From the outside you could already hear the church rockin’ so I was excited before I even stepped into the sanctuary. When I walked in, there was a band with two women singing and only a handful of people in the congregation. I was late so I was surprised that there weren’t many people there, but the energy of those two women made it feel like the sanctuary was full. I sat down and a few more people came and a third woman joined the first two and things were getting started. We were invited to stand and join in as the choir danced in singing, “Let’s be the service.” You couldn’t help but feel energized and sing along. It felt good to sing. From the time I walked up to the building the spirit was pervasive. Everything, every prayer, every scripture, basically every moment had musical accompaniment and it kept you swaying the whole time. The choir didn’t just sing the hymns, they danced them and the nearly every person from the liturgist to the choir director gave some kind of personal witness as part of whatever else they were doing. It was like getting snippets of sermons throughout the service and then even the sermon itself called on the congregation to give further testimony. At the time of offering the scripture of tithing was read and the challenge was laid down before us to give as a matter of faith. The end result was that we worshiped together. What I mean by that is that every person could not help but a part of the worship, we were drawn into the experience as something sacred. There was a spirit, which was palpable. When I was invited to introduce myself every person in the congregation came over to me singing and offered me a genuine hug (most of them gave me a second hug at the end of the service too). Having identified myself as a pastor I was also invited to pray with people at the rail at the end of the service, which is an honor for me and never fails to move me as well. It was a blessing to be made at home and to be a part of that connection that is so much bigger than any local church.