Santa Barbara Community Church (SBCC) is the Church I've been attending for the past month or so since arriving in Santa Barbara. Here's a sort of roughly ordered, incomplete list of why I love SBCC so much:
10. They support Harambee - They support a lot of other ministries too. It just really caught my attention when I found out that they support a place I love so dearly.
9. Young adults group - SBCC has a college minister who is currently working on starting up a group for those of us who are a bit past college. This was something I really didn't expect to find anywhere, but here it is. When we had our first brainstorming meeting with about a dozen of us, we all expressed similar desires: First, a group that brings together people in a similar stage of life to support each other. Second, the group shouldn't be a meat market. There were other things expressed too, but both of those pretty much applied to everyone.
8. Afternoon services - No, I don't like the afternoon service because I'm lazy. I'd actually prefer a morning service based on how I like to structure my day. The reason I like this is really the underlying reason for it. SBCC rents their space from another Church. Never mind the fact that they have a congregation of over 1000, where is it written that a Church needs their own space. By renting space from another Church it allows SBCC to use a lot more of their money for ministry and outreach.
7. Opportunities to Serve - SBCC provides opportunities for people to get involved in serving the community around them. More than that, they really encourage people to get involved in them. I can't remember a single Sunday when there wasn't some opportunity to serve announced. Thus far I've helped out with a Habitat for Humanity project and on Thursday I'm going to go help out with "Kid's Club" in the late afternoon / early evening. I'm planning to give the Rescue Mission a try too.
6. Communion preparation - "A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself." (1 Corinthians 11:28-29) I've seen communion done many different ways in many different Churches, and I can see advantages and disadvantages to each. SBCC doesn't have any particular order to when you go up. When you're ready, you just get up, get in line, and go take communion. It probably takes longer, but this way there isn't a need to just go when the time comes. You can (and I usually do) just sit and pray to prepare yourself before you partake. This really helps me to focus myself on Jesus and His sacrifice that made it possible for me to take communion.
5. Praying in community - Every Tuesday morning at 6:45am 50 - 100 people gather to pray together. That sort of dedication to prayer is so important both for the Church community, and for each individual in the body. I am so privileged to be part of it.
4. Integration of solid teachings with the Bible studies - Each week at home group we study a specific Bible passage. Then, we come to Church on Sunday and hear teaching on that same passage. I never realized how much it helps to be familiar with a passage when you hear teaching on it. It's not like I was hearing passages for the first time with other sermons, but the passages weren't fresh in my mind either. Pretty much every week the Pastor nails topics that I had been thinking about because of having studied the same passage the week before.
3. Emphasis on community - The Church is quite large, so you don't get to know people just by coming on Sundays. Every week they have the information about joining a Home Group in the bulletin. Every week I've had someone new ask me if I am in a Home Group. The first week (when I wasn't yet in one), he invited me to join the one he was in, and when it turned out it was on my one bad night, he introduced me to the person in charge of Home Groups to help me find one that worked well for me. They periodically have community (or subsets thereof) dinners to help people get to know each other. Community is important to this Church, and the whole body shares that vision.
2. My Home Group - Every Tuesday night I get to go worship, pray, study the Bible, and share my life with these amazing people. God gave me a wonderfully supportive group of Christians for my time in Santa Barbara. The people are such a change from college Bible studies, and I love it. In terms of age, there is everything from college seniors at Westmont to young Grandparents. There are both singles and couples. They guy that really impresses me is Drew. He has been a Christian for about 9-months, and clean for about 8-months. By clean, I mean that for many years he was a meth addict. He is now living at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission until he finishes their program. He is so sincere about his deep love of God. When he prays for God to protect him from himself, he knows what that means in a way I don't think I really do. Oh, such a great group!
1. God brought me to SBCC and prepared it for me - When inquiring about Churches in the area, the two recommendations I got were both for SBCC, which gave me a strong incentive to check it out. On the first Sunday I went there, they announced that they were starting up a new session of Home Groups and Tuesday morning prayer meetings that week. My timing isn't that incredible, only God's timing is.
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