That means a lot of good things, of course: They have a large church complex, plenty of resources, and I'm sure they have an excellent, professionally run children's ministry. Most megachurches do.
But it's too easy for me to get woefully disconnected and feel lost in a group that big, which is why I enjoyed Community Gospel Church so much. It was big enough to have some decent programs and resources, but small enough that it remained cozy.
We spent the past several months attending Cross Pointe Church in West Windsor (now meeting at the Boy Scouts offices on Route 1, south of Raymond Road). It's a decent church, aimed primarily at the Princeton area, with an eye toward the seeker, and we've even helped from time to time with planning the service. I've even given them permission to use my dramas free of charge.
We recently decided to start looking again because, despite the many good things we see about the church, the 25- to 30-minute trip each way has kept us from getting plugged into the church and we feel Evangeline would benefit from actual children's ministry. Right now, because she is the oldest young child there -- and the next oldest is about 2½ years younger than her -- she's not getting much except playtime.
The teaching itself is sound, the pastor is a great guy, and as far as that goes I have none of the concerns, viz. lying, manipulation, betrayal of confidence, and dangerously false teaching, that I had with Abner. None of that's an issue for us -- we just need some place we can get plugged in and our daughter can grow.
They are planning to start a bona fide children's ministry. There are at least two women I know who want to get one started, and one of them isn't even a mother.
I think what they really need is a few more children.
My impression is that Howard also got a little too eager to get the church started and had unreasonably high expectations about how easy it would be. When they started at the Radisson, he told me he was expecting about 100 people to attend the first meeting, even though they had done very little to promote the church firsthand. There were about 40 people or so, including several from CGC who were there to lend moral support, but that number gradually dropped down to about 15 before they left the Radisson and moved to the Boy Scouts.
The move also has lost them a few people, but they seem to be gaining some new faces because of the drive and desire of a couple new members to see the church grow.
I'm not sure of the financial situation, although one of our unvoiced concerns was they way they seemed to be spending money unnecessarily on a few things. My understanding on that score, based on some things Howard has said in person and in sermons, is that they're being underwritten by a Baptist church in New York.
CGC was a good church, but not perfect. We're not looking for "another CGC," nor for the perfect church, but we are looking for one that has the qualities we think a church should have: a strong commitment to community, decent worship, solid teaching, a commitment to outreach and a decent children's program.
No luck so far, but I'm still hopeful we'll find something good.
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