hand and say good morning. Names not necessary.

After the pastor's greeting and the handshaking, there was reading from the scripture during which time everyone stood. Then the congregation sat again to enjoy a few more musical numbers involving the choir and the orchestra…no guitars here…brass, several violins, timpani drums, etc. After which, the congregation rose once more to sing three hymns (from hymnals), before being seated again for the remainder of the service. There was a final violin solo, and then the choir and the orchestra began to silently file out through the side doors of the now darkened stage, as the pastor began to speak.

One of the things that Chuck Swindoll is known for is his sense of humor. I have never found any fault in his sermons: they are all very scriptural, very much about the Lord Jesus Christ at every turn. I enjoy listening to them. And you can tell this man loves to laugh. His laugh lets you know that it's ok to enjoy the Lord; to be joyful at all that we have to be thankful about because Jesus died to save us, to give us life everlasting. There is some humor in every sermon, I think. Very appropriate humor, but always there. In fact, the church's stated mission is "to encourage all people to pursue a lifelong, joyous relationship with Jesus Christ."

After his sermon, which was 30 minutes in length, and a brief prayer, everyone stood to leave. No fellowship, no final greetings one to another, people poured from the church. I was at the earlier service, and a second one was to follow shortly, so I would imagine that lingering was not really to be encouraged anyway. Outside the parking lot, on the exits to the main road, were four City of Frisco policemen directing traffic.

When I got back to the house, I looked online and found these facts about the church:

-founded in 1998 by a group of individuals, including Senior Pastor Chuck Swindoll;

-within six months of its founding, 1500 people were attending Sunday worship services in their temporary location at the Preston Ridge campus of Collin College;

-in 2001, the church opened the doors of a new 100,000 square foot building;

-by 2005, Sunday attendance was averaging 4,000 adults and 1,200 children, prompting the church to begin planning another building expansion (resulting in the huge church I visited which was just recently completed…I can't say how large it is, could find no facts on that yet);

-in 2002, Stonebriar Community church identified Chhattisgarh, a state in central India, as its strategic missions focus;

- the church's goal at that time, was (and still is, I imagine) to train 1,000 national pastors, build 1,000 churches, and see 500,000 people become Christians in 10 years;

-by 2006, 280 men and women had earned theology diplomas, and 230 national pastors were leading 750 churches and home groups with an estimated total of 20,000 members.

I am not presenting all this to you with any judgment of any kind, good, bad or indifferent. I just felt like sharing my experience of this church with you, and what little I know about it from one visit. That's why I titled this posting: "A Texas Detour."

But if anyone wants to comment on this, please do. Meanwhile, I'll try to get back on track at the next posting.