Christian Science Church

The History of Christian Science dates back to 1866 when Mary Baker Eddy discovered what she considered to be the Science of Christianity which Jesus taught and lived. She dedicated her life to using this system to teach, preach about, and heal others. She learned to apply spiritual laws or Christian Science and in 1875 she published a book about her experiences, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. In 1879, she founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, “to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.” (Church Manual, p.17) They believe in a Father-Mother God and consider Christ, the title given to Jesus, as the source of healing power, "that dissolves suffering in exchange for the profound feeling of being loved and being well." Church of Christian Science is in no way affiliated with Scientology. 

Christian Science is known to many as the Church that does not believe in modern medicine or that their members do not seek the advise or care of medical professionals. The official stance the Home church takes is, "it's up to each person who practices Christian Science to choose the form of health care he or she wants. Many Christian Scientists decide to pray first about every challenge—including health issues—and find it effective." 

Christian Science reports that over 80,000 healings, minor to severe, have been documented over the last 140 years.

I visited the 10:30am service at Church of Christian Science in 
Albuquerque.

The Way, The Truth, The Life 

It was a unique service. They have 2 readers who led the service. Readers are elected by the congregation for 3 year terms. There are no formal clergy in the Christian Science faith. They sang hymns first. The way they sing is - one of the readers speaks the words of the hymn first, then the organist plays the melody one time through, and then the congregation sings. They had a silent prayer, then recited an interpretative Lord's Prayer. The sermon was different than most. They read passages of the bible and then read the interpretations of those passages from Science and Health, the book written by the church's founder - Mary Baker Eddy. I honestly cannot summarize exactly what the sermon was about, but there were some very poignant points made. "Man is not God, but like a ray of sunshine - man reflects God. Man cannot be separated for an instant from God. If we look to the body for pleasure, we find pain, look to the love." 

I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  ~ Psalms 23:6

They then had offering and ended with another hymn. 

Both the readers and several church members came and spoke with me to welcome me to the church. 

THANK YOU Church of Christian Science for welcoming me into your unique service.

United Pentecostal Church

United Pentecostal Church was formed in 1945 by the merger of the Pentecostal Church Incorporated and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ and originally emerged out of the Pentecostal movement of Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles and later Topeka, Kansas. Pentecostal faiths believe Miraculous Works of the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit takes a hold of a person and they should express it by singing, dancing, jumping, and other movements. 

I attended the 2pm service at the New Life United Pentecostal Church 

The Mission of the New Life Church is to "exalt God through heartfelt sincere worship,  bible-based teaching, and anointed preaching." The whole service was conducted in praise - first singing praise, then prayer and healing, a sermon full of the praise of God, then they concluding the service with more healing prayers. In the true pentecostal vein, the members of the church were very vocal - speaking in tongues, praying out loud, singing joyfully. Some of them jumped up and down and ran around. They were very excited about the time they spent in prayer and praise. It was by far the most spirited pentecostal service that I have attended. Their healing is done by the laying of hands on each other, anointing with oil, and speaking tongues over one another. 

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit. ~ 1 Corinthians 2:13

Pastor Steven Hamilton gave an exuberant sermon. He showed a great humility for his faith and God's will. He encouraged us to always go to God for direction and spoke of not holding the words of ministers or any man above the words of God. He asked if we have surrendered our Affection, Intellect, and Will to God?  Only those who have surrendered to God will hear the guiding voice of God. 

"Only God can stop your crash course to Destruction."  - Pastor Hamilton

The members showed a great dedication to their faith and humbleness to the Lord. 

Note: Pentecostal women generally wear skirts and wear their hair up even thought there is no official rule on that. Pentecostal women do not cut their hair so that is the reason so many of them wear it up. 

THANK YOU New Life United Pentecostal Church for sharing your Spirit Filled worship with me. 

Charismatic Church

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥,  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥The Charismatic movement -- which includes the traditions of Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Third Wave -- is now an established part of the world's faith.  The Charismatic Movement was birthed from the Pentecostal faith and came about with the hope of integrating, "Spirit baptism and gifts into the practices of mainline Protestant denominations" and even spread to some Catholic Churches. Many churches have branched out from underneath the Pentecostal denomination and are called independent Charismatic churches, Oasis Family Church is an independent church. Charismatic churches tend to be more progressive and inclusive than Pentecostals. 

I attended the Oasis Family Church for their 5pm Saturday evening service. 

"GOD IS UP TO SOMETHING GOOD"

Worshiping God in song was first up on the agenda. The band led the congregation in numerous songs of praise. This was an energetic crowd - people were clapping, raising their hands to the Lord, and even jumping up and down. Their excitement and love filled up the room and was completely contagious. 

The senior pastors are Terry and Angel Mathews. Pastor Mathews was leading the service tonight, he was very lively in his love of God. Many times throughout the evening - the pastor instructed us to reach out and greet the people around us - share the word of God with them.  The sermon was rich in Biblical support. He shared with us that through Jesus we are all invited into the Kingdom of God and spoke of the redeeming value of the blood of Christ. We can remove the stains of sin by washing them away with the blood of Christ. 

"He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him."                    ~ Colossians 1:22

I BELIEVE 

I RECEIVE 

For communion the ushers passed around "communion kits" - a sealed cup of juice with a sealed wafer on top. The Pastor then led the congregation in a prayer and communion was received all together - I rather liked that.

I have to say, I went to the service after a 10 hour workday. I was very tired but after I left this service - I felt very rejuvenated. 

They are transitioning to a new building, another church is in the process of moving in and Oasis Family Church moving out. So if you decide to visit - they may be in a new and better location for them. 

THANK YOU Oasis Family Church for helping the Spirit of God move me

St. George Greek Orthodox Church

† † † † † † † † † † Home of the Annual Grecian Festival - St. George Greek Orthodox Church is one of the few Eastern Orthodox Catholic churches in New Mexico.

Between the fourth and tenth centuries, the Greek Orthodox Church separated from the Roman Church to follow the Byzantine Rite. The church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission with two great sources of authority:

HOLY SCRIPTURE AND HOLY TRADITION
They follow holy Sacraments, which they believe are "the visible means by which they believe are imparted the invisible Grace of the Holy Spirit:"

                                   Obligatory:

1.      Baptism
2.      Chrismation (anointment with holy oil)
3.      Confession
4.      Holy Communion
Optional:
1.      Matrimony
2.      Holy Orders (Ordination)
                                   3.      Unction (anointment of the sick) (GOARCH)

The Greek Orthodox Church traditions and ceremonies are far more expansive than I can detail here. Their ceremonies are rich in culture and history and their goal is to, "achieve union with Jesus Christ and unity with each other through the Sacrament of Holy Communion." 

Prior to attending the service, I acquainted myself with the ceremonious services by visiting the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America's site. It explained the different services and even provided the words and prayers that would be used.

Sunday services include:
Orthros at 8:15 am
Divine Liturgy at 9:30 am

I attended the Divine Liturgy service. They perform the same liturgy service that has been used since the beginning of the Orthodox Church. When I first arrived, a small group was still leading the Orthros Chant. The transition from Orthros was without interruption. They had a Divine Liturgy book that provided the words to the service. The service was largely conducted in English but some parts were in Greek and the Lord's prayer was additionally done in Slavonic. I cannot say that I did not get lost a few times, so I was happy to have the guide.  

Father Conan Gill & Deacon George Collaros conducted the service. 

The service is very formal but the feeling of the church is comfortably casual. It is a welcomed diverse congregation, I heard several different languages being spoken by the members. The sanctuary is amazingly, beautiful filled with ornate fixtures and vibrant portraits. 

Most of the service was chanted except the sermon. In his sermon, Father Conan made parallels of the massacre at Sandy Hook to the massacre of children in Matthew 2:18 and predicted in Jeremiah 31:15. He spoke of the archetype of the mourning mother Rachel. He assured his congregants that doubting faith or the faith of God during the quake of such tragedies was not bad. In fact, this is "what lead us to wonder and awe." We may not know what work God is doing during these tragedies, but we can be assured that:

"Even in the darkest moment, when it seems that God is not around - 
                        He is doing his greatest work"   ~ Fr. Conan 

After the sermon, more people entered the church, many of them with children. Holy Communion was then given and was only for those who have been baptized and chrismated in the Orthodox church. After the completion of the service, there was fellowship in the building adjacent to the church. 

It was very interesting to see an Orthodox service being conducted, I felt almost transformed in time. 

THANK YOU St. George for letting me experience an Orthodox worship service.