On our way back from vacation, our family stayed in Atlanta so that we could attend Northpoint Community Church yesterday. I've listened to Andy Stanley for several years now and I have witnessed our church (Southeast Christian Church) copy many of Stanley's methods and sermon ideas. I think Andy Stanley is one of the best preachers in the country and I have been curious what is was like to experience the Northpoint typical Sunday. Now I know and I liked it.
We arrived at about 10:15 as the 9:00 service was letting out. My first impression was how easy it was to get into the parking lot. I figured we would have to wait a while since we were so early. When we pulled up to the church, I at first thought that we might be at one of the satellite churches since it wasn't very big. Southeast is a massive church and it is very intimidating in size. Northpoint is essentially a one story building. The auditorium is the tallest part of the building being a 2-story section but it doesn't stand out. We parked right up front and went inside.
The main entrance takes you into a large hallway that feeds all of the different areas that your family will need to go. There is the main East Auditorium to the right, Waumba Land (Preschool) to the left, and Upstreet (Elementary) straight ahead at the end. The hallway meanders around to the right past the East Auditorium where you can access the West Auditorium and The Attic (Middle School). All of the individual kids' areas are colorfully decorated in themes and give you a feel that you are entering a different world.
We stopped at the guest help desk and got a brochure and headed back to Upstreet to check things out. We were greeted by a volunteer that was very helpful. She handed us off to an Upstreet volunteer who got our elementary kids checked in while she headed over to the East Auditorium to reserve seats for us. Once we got the kids checked into Upstreet, we headed to The Attic to drop off our middle schoolers. The Attic was definitely geared to the Starbucks generation with lots of couches and "hang out" areas stationed around the stage and main floor. With them checked in, we headed over to our reserved seats.
Most of the service was conducted in the East Auditorium but the West Auditorium also broadcasted the service on the screens. The East Auditorium has a small balcony and will hold about 2700 people. The West Auditorium has no balcony and will hold about 2300 people. Not what I expected from the 2nd largest church in America considering Southeast will hold about 9000 people. Regardless, we had a seat down front where we could choose to watch the band and speakers live or on the two large screens flanking the stage.
About 5 minutes before 11:00, and announcer began talking about their summer series and began to do a short biography of Tom Petty. Afterwards, the band played Free Falling. That caught me a bit off guard. My immediate thought was that if our band tried that at Southeast we would lose about 2000 members overnight. But I thought it was cool and not a bad idea to fill the time before the service began. However, at 11:00 the announcer came back on and began talking about the summer series and how to request your favorite '80s song via twitter for next week. He then began to do a bio on Bon Jovi. When he finished, they turned out the lights, turned on the show lights and jammed out to Livin' on a Prayer. Now I'm thinking that this is a church way out of the box.
Following the concert, a female emcee came on stage and proceeded with a greeting and some announcements. She then turned the floor over to a male emcee in the West Auditorium to make a few more announcements while they showed them both on a split screen talking to each other. I felt at this point like I was on Good Morning America or something similar. This did not feel like church. After announcements the band played a couple of worship songs which led into their two baptisms.
In order to be baptized at Northpoint, you have to make a baptism video that is played prior to your baptism. It's a short video a couple of minutes long that talks about your journey and ends with your profession of faith. Then the camera is turned on to the baptistry where the pastor says a few more things about you and then baptizes you. There is a lot of cheering because the audience feels like they know you at this point since you have shared your story with them. It is a really unique way of presenting baptisms and I personally liked it a lot. I wish we would do this. It takes up precious time but it really does show you that these people are real people with real problems and is very powerful.
After the baptisms and offering (no communion), the preacher took the stage. This week the sermon was given by Rodney Anderson who leads Buckhead church (satellite). The sermons was about the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector both going to the temple to pray. It is a contrast of prayers. Anderson is an excellent preacher and this sermon was particularly good. I was disappointed that Andy Stanley wasn't preaching but I was pleasantly surprised with Rodney Anderson. I got a kick out of the fact that he didn't use any notes (inside joke). Once Anderson finished his sermon, he said thank you and dismissed the service (no alter call).
A few takeaways. One - the atmosphere was very casual. Everybody on stage wore jeans - even the preacher. You would be very out of place if you wore a tie to church there. I believe that kind of atmosphere is very inviting and breaks down some of the barriers that keep people from going to church. Just come as you are because we do. Two - Jesus is front and center. The entire service was very Christ-centered and they made it very clear that their goal is to get you in a relationship with Jesus. I especially enjoyed the sermon because it focused on the simplicity of Jesus. The main point was that God hears our prayers because of Jesus and nothing we do earns God's ear. I encourage you to listen to the sermon (http://northpointministries.org/messages). Third - traffic was a breeze! Wow we could do so much better than we do at Southeast. We got on campus in about 5 minutes and got off campus in about 10 minutes. Fourth - if you attend Southeast, you are spoiled! Our facilities are so awesome. Northpoint doesn't even begin to compare with our sanctuary, atrium, the Block, fitness, etc... If I hear anyone complain in the least little bit about any of our facilities (other than traffic), I will lose it. We are plain and simple spoiled rotten!
All in all, Northpoint is a fantastic church and I can see why so many people attend. They use the satellite methodology much more effectively than Southeast and it allows them to keep each campus from being so massive. The service is definitely more laid back than I expected but in some ways I liked it better. I missed not having communion and the alter call but I really enjoyed the baptisms and the sermon was fantastic. You should check it out the next time you find yourself in Atlanta on a Sunday.
