Worship at 2 Pillars

I've been able to travel to various churches during the month of October. This is one of the great benefits of a sabbatical, a pastor like me gets to be able to see the broader work of God in the city and get outside his own "institutional setting." Yesterday I was able to attend 2 Pillars, an Acts 29 church planted by Pastor Todd Bumgarner in the last couple of years. I especially enjoyed the attention given to teaching the Scriptures as Pastor Bumgarner preached on the importance of men leading as Biblical men in marriage. From the limited experience of one Sunday, I would describe the worship music of 2 Pillars as a combination of southern gospel, re-tuned hymns and some original music: very much enjoyed it. Finally, I was taken back to the early years of Grace Chapel when we were planted back in 2000, remembering the smaller setting, sense of sweetness, vibrancy and also when we had only one service. The service went from start to finish for about two hours: I loved it! At Grace Chapel, we are unable to run such long services currently since our space limitations requires us to run three services on a Sunday morning; however, I recall those earlier days with much fondness when gathering in worship was not restrained or determined by the clock, when we were able to say to folks, "It's the Lord's Day! So come and worship, don't be in a hurry to bolt afterwards, connect, learn,... then invite folks over for lunch and spend the day together in fellowship!" We still run a fairly "open-ended" 3rd service, but those days of not needing to be worried too much about the clock on a Sunday morning are no longer,... and are remembered with great fondness.