Zach Pippin's Experience

"So here is my take on our recent trip to Elevation Church. Amy has already told a lot of what we saw, so I will take this time to highlight THREE THINGS that stuck out to me during our visit.

1. WELCOMING ATMOSPHERE:
From the time we approached the church on the road we were welcomed by the members. The campus we visited was Butler High School, but there was ample signage to indicate the presence of Elevation there. We had people direct us from the road and through the parking lot to a prime parking location. Then we were welcomed from the time we stepped out of the car and on our walk up to the building by greeters, and this only continued once we entered the building. Despite the large number of greeters, however, they were far from overbearing or over eager. We felt WELCOMED, but NOT SMOTHERED.

2. PRESENTATION
These said greeters were all wearing matching shirts, which matched the theme of the series THE ESSENTIAL JAMES. Everything from the visitor cards to the restroom signs were themed and coordinated. Once we entered the auditorium the set was visually stunning, especially considering they put it up and tear it down every week.

3. DELIVERANCE
The message we heard was not delivered by Pastor Steven Furtick as we had been expecting. It was not even delivered in person. We saw a sermon from Pastor Craig Groeschel via video. This however did not take away from the experience. Pastor Steven and the Elevation church staff did a great job of selecting his sermon to fit into the series.

We had barely been in the car for a minute before we were making plans to trek up to Charlotte again. I hope that more people can join us next time and experience Elevation Church.

You can read more about Zach's experience on his blog:
http://zpippin.blogspot.com/

BLOGGING

I am early in my blog writing and I don't know all the ropes yet. So because of that I check many other blogs to see what they are saying interesting for the day and also to try figure out how they do their blog. You know set up, do they use video, pictures, so forth.

Some blogs I try to check pretty regularly are:

BEN ARMENT. He is the Experience and Innovation Director for Catalyst in Atlanta. Catalyst is a HUGE leadership conference. And if that's your heartbeat I strongly recommend that for you. You have big names like Francis Chan, Craig Groeschel, Rick Warren, and of course Andy Stanley.

TONY STEWARD over at Lifechurch.tv. He is the online community pastor there. Now stop and go to google.com and type that title in. ONLINE COMMUNITY PASTOR and see who's name pops up. Crazy Right? Thats not even the half of it. He shares his insights on media, the internet, and this idea of an online community. He does other stuff as well so if you like the concept you should check him out.

CARLOS WHITTAKER. Simply the man. He is the Service Programming Director at Buckhead Church. Or like He says "..is basically a really complicated way of saying I'm the Creative Arts Worship Pastor." He also does an amazing job at creating an authentic community through blogging. He posts all kinds of info that really grabs your attention. There is something for everyone on there.

Other blogs I follow are Steven Furtick, Ed Young, Lanny Donoho, Mark Driscoll, and Mark Batterson. I follow others losely as well. I think BLOGS are cool because it allows you to see closer into someones life you may want to learn from. It also gives you freedom to express your ideas. And I know when a topic comes up many would love to chime in and BLOGS do that for you. So if you are still wary about blogs. I challenge you to find one that may interest you. There is something out there for everyone. Whether its music related, art related, sports, or whatever you should give it a try for a week. READ it regularly and you may just LIKE IT.

PASSION 2010

I know this is a ways off, like in January of 2010, but if you have not signed up already for PASSION I would highly encourage you to do so and bring tons of friends. It will be in Atlanta, GA at the Phillips Arena+Georgia World Congress Center. (268Generation.com) Tim our director has already bought around 20 tickets and students have been wanting to get on the list.

And to give a subtle plug for PASSION2010, being the graphic designer that I am, I made our slides for this week to fit with the rave card that PASSION sent out this week. One reason I did it was to connect it with PASSION WEEK, which is coming up by the way, and the other was because it looked cool.

I want to make sure YOU get a seat because PASSION will ROCK YOUR WORLD. Trust me. You will be CHANGED.

Amy Jackson's Experience

So today was THE DAY and by THE DAY, I mean the day we were set to visit Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC (we went to the Butler Campus, by the way). I've been ready for this trip for a few months now, ever since Marcus indicated that he wanted to get a group together to go and hear Steven Furtick speak. I've been listening to Pastor Steven's podcasts for the last two months or so, mostly on my roadtrips home and to visit friends and seminaries. By far, my favorite complete sermon I have heard is "THE DIP"--it's pretty recent, so you should check it out! Here are some thoughts about my first experience at Elevation.

1. This was my first visit to this type of church--a church "plant", at least. I've been to some church plants, but none on this scale. The church plants I have visited were...interesting. this, however, was completely different. From the time we drove onto the campus and parked, to even leaving, I felt completely normal there and welcomed warmly by strangers. They have a GREAT atmosphere and one that makes visitors feel comfortable, not overwhelmed (the church plants I have visited were not able to achieve this.

2. There is something GENUINE and REAL about what goes on in this house of God. now, we did meet in a high school auditorium--but what I experienced today was nothing less than a corporate worship experience, and one of higher quality and caliber than most churches I have visited in the past. The lights, music, and flashly graphics are cool, but you have to have the stuff to back it up--and they did! Everything seemed REAL--from the band, to the greeters, to those who welcomed us at the beginning of the service. it didn't seem rehearsed, fake, or pre-programmed, and i loved it! ELEVATION IS AUTHENTIC, yall.

3. So yeah, we went to hear Steven Furtick speak. and we didn't get to...but this isn't a bad thing! Instead, we were blessed to be able to hear Craig Groeschel, author of "IT" and pastor of Lifechurch.tv, speak on "Practical Atheism." I'm still processing his sermon, but it was definitely convicting...so many moments in my life I find myself serving as a "part-time Christian" because I'm so busy with the work of the "church"--be it church, BCM, etc. I want to live like i have the spirit who raised Jesus from the dead IN me! As one of my favorite songs from Big Daddy Weave explains, "I wonder what life would be like if we let Jesus live through you and me."

*It was also okay that we didn't hear Pastor Steven speak because that gives us another reason to go back.

So, this is what I think about Elevation, as jumbled as it may be....for more on my thoughts about "Practical Atheism," check out my blog later on in the week...

www.amymichelle37.blogspot.com!

ADIOS!

Amy

Elevation Church 2

So we went to Elevation today and let me say it was AWESOME! I would talk about my experience, but that would be selfish (even on my own blog). What I really want you to hear is from the two who went with me, my roommate and good friend. Here are their thoughts. And may GOD work through experiences in your OWN LIFE.

Marcus

Elevation Church

I am taking a group of people to Elevation Church tomorrow. There are two I want to highlight in particular. One is my roommate. He is really excited to see how things are done there. Even though I have been there before, I am too. Another is a good friend who has been listening to Pastor Furtick's sermons and really wants to see him live. She is also expecting a profound message. I pray she gets both. After the experience, I will allow them to write about their time at Elevation.

TRANSITION

So this is my first crack at writing a blog. I guess you can consider me the new kid on the blog. Sorry I had to do that.

If you have not already left yet I'm Marcus Williamson, Semester Missionary for the South Carolina BCM. The atmosphere is wonderful and its a joy to be in the system that's in place here. I primarily work in the media department, but like every ministry position there is the "other jobs" category that never really gets defined but you kind of know what your in for; yeah I do that too.

Honestly, if my job just consisted of learning from our Director, Tim Stewart, I would not complain one bit. This guy could/should seriously be working for Andy Stanley at North Point Community Church right now, yet he chooses to follow God's will and pour his heart into the lives of college students. I RESPECT THAT.

That's something I always seem to struggle with; where does God want me at this season of life. TRANSITION can be hard for many of us. We have some senior college students here and for most its hard for them to fathom this idea of transition. This idea of WHATS NEXT. I mean, its still hard for me to fathom it. Its amazing how God works though if you just say here. And not just here but HERE IS ALL OF IT. If you have not tried that then promise me when you do you will be so happy that He is in control. May God give you clarity for whats next and may you have passion to follow whats next for you.