Come On In!

Hmmm...I seem to have gotten a bit behind on sharing with you all my church visitation experiences and thought that today was a great day to catch up.

Although I visited a new church yesterday morning, the one that I will write about at this time is the one that my daughter and I visited during our recent travels to Washington D.C.

Finding a church to attend when traveling is a bit trick for me because I don't know anything about the churches, so I pray and ask God to lead me. That's what I did in New Orleans, and that's what I did in Washington D.C.

So on the morning of Sunday, April 17th, my daughter and I headed to what I believed was the church where God wanted us to worship. We hopped on the train (which I absolutely LOVED due to its convenience), got off at our designated stop, and walked about a mile or so to the church.

We finally arrived at "A" Street, which was the street and continued to head toward Capitol Hill Baptist Church.

On the way to that church we passed another...very old and beautiful.

We stopped for a minute and looked. I read the name and told my daughter,"This isn't the one." We proceeded to keep walking.

We may have taken TWO steps and woman opened the door and said, "Come on in. Pastor told me to come out and get you two."

I wasn't sure what to say. This wasn't our planned destination.

I politely thanked her for the invitation and let her know that we were heading just up the street and were running late..."but thank you."

It was about 10:45 at that time and she responded with, "Well...our service doesn't start until 11:00. So if you come on in you'll be right on time."

At that point, who could say no?

My daughter and I walked up the steps and into the church. As we entered, the woman (Elder Renee) gave us some history about the church, letting us know that Frederick Douglass was a member, and she encouraged us to look around. We did, and then headed upstairs to the sanctuary.

I tend to have an issue with churches who have services UPSTAIRS because it doesn't allow for folks with "mobility challenges" to attend.

I was very impressed to see that this church had a motorized seat that could transport folks up and down the stairs. That warmed my heart.

Service began with Praise, Worship and Prayer.

There were some things that were a bit different than what I'm used to, but I understood that although I was in a CHRISTIAN church...I was NOT in a BAPTIST church. We were in a PENTECOSTAL church and as I said...worship is just a wee bit different from what I'm used to.

Eventually, the Pastor began delivering the message which I enjoyed. It was Bible based (which they should ALL be, yet many are not).

The church members were very welcoming, and the Pastor even spoke with my daughter and I before we left, praying for God's traveling grace on our return home.

My "Season of Visitation" continues and I am STILL enjoying it. I love attending the various services, praising and worshiping our Lord with folks I don't know, yet we all have ONE purpose in mind...to give glory to God. That always leaves me thinking, "this is what heaven will be like. All of us together, praising and worshiping our Lord." Hallelujah!!!

That was my Washington D.C. worship experience at Faith Tabernacle United Holy Church of America (pictured). I'm glad we went.

Now Let the DIALOGUE begin: How old is the church that you attend? Has anyone older than Frederick Douglass ever been a member?

Talk to me...and feel free to shout out your church so that I can visit one day!

Til next time...