As a public service to those in the Los Angeles Metro area that are
considering going to "church" tomorrow to celebrate Easter for the first
time since Christmas 2007, and for the last time til Christmas 2008,
this should help you find your place of worship.
Note that the places listed here are of the American Religion type,
meaning the message will be humanocentric, there will be little if any
talk about sin, repentance, sanctification, etc, and the music selection
will be of the rock and roll variety, with lots of songs containing
words like "I," "Me" and "Mine", with only a superficial mention of the
Trinity.
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Woodland Hills Church at 6115 Fallbrook is having an "Easter
Extravaganza" with "Family Fun, Games and Prizes, Crafts and Egg Hunt"
and "Bounce House, Music, and Food." You can also "Enter to win a Wii"
from Nintendo! There are nice pictures of Easter eggs on the ad, but no
mention of God, Christ, Ressurrection, sin, repentance, or anything even
vaguely about the Gospel except for the words "Christian" and "Church"
in the name of the place. If you are looking for a "church" that avoids
any reference to Deity, sin, or Ressurrection, this might be the place!
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First Presbyterian Church of Granada Hills (10400 Zelzah) asks you to
"Come Celebrate Easter with Us!" 6AM will be a "sunrise service on the
patio," at 9AM will be the "Blended Worship including choir, handbells,
and the Hallelujah Chorus" and then at 11AM will be "Contemporary
Worship with the 11th Hour Band." This is "A place to connect"
according to the ad, and there is a picture of a cross on the ad, but
not one reference to God, Christ, Ressurrection, or sin.
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St. James Presbyterian Church (19414 Ventura Blvd) seems rather hopeful
at first: there is a picture of a glowing cross on the ad, with
"Easter Services" emblazoned next to it. Easter (Eostre?) Worship
services at 7:30 and 10:30AM, and the Easter egg hunt is at 9:45. No
mention of Christ, Ressurrection, or God in the ad.
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Canoga Park Lutheran Church (7357 Jordan St.) will have an "Easter
(Eostre?) Festival Worship!" This "worship" will have and I quote
"Grand old Easter hymn with rousing trumpets! The 11[AM] service offers
joyous praise with keyboard and drums! Both bring an Easter message
straight from the heart of God." How trumpets, keyboards and drums
bring a message from the heart of God is beyond me (I thought it was the
Word that did that?), but you might not be able to hear the Scripture
proclaimed anyway after all that cacophony.
Further, tonight at CP Lutheran is the "Road to the Cross," billed as a
"Unique Multi-Media Worship Experience!" This is a "powerful blend of
chancel [sic] drama, video, special effects, music, song, and the spoken
Word to help you experience the passion of Christ in an unforgettable
new way." Well at least we have "Word" and "Christ" mentioned here, but
how you will make any sense of the Gospel message through the rest of
this nonsense is beyond me (I Corinthians 2:14 comes to mind anyway).
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"Easter at Shepherd of the Hills" -- this is a really big-box, American
Religion church at the north end of the San Fernando Valley (19700
Rinaldi St.) There is a picture of a glowing tomb on the huge ad, and
there is a "FREE Continental Breakfast" and "FREE Children's Programs
for All Ages," with the "inspiring message by Pastor Dudley Rutherford."
True to form, no mention of Christ, God, Ressurrection at all, only a
glowing tomb to give you a vague idea about what this "Easter" thing
might be about.
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"Church on the Way," another big-box, American Religion place I used to
attend many years ago, asks you to "Celebrate Easter" with them. There
is the promise of "New Life through Christ the Risen King" for attending
the services. I will give them props for that much, though, but not
much else here beyond the picture of the Easter lillies and the
butterflies (the bird *might* be a dove -- aka "Holy Spirit" -- but I'm
not sure.)
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Just a couple more: St. Stephen's Lutheran Church (15950 Chatsworth)
will have their Easter egg hunt at 9:14 with Easter Breakfast right
after (ad has a nice Easter lilly on it), and Lake Hills Community
Church in Castaic (33100 Lake Hills Road) will have their "Sonrise
Service" tomorrow at 7am. Neither Church talks about "God, Christ" or
"Ressurection" in their ads either.
Have a happy Eostre!
Dan
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