Right across from the Westgate Shopping Mall in Saratoga, a quiet but vibrant sanctuary of WestGate Church was our place of worship on this Father's Day. Upon arrival we immediately noticed a couple of hot-rod-looking shiny cars in the entrance way leading up to the buildings. Hmm, this is an interesting church for sure. But it did not stop there because when we entered the main sanctuary, there were two "shiny" motorcycles on either end of the stage. Furthermore, there were two lazy-boy recliners right in front of the center stage as well. Keep on reading for further developing story.... 
Signs led us easily to the children's classrooms where the program from the previous service was still under way. So as we were waiting outside, one of the teachers "signed" our kids in. During the summer, their regular programs are combined into a single program to allow teachers a break. Our kids had a lot of fun while learning about biblical principles. They earned some points during the game as well as gaining bonus points for being newcomers and they were able to redeem those points for some items at the end. So, they were undoubtedly excited for this church.
In the adult worship, the atmosphere was quite casual in all aspects, adding some "coutry side" themes mixed in with the contemporary decors. For example, you would not be surprised if I told you that our praise leader just ran here to lead us into praise on his flip-flops from surfing at Waikiki Beach. I don't mean it any other way than to try and describe my impression then :-) And I do mean it in all positive way because I was naturally drawn into a very comfortable community of worshipers. After a song, an announcement was made by another leader, and then explained the "shiny" cars and motorcycles -- they were displayed for the fathers to enjoy because those things mean special things to the guys. That made sense. And then they recognized the "youngest" and "oldest" fathers from the congregation. The way they emasure the "age" was to add up the ages of all of his children. Mine came out to be 29, but the winners were: 7 months & 142 years. They were invited to the recliners located in front so they may worship with comfort today. Now, fathers sitting in recliners cannot go without remote controls. So, they were each given a remote control so they can control the service in action -- if too loud, then turn the volume down; if the sermon is too boring, then turn it off; etc.
Well, as the preaching pastor made his way up to the stage, he first yanked the remote controls away from the two fathers saying, "You ain't gonna turn my sermon off!" And he went into his message on Hebrews 11:24-27 titled, Four Questions Every Man Must Ask. The four key points are:Please get the rest of the message from their website. This was all about being the "Do-Dads" and that was a perfect message for Father's Day for sure.
The church lobby was well layed out with a wealth of information such as the upcoming VBS, other events like concerts. One noticeable table in the center taking up a good chunk of the real estate there was the name tag table. All the members or people who previously filled out a registration card has their name tag printed out for them and they are supposed to find it and put them on. Real good idea.
On our way out, I, the father, took one of the chilled root beer can as a gift. Unlike other years, I felt this year's Father's Day visiting WestGate Church made it more special than the Mother's Day!
Website: www.westgatechurch.org
Worship Times:
Saturdays: 6pm
Sundays: 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am
* Also check out their "Connections" flowchart explaining how someone can plug into their community.
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