Yes, this is Part 1 of 2 for Week 2. I’m almost tempted to change “Church Quest” into “Hurry up and see how many services we can go to in one weekend!”. I think we could technical hit up five a weekend if we really tried and really rushed.
Eagle Brook Church – Lino Lakes
Yes, we’re at Eagle Brook again. This evening we visited their largest campus located in Lino Lakes. It is so big. It is probably one of the few places in Minnesota we use and apply contraflow traffic patterns and its just to get in and out of the parking lot. I brought my “crew” today: a teenage techie and an eight-year-old. They are excited for this Church Quest and I’m excited to test out Eagle Brook’s children’s system. We can see the kids area through the windows. It looks like an arcade! They even get free popcorn. Yum! She gets checked in and we each get a matching sticker for a secure pick up (I better not lose this). Between dropping the kid off and finding our seats I run into three people I know and have a quick chat. At a church of this size I am surprised at the familiarity. We sit behind the tech booth so the teenager can observe all technical aspects (which are all way above my realm of knowledge). The worship and sermon are pretty much the same caliber as last week though Pastor Bob weaves God in a lot more this time around. Church ends quickly. We go to pick up the kid and I am surprised at the quick and efficient pick up process. She has had a BLAST!!! She begs and begs to go back next service (no, not next week, next hour, as in 40 minutes from now). She had fun and loves it! Never in my life have I imagined I’d be standing in a church lobby with an eight-year-old setting my foot down and saying, “No! We’re not going to church again!” I stop, in shock at my own words and the teenager and kid laugh at me. I see why parents love this church. Well, this is Church Quest and the teenager begs me to visit EB’s other campus (he wants to see the synchronization in action). So, I give in.
Eagle Brook – White Bear Lake
We arrive at Eagle Brook – White Bear campus to test out the integrity of their syncronization process. Is this really “one church”? I was here last week, but my crew is new to this campus (and they’re hungry). We give in and buy a delicious, healthy enough, inexpensive dinner from the cafe. Its basic, good, and a thrifty deal (maybe we’ll eat here more Saturday nights just for fun). This campus is smaller than Lino, but still has all the amenities (cafe, bookstore, incredible kids area, welcome booth with flat panel tv, computerized check in, fog machine, intelligent lights, the works!). The kid nearly drags me to the check in station to go to Sunday school (Camp KRock!). I’m impressed that it is so clearly marked even she can find it. She runs up the stairs and I know she’ll be just fine (the woman greeting children reassured me as well and informed me how to pick her up…a refresher really, I did this an hour ago). The auditorium is smaller and set up different (less screens, all seating on the same level, AV booth in the very back). This campus feels more like a church, smaller, cozier, homier. The sermon is nearly word-for-word the same (we would know, we heard it an hour ago). 
The music is different, but good and its fun seeing this service from two different angles. The worship pastor at this campus weaves the Gospel in as he talks in between the songs…I love that. When I pick up the kid, she is coloring the same picture she colored at the other campus. They learned about self-control today and from the bulletin I read they learned a story about Lot’s family. I love that bulletin blurb. It gives me a clue as to what she learned and allows me to ask more probing questions so I can get more out of the kid than “what did you learn?” “nothing”. She’s excited because she knew all the songs (the same ones she sang at Lino). I learn from this evening, I could have been a much better children’s pastor. Children need a fun, exciting place to learn about a fun, amazing, exciting God and his fun, amazing, exciting Love! If they love church, parents easily love church.
So, I’ll combine these two. This whole evening has taught me:
The church is beautiful when…it shows God’s amazing love and welcoming spirit to children.
