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1363: Liberty Christian, Avondale, Auckland, New Zealand Mystery Worshipper: Man in AllBlack. The church: Liberty Christian, Avondale, Auckland, New Zealand. Denomination: Baptist Churches of New Zealand. The building: It looks like an office block, both inside and out, with a slight ecclesiastical flavour given by a large square-arched window. Inside is rather like a conference venue, with lots of rooms, and everything looking quite spruce. The auditorium itself is roughly square shaped, with a stage on one side; which the gathered faithful face. There are no windows in the auditorium itself; artificial light is beamed down from above. Other rooms in the church are named after Holy Land towns, such as Shiloh, Jericho and Bethel. The church: The congregation was formed in 1923 under the name Sandringham Baptist Church. Seeking a roomier venue, they moved into their present quarters in 2000. It may be some time before the church needs to move again, as its auditorium is huge. The congregation appeared to be a pretty average cross section of this part of Auckland. The church runs youth groups, men's and women's groups, and a crèche (appropriately enough, in the Jericho room where horns are blown and toy bricks come tumbling down). They also support various missionary activities. The neighbourhood: Liberty Christian Church is situated in a beat-up office park decorated with graffiti. The surrounding buildings look as if they have been made from plastic. The road outside shows signs of nocturnal youthful over-exuberance with cars. In the midst of this, and not far from the church, is a large ornate Hindu mandir. If the road and verges had been a bit more knobbly, the immediate locale would look like a politically correct Lego set. The cast: Elder John Keal and others not named. The date & time: 8 October 2006, 10.00am. What was the name of the service? 10.00 Service. How full was the building? One-third full, with about 100 people present. Did anyone welcome you personally? I arrived late (for reasons, see below) and a gentleman welcomed me at the door. I asked him how much of the service I had missed, and added that I needed to lock up my bike. He thought long and hard about this, as if I were looking for an excuse to leg it, before agreeing that yes, I really should do that. When I finally entered the large auditorium, inhabited by clusters of people in the yawning space, the entire congregation appeared to be in a state of suspended animation. People were standing with arms raised, eerily silent and motionless. (At another point in the service, someone held up a poster, again motionless, for 10 minutes.) I tiptoed round the back and found a place. Was your pew comfortable? My chair was upholstered in a deep, vibrant green and was very comfortable. However, none of us sat down until at least 15 minutes into the service. I was beginning to wonder if I had stumbled in on an Orthodox service by accident. How would you describe the pre-service atmosphere? I had set out to visit another church only to discover on arrival that the congregation had apparently removed themselves to quarters elsewhere, despite a sign still out front posting service times. So I swung the bike around and headed here instead. When I arrived, I was tired, hot and sweaty, and rather agitated; thus when the church hove in sight with its doors open and music coming round, I felt like I'd reached the pub after a long hike. Fantastic! What were the exact opening words of the service? The first words I heard were the warbled "All heaven declares the glory of the risen Lord" as the band broke into a chorus following the above mentioned suspended animation. What books did the congregation use during the service? Some of the congregation had Bibles, and there was a leaflet detailing some of the church's activities. The words of songs were displayed on screens. What musical instruments were played? Three guitars, a bass guitar, bongos, some jingly thing (tubular bells?), and a drummer in a greenhouse playing U2-like Christian rock very competently. Also some singers. I enjoyed it. Did anything distract you? The drummer's cage (was it for his own protection or for everyone else's?). Also, a short speech was made about how Christians need to be dogs, not cats (a dog regards its owner as God, whereas cats think they're God). For the rest of the service I imagined someone shouting out, "Thus saith the Lord: 'Here, Fido!'" Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what? Emotional. Heartfelt choruses a-la-Hillsongs. Extended time for prayer. No clapping. No barking or meowing either. Exactly how long was the sermon? 44 minutes. On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher? 4 – Elder Keal started out well but soon succumbed to the belief, widely held in evangelical churches in my experience, that the authors of scripture had perfect awareness of 21st century values, and so it really isn't necessary to explore the doctrines revealed by biblical events. In a nutshell, what was the sermon about? He said he would speak about Christ's ascension into heaven, commenting that no one seemed to talk about it much. But this was merely a come-on for the real subject matter of his sermon: the fivefold ministries of Ephesians 4 ("And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers...") He said that church structures should specifically allow for these five ministries, and that churches that downplay them are worthy of criticism. "I trust that you hear what I'm saying," he added. (I thought I detected a whiff of sulphur here. Could he have been alluding to the very Church that chose to include Ephesians in the Canon?) He rounded this off by stating that God wants everyone to be baptised in the Spirit and speak in tongues (forgetting, it seemed, Paul's opinion of same in 1 Corinthians 14). After that, he talked about the role of the five ministries in building the Church up corporately to the perfection required by Christ. Which part of the service was like being in heaven? Arriving at the church to the wide open doors, and music wafting out. And which part was like being in... er... the other place? As the sermon progressed, and as I realised that it was going to be one of "those sermons," I found myself drifting off to the valley of dry bones or was that heaven? What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost? I wandered around the church reception area where tea and coffee were being served. People were milling around and chatting, but no one talked to me except the aforementioned doorman, with whom I had a pleasant conversation. I stayed for about 15 minutes and then trotted off. How would you describe the after-service coffee? It was instant (I overheard someone saying this was unusual). I had the standard teabag tea in a plastic cup and a tasty cinnamon bun. How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)? 2 – While I'm all for baptism in the Spirit, my understanding of what this means is a million miles away from what appears to be a central tenet of the beliefs of this church, so I would not fit in. I couldn't be a member of a church where union with God is considered to be evidenced by emotional phenomena. Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian? No, not really. It made me reflect on how people can use the same words, and yet have nothing in common with each other at all. What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time? Doubtless the suspended animation of the congregation waiting patiently for that "Here, Fido!" from their Master. |
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