New Horizon Church

December 3, 2025

 A greeter stood in the cold wind, cheerfully waving as I pulled into the parking lot at New Horizon church. A second greeter opened the door and a third handed me a program as I entered the sanctuary. Pastor Mark Jordan enthusiastically welcomed a fairly full room to the first week of Advent. A family came up to light the white candle.

The stage was festively decorated, lights low. The worship band—guitars, bass, drums, keyboard, and singer; players a little older than usual—enthusiastically engaged us in updated renditions of carols at maximally allowed volume. The holiday season is here! 

Younger kids then went off to their classes and a woman told us about the current missions project, Days for Girls. Hand-made hygiene kits allow girls in impoverished cultures across the globe to stay in school throughout the whole month. Look it up. Impressive!

Next was something new to me:  a full church membership covenant ceremony. Actually, this is being done over three Sundays, in three groups, not everyone at once. Fiftyish people of the 150 or so in attendance went to the front with their membership covenant pages to affirm, in several steps, aspects of the Apostles Creed. “As we take upon ourselves vows of membership at NH, we are responding to God’s calling to enter a covenant relationship with Christ’s Church, New Horizon Church, the Global Methodist Church and one another.”

After offering baskets were passed, the Star Wars intro played on a big screen. “The Epic Tale.” Then followed “Jesus Christ” in the same format with Galatians 4:4-7 replacing the Star Wars opening crawl up the screen. Our message from that text emphasized that Christ was sent when the fullness of time had come. God knew from the beginning he’d have to come to redeem us. We can appreciate his timing in Kingdom life whether we are currently in joy or still waiting in pain. Be on the lookout for God, especially when something surprising happens. “It takes particular vision to see what God has done.”

The service ended with communion. Congregants went to tables, took a piece of broken bread and dipped it in the cup of juice. (Individual servings were also available.) We were then dismissed and I went back out into the windy morning.

Copper Creek Church

 October 15

An environmental group called Faith in Place hosted its annual Green Team Summit at various faith groups around the Midwest this past week. Faith in Place defines itself as “People of diverse faiths and spiritualities leading the environmental movement to create healthy, just, and sustainable communities for all.” The Champaign-Urbana group met at Copper Creek Church which sits on ten acres, four of which are dedicated to Prairie Savanna. Cool! So after attending a Green Team session there, I decided on a Sunday visit.

The church set itself off as distinctive from the first notes of the worship team led by a couple of talented soul singers:  Ain’t No Mountain High Enough was followed by Signed, Sealed, Delivered and then We Are Family! Huh? Am I in church? Pastor Scott introduced himself and explained that this was the last message of this year’s Soundtrack series. This week, Motown. The series has been presenting music from secular artists and taking a deeper look “into their lyrics through the lens of scripture.”  (A check of the website shows they focused on Hamilton a few weeks ago.)

Announcements followed, with mention of an upcoming jazz festival featuring the music of Ella Fitzgerald. Offering baskets were at the doors.

Then the worship songs. The decibel level was pretty loud for my comfort, but the sound was great:  keyboard, guitar (or maybe a bass?), drums and a saxophone! One prayer song featured the line, "wasn’t holding you up, so there's nothing I can do to let you down."

At this point there were maybe 50 to 60 people in the auditorium which obviously could hold three or four times more, but this was the early service. There’s another at 10:30 which is also the hour for kids church. There's a youth group too. Each weekend kicks off with a Thursday evening service.

Taking Stand by Me as musical theme, this sermon asked whether romantic love songs could be appropriate for our worship of God. They can be sung as prayer, right? Consider Romans 8.38-39, Psalm 51, I John4.7-8, 16, and 12, especially verse 12. Let’s move beyond romantic love, with its “valentines and unicorns,” to sacrificing love, the love of Jesus. And let's not look just at our need for the Father to stand by us, but at our need to stand by a friend. Consider the flipped line, “When you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me?” “Love anyway . . . despite the fact that we can all be jerks at times. 

The service concluded with everyone invited to the communion table:  the gift of God for the people of God. Congregants walked up to take a piece of the broken bread and dip it in the cup before we sang the doxology.

Given that the church name offers no clue, I asked a woman as I went out, what denomination this is, expecting it to be non-denominational. But, nope, it’s Presbyterian. That surprised me. Copper Creek, part of the PCUSA, is open and affirming, “. . . here to create a home for those who have given up on church,” says the website. “If you’ve got questions and doubts, we do too.” How many churches would admit to that?

New Covenant Fellowship

 September 17, 2023

This month's visit was to New Covenant Fellowship on the south side of downtown Champaign. They choose to think of themselves as multi-denominational rather than nondenominational. I parked on the street and helped an older woman get to the door. As she headed in another direction, a sign pointed me upstairs to the sanctuary, a big room with drop ceilings and natural light from windows to the street. Rows of padded stacking chairs were interspersed with rockers and small tables of greenery. The chairs faced a well-lit stage decorated with a big mural of interlocking hands. A man and woman behind the wooden podium welcomed everyone as I took a seat. Then guitars, keyboard, drum set and vocalists led us into praise.

After the singing, I moved up a couple of rows to sit in a rocking chair beside an old friend whom I had recognized from behind. Another couple took the platform and shared a bit about Rosh Hashanah. Did you know the Jewish New Year celebration is this week? We were soon to learn more about it as Pastor Renée Antrosio, in a casual top, jeans, and sneakers, took the stage for her message. Sitting at a small table she wished us “Shana Tovah!”

Good year to you and may your name be sealed in the Book of Life. "May your new year be sweet as we celebrate the birthday of the world and the goodness of creation." The world suffers as a result of individual and collective sin, yet we can rejoice despite our lack of agency against evil. God's language is driven by curiosity and questions. We can repent, pray and participate in acts of mercy and justice. May we remember our origin created in God's image.

As the musicians began again, people left their seats to pick up elements of Communion. My friend whispered that I was welcome to take them with others kneeling at a table in the back or take them as I wished by myself.

A woman in the worship band shared a meaningful story from her life. And we sang again, surprisingly and happily this:                                                                                                          He comes to make his blessings flow,                                                      Far as the curse is found! 

Joy to the world!

A gentleman gave the benediction after making some announcements and we were dismissed with encouragement to meet at Hessel Park for a picnic lunch.

First Presbyterian Church, Urbana

 September 3, 2023

Today First Presbyterian Church in Urbana is on my radar (after I missed a visit opportunity in August). This congregation has an Earth Care Team and is working to reduce their carbon footprint. Kudos! Their Twice as Nice thrift shop in Urbana is one evidence of this commitment. In honor of the Feast of St Francis, they host an upcoming Blessing of the Animals service. A wellness committee and two Parish Nurses are available. And some students in Africa receive support from this Urbana church. These are a few highlights from the bulletin and website.

The front of the sanctuary is a beautiful wall of stained glass. It's easy to gaze transfixed at the intricacies of the pattern. Chimes sound and we start through the multi-page order of service on the dot of time. Welcome, prelude, call to worship, prayers, scripture reading. The music is lovely; the atmosphere welcoming; the setting, impressive. But, as with so many other post-Covid churches, many pews are empty. I wondered how so few persons are able to keep up the expense of such a nice building. Then the choir began to sing. To my surprise, I realized there must be another dozen or so congregants out of sight in a rear balcony! Ah—more than I thought. That’s encouraging. The singing was beautiful and stirring—a version of Be Thou My Vision that I’d never heard before.

The pastor is away "for the second portion of his sabbatical,” the bulletin says. A retired guest speaker took the pulpit this morning. She earnestly explained Paul’s encouragements for loving action in Romans 12. They're descriptive, not prescriptive. Biblically speaking, being prophetic does not necessarily mean telling the future. Another song and then we heard the gifted choir again as an offering basket was made available.

Prayer was offered for those losing jobs at the closing of both Dart and Volition, for farmers dealing with draught in the West, for lives disrupted by recent fires and hurricane, for our earth. 

In conclusion, all were invited to partake of communion:  the body of Christ broken for you. Amen.

Quaker Friends Meeting

 

July 16, 2023 

So it’s true:  Quakers gather and simply wait quietly. Whereas free earplugs are a helpful bonus during worship at my church, this service was silent—no music, no teaching, no scripture reading, only listening for the voice of God. 

Grounds of the Urbana Quaker Meetinghouse are lovely, with flowers blooming, most strikingly a pink hibiscus at the entrance. After being welcomed, I tip-toed to a seat in the quiet of a big circle in the meeting room. There, nearly twenty of us sat on upright chairs for about an hour. Plenty of big windows make it easy to gaze out at nature. A familiar verse from Micah 6 came to mind:  With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Sacrifices? Gifts of oil? My firstborn? No. What is required is acting in justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. What do these things look like in my life?

When the hour was nearly up, a woman broke the silence and told her thoughts as she passed the county jail coming to the meeting. A gentleman then spoke for about ten minutes, pouring out his pain from a previous interaction. Everyone listened respectfully as he shared with both laughter and tears. Another short period of quiet followed and then the person appointed to lead today asked that each of us tell our name, any announcements for the group, and whatever else we might feel led to say. One woman asked that we “hold in the light” a member who is dying. I said I was visiting as an exploration project and that I’d enjoyed the quiet in comparison with the usual Sunday morning. That got a few laughs. When we’d been around the circle, all were invited to stay for the eats and monthly business meeting to follow.

A friendly man with a long grey ponytail was interested to hear what other kinds of churches I’d visited, and he welcomed me back anytime. Going to the car past the hibiscus I felt at peace.

Mattis Avenue Free Methodist Church

 June 18, 2023

This Sunday, Father’s Day, I was privileged to have my dad join me in a church visit. Happily, an acquaintance who was about Dad’s age appeared for a chat soon after we came in the door of the Mattis Avenue Free Methodist Church. Clearly this is a lively place; a lot of people were filtering  through the foyer. According to the multi-page bulletin, the church hosts Sunday School for both adults and kids at 9:30 and children’s church at 10:30 during the worship service. English conversations for international learners are offered at 9:15.

The medium-sized sanctuary was over half full when the music began after a welcome and invocation. To my surprise, I didn’t recognize any of the songs, lyrics projected above. A young couple was commissioned into local ministry service. Offering plates were passed as we watched a short Father’s Day-themed video. We sang the doxology and kids were dismissed to their own program. A couple of men led the congregation in scripture reading.

This was the last Sunday of this pastor’s ministry in this church. His message Winning the Worry War took its theme from Philippians 4:4-9. The bulletin had an outline with blanks for filling in major points as the sermon was given. We have a limited perspective, departing pastor Coats reminded us. Joy issues from the nature of God. “If you’re going to worry anyway, why pray? If you’re going to pray, why worry?” he quoted.

Like the church last week, the service ended with a simple dismissal.

On the way out, all fathers were invited to pick up a pie of their choice from tables in the foyer!

Midwest Believers Church

 June 11, 2023

The name Midwest Believers Church gives little clue what to expect from these local believers. I was curious to find out. The group is
certainly welcoming. I was greeted at the door, inside the door, at the sanctuary entrance, and again by a friendly person who came and sat beside me to chat for a few minutes.

The worship began on time when a petite black woman on keyboard began to sing in the Spirit. Soon she was accompanied by drums, guitar, and a responsive congregation. This free-flowing sing-song praise lasted for several minutes and then morphed into How Great Is Our God. Other contemporary songs followed, as well as the classic hymn How Great Thou Art. It was lovely.

After worship, the pastor’s wife announced a full schedule of upcoming events. Our worship leader/keyboardist, wearing a graduation robe, was acknowledged for just finishing her second degree.

With its drop ceiling and plain glass windows, this was not a fancy sanctuary. Nine rows of comfortable chairs—the back three roped off—replaced pews. No hymnals, nor bulletins. By the time the service ended, there were about forty people present, most of them white, no kids. The website says a nursery and children’s ministry are available at the 10:30 service.

Our message began with Romans 10.9-10 and focused on responding to God. Faith demands response. Our response sets God’s action in motion. Those who shrug and say, “it must not be God’s will” are missing out. The pastor gave two examples from his life. In one “I didn’t respond, so I didn’t receive.” In the other, he didn’t accept a negative diagnosis from a doctor but rather responded with scripture for a positive result. Our mouths play a big part, he said. Speak it out:  “Lord, I receive.”

The keyboardist and the drummer played again as the pastor took a minute to tell how to make an offering and then dismissed us.

The gathering area just outside the sanctuary was filling with people coming in, visiting, getting coffee before the second service. Back outside were more cars and more people arriving. Would they open the back three rows? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As I headed across the parking lot, it occurred to me to ask someone what denomination this church is, since the name is so generic. Non-denominational, a nicely dressed woman answered, but part of the Full Gospel tradition. Ah, ok. A look at upcoming events on the webpage revealed more. MBC is having three days of special services this August. (Sounds like what we used to call a revival.) Here is the information about the speaker they're bringing in:  “Having worked closely with Kenneth Copeland in the Believer's Conventions for over 23 years, David carries an anointing to teach God's Word on faith and financial increase.”

NOTE:  Just as with the Eastside Church I didn't use the label Christian nationalist, I hesitate to say this church preaches the prosperity gospel. My purpose is to observe, not to evaluate. This time I called the office to ask if that term was heard as derogatory or affirming. "Yes," I was cheerfully told, "we believe the prosperity gospel."