This was taken from their website:
"Our beliefs are rooted in the Bible and centered on Jesus Christ. Our mission is very simple: to help people pursue God. That means we’re not about a denomination or a building or some complicated religious system, but about helping people from all different backgrounds discover the joy and freedom that comes from knowing and connecting with God."
They also use this nondenominational christian site: http://www.pursuegod.org/
They have video lectures and sources called "series" that cover a variety of topics including:
- marriage
- women's issues
- attonement
- and much more, many of which are broken up according to audience.
ATMOSPHERE: 10/10 candles
I rather enjoyed the experience. I was not expecting the interior to be as it was, though I guess it would not have been an off guess based on the outer appearance. Coffee was a huge HUGE bonus for me as I had worked a late shift the night before and really needed the pick-me-up! In all honesty, that is why I choose to visit this church on that particular day; because I knew before hand that it was going to be a long day at work and this was a 10:30am service so the only way I would be able to make it through would be to make use of the good ol' black gold!
Complete with fireplace and flat-screen TV!!
Coffee was served in the lobby and drinks were allowed in the service.
The auditorium, as it was called, was the place where the service was held. Music was played live on electric intruments and it gave the feel of a sort of christian rock concert. there was really nothing too outlandish or extreme here. No speaking in tongues, no over-enthusiastic red-faced pastor; just a stage, a band, and two silver screens with projectors. This place was decked out with technology.
COMMUNITY: 7/10 candles
In al honesty, there wasn't much interaction between us and the people here. Chad ran into his cousin, who was very friendly, but that was about it. This area was difficult to rate due to the lack of interaction but those i met were friendly enough.
SERVICE: 7/10 candles
The service was interesting. Live music, video lessons, lights, and a guy up in the front with a microphone. It was a short service, only about an hour, which is always nice because Sunday is my only day off. The service is structured somewhat like a lecture you might find in a university, in fact Alpine Church refer to their locations as "campuses". We were attending their Riverdale campus near the Larry H Miller car dealership on Riverdale road.
Something else that was interesting that I wish I had thought to have taken pictures were the green, city street signs that were giving directions to the church. I mean these things were the real freaking deal! The sort of signs that need to be approved by the city, they were the green, reflective, street signs you see on traffic signals only they were bolted to speed sign posts. Those are not cheap I would reckon, but I digress.
In the service they made an announcement for a marriage prep class, I was curious so i marked it in my notebook and haven't been able to find anything specific on the site about it; however I did check out a few pages on their site regarding marriage and divorce, etc that I mentioned earlier.
Today was the first Sunday of the month which meant that they were to have communion today and the announcement went as follows though I am paraphrasing "We invite all of you to join us in communion today. If you are a follower of Christ please come on up, if you are not a follower of Christ YET, please feel free to join us as well, all are welcome to participate."
There was even a gluten-free table! For those who may not be familiar with communion, that is the part of a service where people will symbolically (or in some cases they believe literally) eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ to remember his sacrifice to humanity.
"the service of Christian worship at which bread and wine are consecrated and shared"
Some sects use bread, others wafers or some form or another and wine, juice, or water. This is the first time I have ever seen a gluten-free option.
The service lesson was about the origins of the word "scapegoat" and the speaker talked about the practices of blood sacrifice of livestock to God on the ark of the covenant. Every year sacrifices had to be made first y the priests to absolve their sins and then they would make another sacrifice for the sins of the people. the sins were somehow transferred to a goat which was then driven off and made sure never to return. "This practice", he said, "required two goats. One to be killed for purification, and another to carry the sins of the people."
MESSAGE: 5/10 candles
I'll sum it up, this is really nothing I haven't heard before:
- Jesus already sacrificed himself for us. Salvation comes to those who accept his gift
- Jesus is the ultimate high priest. He is perfect and only had to make one sacrifice. Others had to make a sacrifice every year
Simple service, great atmosphere, and best of all... COFFEE! The music wasn't unbearable and the service wasn't long. It didn't leave me in awe or disdain, I was rather neutral about it to be honest but it was not a bad experience by any means so if you are looking for a different approch to worship I recommend giving these guys a visit.
They have several campuses here throughout Utah: Layton, Riverdale, Logan, Brigham City, and West Haven.
For more information visit their Alpine Church website HERE.
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