I am sure no one will argue to the fact that this church is one of the pillar churches in the Bay Area for its historical and influential aspect to the Christian community over the years. Adapting to the changing culture, one of their worship service is called "11:05 AM Cafe" which meets in a different venue (@ 700 Santa Cruz Ave.) with a contemporary style of worship. It's located a block away from the main church campus in what looked to be like a commercial warehouse before.
The atmosphere is similar to what you would expect to see when you walk into a seminar or a workshop held at a local hotel ballroom. Lots of folding chairs placed in a half-circle archs with a small stage in the center on a platform which is raised about a foot. There are two long tables with coffee (from Pura Vida which is a Christian company in support of helping the coffee farmers sustain their families and protect the environment with every cup you drink), orange juice, and donuts available throughout the service. However, I only saw a couple of people actually go up for refills during the worship time.
Just above the stage are three large screens used for multimedia presentations and to project the pre-recorded sermon. One thing which was neat to note was that the middle screen always showed the preacher while the side two screens switch to the "powerpoint" presentation given during the sermon. So, they really did a great job of bringing in the sermon electronically.The praise team/band led us into a couple of songs and then one of the pastors made some announcements before the offering followed by the sermon. The level of music performance seem more in the professional range. By the way, this venue did not have air conditioning and so when the previous Sunday reached close to 100 degrees, the congregation's patience and endurance was truly tested and joking mentioned that all who attended that service will get T-shirt on their way out. As mentioned above, hearing/watching the sermon was quite flawless; in fact, the message hit home for me as well. The message from Pastor John Ortberg was on the character of Nehemiah with the title, My Favorite Hero.
First he showed the timeline from Moses to Nehemiah:
Moses (1300 BC) <-> David (100 BC) <-> Exile (587 BC) <-> Nehemiah (450 BC)
And then he focused on the topic of "One who is a difference maker."
- Begins with pain (wholy discontent) -- Neh. 1:4 shows him sat down and wept.
- Prays -- Nehemiah prayed for 4 months before doing anything. This was unlike his personality which was know to be a "race horse." Neh. 2:8 shows God's grace and acknowledgement, and humility. Neh. 2:18 shows casting a vision (involves God's plan). Neh. 2:18 shows people responded in unity.
- Takes action
- Persistent -- About 80% of leadership is about this. Neh. 8:10 shows the celebration of Joy of the Lord becoming our strength.
Another notable item was the bulletin which is 4 pages of letter-sized sheets filled with details about small group and other events. It almost looks like a classified ad at first but as I was reading it one by one, it made me to realize this ministry covers a lot of ground with people from many different stages of life. And from that ponit of view, the contents were more like items at a buffet restaurant with lots of goodies to choose from.
Website: www.mppc.org
Worship Times: 11:05am (for 11:05 Cafe worship service; please check website for other worship services)
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