9 :: Forest Hill Church

This morning I attended Forest Hill Church. The South Park campus, to be exact. It's important to mention which campus, since Forest Hill is comprised of a whopping seven campuses across the greater Charlotte area. One of them is a Spanish speaking campus. The South Park campus is the original one, on Park Road.

This was not my first visit to Forest Hill. I have visited about half a dozen times in the last twenty-five years. And every time it was a little different. My friends Bill and Bethany invited me to their children's christenings at Forest Hill years ago. Their eldest is now in college.

So, I've been at Forest Hill infrequently over a long period of time.

A quick anecdote about a prior visit to Forest Hill, back in the late 1990s...

Then-Pastor David Chadwick was doing a series of sermons on what heaven would be like, based on questions submitted from the congregation. This was the heyday of Forest Hill and the church was packed. Probably around three thousand people were in attendance. 

David Chadwick pulled out a queue card from his pocket while on stage (there is no pulpit, per se, at Forest Hill) and read the question for that Sunday's sermon. 

The question was - "Will there be TV in heaven?" 

I laughed out loud. Then I realized that it wasn't a punch line or a joke, but that someone had actually submitted that question. And Pastor Chadwick thought enough of the question to dedicated a whole sermon to it.

As soon as I laughed, I took note that in the sea of thousands of people around me, no one else had so much as chuckled. A few people turned to look at me, confused by why I found the question amusing. A few shot me glares. Candidly, it was a spontaneous laugh but I reflect back now that it was pretty impolite. 

All these years later, I have the foresight to realize that different people have different questions about faith. And I am always obligated to meet people where they are.

A little bit of me also still says "Like, really... that's a real question??"

Anyway...

This morning I drove onto the campus, which was very sparsely attended. It is a very impressive place, of that there can be no doubt. It has a bit of an Old World or perhaps a Colonial-era feel.

As soon as I entered the church, I heard the music of the band. I had my temperature taken quickly and was then shown to my seat. In Forest Hill, the sanctuary is dark. This is often the aesthetic that modern, rock and roll churches have. And the inside of the church looked nice, as well, if not a bit clinical and institutional.

I truly thought the band was incredibly solid and the music was enjoyable. Here's a couple pics from that part of the service.

There's no question that the band is well-rehearsed and knew what they're doing. 

It was great.

Then I had the pleasure of hearing Johnathan Scott preach. Although I am only eight churches into this journey, I can declare definitively that he preached the best constructed, most energetic and most persuasive sermon that I have heard thus far. He was absolutely fantastic! 

I really can't say enough good things about his sermon.

Despite the fact I was so wow'ed, I would have some trouble summarizing what it was about, because it was really about many, many different things. 

But the main idea was divine trust and risk-taking in an uncertain environment. 

It started with a description of a man jumping out of an airplane without a parachute and landing on a 100-foot wide net. And surviving. True? No idea, but it is a heck of a foundational premise for a sermon. 

And the symbolism for this current area was impossible to miss.

The end of the sermon returned to that same plane jumper. And everything we had heard in between reinforced the idea that we are in uncharted territory in the current world, and all we can do is take the leap. 

The ideas that it represented at the end were clear - Leave the airplane. Trust God. Aim at a target. Abandon any sense of safety. Trust in the lavish love of the Risen Christ.

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher in the 18th-century. He was a non-believer, yet he always attended church every Sunday. When asked why he still attended church, he replied, "I find it deeply refreshing to witness a man speaking on a subject that he authentically believes in. Such a thing is far too rare in this world."

Johnathan Scott is the kind of Pastor that David Hume was talking about. He believes what he says and you can't help but be transported by his passion.

This is a very talented Pastor and I was simply blown away. Great, great sermon.

Then we got back to one last song and it was time to go. That's the way with these churches-of-the-future... Jam out for a bit. Pray. Get a solid sermon. Go home.

I think I am not used to the absence of a proper benediction.

As I drove home, I reflected on what made the service so meaningful. 

A few things stood out.

This is July 5th, the day after we celebrated Independence Day in 2020. And it was admittedly a pretty lackluster celebration. So, many of us have some level of "blech" this weekend.

We are also in very uncharted territory as a country. Unthinkable things are happening such as tearing down statues of people who founded our country. There are people declaring Mount Rushmore to be a sign of oppression. Crowds declaring that observing Independence Day is a manifestation of white supremacy. People explicitly declaring an affection for Marxism while burning the US flag, on US soil.

I never thought I would see such things. But, here we are.

And all of this is happening during a time when we continue to live in an environment filled with uncertainty and fear due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

And Pastor Scott's prayed a kick-ass prayer that was profoundly appreciative of the many positive things we can and should feel about our country, as well as lamented how we have fallen short of our stated national ideals. He lifted up a prayer that both celebrated and grieved where we are today.

And as a black Pastor with a mostly-white congregation, it felt contextually right. I liked hearing a hopeful prayer while also feeling some sense of vulnerability. In short, it was precisely what my heart needed to hear today.

I was:

Convicted.

Lifted up.

Pensive.

Grateful.

Upset.

Uncertain.

Strengthened.

Inspired.

From what I hear, the changes that led to David Chadwick leaving Forest Hill after building the place up for decades was a difficult and politically-fraught set of circumstances. That's unfortunate. I think it serves to reinforce that churches are ultimately reflections of the people that manage them and they are subject to our shortcomings, as a result.

But David Chadwick is cranking up his own congregation in a high school gym somewhere, from what I hear. I know it will lead to great things.

And with Johnathan Scott as the lead Pastor at Forest Hill in South Park, the congregation is surely destined for greater heights. Forest Hill will continue to make a positive difference in the lives of both Charlotteans and people around the world.

Great visit, great church. Thanks, Forest Hill. You guys nailed it today.