Looking for a Spirit-Filled Church in Triangle (Charlotte, Raleigh: college, living)

[immertruth]

Christ Cathedral of Praise, Cary, close to Morrisville & Apex. The church is located next to Starbucks on 55 & High House Rd. During the week there's a day care center there called Cathedral Point.

[carolina chick]

I have understood that Journey Church is good. Journey Church - Raleigh, North Carolina - Home Never been myself though. I have seen the commercials. They have sermons online as well.

[vjh6993]

My husband and I tried Living Word Family Church as suggested by an earlier poster and we were forced to leave our infant in the nursery. Not what you might have in mind if looking for a family oriented spirit filled church. We didn't feel welcomed at all. Disappointing....

[hurricanedavid]

Thanks @vjh6993. I think I had listened to their sermons and ruled them out because of that. But I'll bet that info will help some folks.

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The wife and I have settled on Destiny Life Church in Holly Springs.
Destiny Life Church

I'm very analytical (you can probably tell by my previous posts in this thread), and my brain with its set of criteria was not drawn to this church. There are better preachers out there. Crosspointe has two great ones, but Crosspointe currently lacks a personal, friendly feel (very hard to achieve in large churches, I'm afraid), the lack of which repelled my wife. They are also perhaps not quite as spirit-filled as I would like.

But moreso, it just seemed that God was drawing me to Destiny, though my analytical brain wanted perhaps something else. On paper, it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. However, I have always left it up to God in the end.

Destiny:

• Small church - about 35 adults maybe
• Currently meets in a middle school
• People are extremely warm and friendly. My wife usually finds women catty and mean, but she says there are plenty of good women here.
• Pastor is genuine, and filled with passion and vision.
• I enjoy the worship. Mostly contemporary worship songs. Very few hymns (though I do love them). It's not necessarily the songs that I enjoy, but the joyful, exciting, yet reverent attitude and heart of worship.
• In the several weeks I've been involved, I trust the pastor's heart and intentions.
• Pastor has a few years of Senior Pastor experience, with more in executive pastor (I think) and youth pastor experience.
• It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, but I haven't seen any manifestations of the Holy Spirit (i.e. tongues, prophecies, healing, etc.) yet.
• The pastor leads the worship (and has a nice voice, which is a plus). There are one or two assist singers. Keyboards, two guitars, and drums. I think there's one more, but can't remember.
• Pastor's wife is kind, warm, welcoming, and passionate for the church's/God's vision.

[kingsfan4ever]

We have visted the area 3-4 times since Summer 2005. During those times, we visited a number of churches and met with a few dozen Pastors (my husband is a Pastor, so we're obviously looking for a church who might need him ).

I really liked Hope Community Church (but hey... our home church for the last 7 years is a congregation of approx. 4000, so we are accustomed to that ''big church feel.''). On the other end of the spectrum, we also found Crosspoint Community Chuch in Clayton (Crosspoint Community Church) which is a small congregation of about 100 folks. Authentic. Mature believers. Bible-based preaching by Lead Pastor Todd Bailey, a super genuine guy who kept my attention the entire message. Reminded me of the church plant we were part of for 14 years, growing from 10 families to more than 500 people. We were really drawn to this church. Triangle Community Church (Home - Triangle Community Church) is another very good church (approx. 700 people, I think). We also visited Crosspointe in Cary (many have commented on this church already), and met for lunch with Jonathan Bow who we really connected with and have stayed in touch with for a couple of years now. We also had lunch with Pastor Jimmy Carroll and his wife of Journey Church in North Raleigh. Great people! Our friends moved out there last Summer and are attending Journey, and seem to really like it. Have seriously looked at C3 Church, but have not yet had an opportunity to visit there. I love their involvement in the community, and I'm sure their music would be great. I'm not sure the preaching would be deep enough for what we're looking for.

I guess this is to say, there are so many churches -- from very small to very large -- each offering something different. But (hopefully!) all offering the same core message about saving faith through Christ, which is what is most important. Some people are drawn closer to God via music. Some via the taught Word. Others via the community of a church. It can sometimes be difficult to find that one church that provides everything we're looking for, but I truly believe it's possible. Best wishes to you!

[north_raleigh_spa_mom]

Originally Posted by vjh6993

My husband and I tried Living Word Family Church as suggested by an earlier poster and we were forced to leave our infant in the nursery. Not what you might have in mind if looking for a family oriented spirit filled church. We didn't feel welcomed at all. Disappointing....

You were "Forced" to leave your infant? That's ridiculous. Everyone has their own opinion about what works with church, child care, etc. I personally would not be comfortable leaving my child in a nursery, especially an infant. So I wouldn't. I would nicely, politely leave...with my child!

I don't know this church or anyone associated with it. But I think it's unfair to claim that anyone forced you to leave your child with someone if you didn't want to do it. You did have a choice.

I hope someone gets what they are looking for from this thread. But would any of us say, oh, no, my church isn't filled with the sprit, or oh, my chirch has a lot of sprit but not much truth.... I don't think so.

We are still looking for a "home church" I think it is just a process of visiting different churches until you find what feels right for you

[hurricanedavid]

Originally Posted by north_raleigh_spa_mom

But would any of us say, oh, no, my church isn't filled with the sprit, or oh, my chirch has a lot of sprit but not much truth.... I don't think so.

That reminds me of so many times when I would either talk to pastors over the phone or visit web sites. Everyone says, when you ask what they believe, "We just believe the Bible. That's what we go by!" And they say it with vigor. It's like they haven't considered the fact that every one of the other pastors I have talked to have said exactly the same thing.

I guess I need to rephrase the question. Something more like: Of the popular differences in main-line evangelical churches, what are some that make you different from similar churches around you?

Originally Posted by north_raleigh_spa_mom

I hope someone gets what they are looking for from this thread.

Yes. I hope this thread is helpful as well. If a person is loyal to a particular church, then of course they may lack objectivity, but by and large, many of the posts in this thread, and private messages to me (the original poster), have been very helpful and objective.

And I'm sure we're all smart enough to take someone else's word about a church experience as only what it is: one person's perspective, and not necessarily the ultimate truth about something... and that includes me, too.

[vjh6993]

Originally Posted by north_raleigh_spa_mom

You were "Forced" to leave your infant? That's ridiculous. Everyone has their own opinion about what works with church, child care, etc. I personally would not be comfortable leaving my child in a nursery, especially an infant. So I wouldn't. I would nicely, politely leave...with my child!

I don't know this church or anyone associated with it. But I think it's unfair to claim that anyone forced you to leave your child with someone if you didn't want to do it. You did have a choice.

I hope someone gets what they are looking for from this thread. But would any of us say, oh, no, my church isn't filled with the sprit, or oh, my chirch has a lot of sprit but not much truth.... I don't think so.

We are still looking for a "home church" I think it is just a process of visiting different churches until you find what feels right for you

Yes we were forced, and I didn't say we stayed. The head usher came and walked me out of service and told me that my nearly sleeping infant must stay in the nursery because he and any infant would be too distracting to the people around us. I classify that as forced. When he offered to also get my husband out of service, I said that would be fine. When my husband met me at the nursery we quietly left. They were forcing us to leave our infant, but I didn't say we allowed them to. We are new to the area and are trying out different churches. I posted this because I didn't want anyone else to go through what we did if they are looking for a church where you have the freedom to keep your child with you. I am not sure why you seemed to be so upset about my post, but I hope a better explanation helps you.

[hurricanedavid]

I didn't gather from your post that you had allowed them to take your baby. And I didn't really see much in your post that should cause @north_raleigh_spa_mom to get ticked at you.

I'm sad that a church would ask a mother of a quiet baby to take the baby to the nursery. I understand where they may be coming from. In the event that a quiet baby does decide to become a crying baby, it is too late... you have already distracted many folks. But I would rather err on the side of allowing a mother to keep her baby, instead of being so legalistic about some kind of policy.

It is possible that was the mistake of the usher, and not the church itself. Even if you never go back to that church again, you might want to shoot an email to the administration describing your experience. If the usher needs to be corrected, you may keep some other non-Christian mom from being turned out from an experience with God.

[AleciaVaughnHenry]

3805 Tarheel Club rd Raleigh,Nc 27604 919-872-7776 website Wake Chapel Church It is very awesome. Love it here!