We visited Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Ontario, Oregon on 03/30/14

March 31, 2014April 7, 2014 Bob SnyderLeave a comment

How approachable/welcoming, is the Pastor before and/or after the service? The Pastor was friendly and spoke to us after the service.
How friendly is the congregation? The congregation was very friendly. They made sure to talk with us for a moment.
How many congregants were there? There were approximately 50 to 70, the congregation was mostly older folks.
How do they take the offering? Offering plates.
Where are they located? They are at 208 SW 1st Ave. Ontario, Oregon 97914. Their phone number is (541) 889-5458
How is the service broke down between, prayers, worship, and sermon? It is harder to break this down because the service was mostly liturgical.
What is the condition of their facilities? The facilities were in good condition for their age. I really appreciated the stained glass windows, the Cross, and the fact that it was evident this is a Christian Church and not a rec. center.
What is the preaching style of their Pastor? The sermon was expository. It was on John 9:1-41. The Pastor did a pretty good job of opening up the scripture to the congregation.
Do they use a specific translation of the Bible, or prohibit any translations, if so why? I didn’t notice which one they used.
Do they have a web page? They do, and here is the link; http://pilgrimlutheran.net/ If so, is there a clear, orthodox, confession or statement of faith? There was, but it is pretty simple, they are a Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod. If you need help with that just look up Lutheran and Missouri Synod. Some points of interest are that they have a rich faith history. You can look up Martin Luther the Reformer and the 95 Thesis. They are Paedobaptists. They also believe in consubstantiation for the elements of communion. Overall we had a very nice time of worship with them.

We Visited Calvary Chapel in Ontario Oregon on 03/16/14.

March 16, 2014April 7, 2014 Bob Snyder2 Comments

We visited Calvary Chapel in Ontario Oregon on 03/16/14

How approachable/welcoming, is the Pastor before and/or after the service? The Pastor was there, but he did not preach, as he was recovering from a surgery, and cold. It should be noted, that a congregation that size makes it difficult to have a Pastor greet everyone who comes in. They did have assigned, volunteers, greeting people as they walked into the sanctuary.
How friendly is the congregation? The congregation was friendly, and welcoming. I was already acquainted with several of the congregants who I work with.
How many congregants are there? There were approximately between 200 to 300 people there. They have two morning services, one at 9:00 a.m. and the other at 11:00 a.m.
How do they take the offering? They didn’t take an offering that I noticed and I didn’t see where they had an offering box. I will try to find out how they do it.
Where are they located? They are at 1775 Alameda Dr, Ontario, OR 97914. If you turn left just before Albertson’s, then go all the way down to the end of the street, it is on the corner to your right. Here is their phone number, (541) 889-2260
How is the service broke down between, prayers, worship, and sermon? It seemed to be approximately 10% announcements, 15% prayer, 30% worship, and 45% sermon. The worship songs were all contemporary.
What is the condition of their facilities? The facilities were above average. The main parking lot is not paved. They do have handicap parking up close to the sidewalks.
What is the preaching style of their Pastor? The sermon was an exegesis of Haggai 1, and part of 2. It seemed expository. As I said earlier, they had a guest Pastor preach the sermon. If he is any indicator of the type of preaching their Pastor delivers, then I would say they do pretty well. We will have to visit again on a Sunday when he is preaching.
Do they use a specific translation of the Bible, or prohibit any translations, if so why? Their web page indicates that they use many different translations. Everyone brings their own.
Do they have a web page? Yes, here is the link, www.ccontario.com If so, is there a clear, orthodox, confession or statement of faith? Here is the link to their statement of faith page, www.ccontario.com/sof/index.php I didn’t see anything that would make me think they were not orthodox. I did notice that it seems they are Charismatic and Continuationists.

Church · Church Reviews

We visited Christian Life Fellowship or CLF 03/09/14.

March 10, 2014April 7, 2014 Bob SnyderLeave a comment

We visited Christian Life Fellowship or CLF 03/09/14.

How approachable/welcoming, is the Pastor before and/or after the service? The Pastor was not at the front door greeting people nor was he after the service.
How friendly is the congregation? The congregation was very friendly and welcoming.
How many congregants are there? There were approximately between 100-125 people there.
How do they take the offering? A bag was passed.
Where are they located? They are located at 366 S.E. 5th St. Ontario, OR 97914, their phone number is (541)-889-7264
How is the service broke down between, prayers, worship, and sermon? It seemed to be approximately 5% prayer, 60% worship, and 35% sermon.
What is the condition of their facilities? The facilities were above average, there was no cross to be found in the sanctuary. The only cross I saw, was a small decorative one in the foyer. It was only about a foot long and hung on the wall as decoration.
What is the preaching style of their Pastor? Horribly eisegetical, misapplied scripture… what he used of it. They are part of the Vineyard Movement, and John Wimber’s bad instruction.
Do they use a specific translation of the Bible, or prohibit any translations, if so why? They didn’t seem to prohibit any translations or promote any.
Do they have a web page? Yes, here is the link; http://www.clfontario.org/#/home If so, is there a clear, orthodox, confession or statement of faith? Here is the link to their, “What We Believe” page. http://www.clfontario.org/#/home/what-we-believe It was not as theologically clear and certain as I would like. They have a confused understanding of satan. They seem to see satan as almost an adversarial contender to God instead of one of His creations. It looks like they believe, “Replacement Theology.” They are also in need of some help on their pneumatology. Looking at the end of their belief statement it appears they got it from the vineyard movement associated with John Wimber. They are Christian, just too reliant on experience, and in dire need of Bible study. After they would say, “amen” in the service the entire congregation would give one loud clap. We felt like we were in the middle of a cult meeting.

Then the Pastor started talking about how when he was talking to Jesus. At 20 minutes and 35 seconds into his sermon he said, “I literally had the Lord say something to me, he says, well Doug I want to introduce you to the Holy Spirit.” Then at about 20:53 he says, “and so what happened was I literally this very Jewish looking person that’s in my mind as I’m connecting with Jesus when he says I want to introduce you to the Holy Spirit, here’s this kind a blonde haired surfer dude, “hey!” he’s just chillin’, just hangin'” then at 21:29 he says, “the person of the Holy Spirit he morphed in the coolest kind a sci-fi way I have ever seen, he morphed into like oil “hooo” and he would just smooth things out”

That was on top of God apparently literally telling him things. I’m not sure if I was pickin’ up what he was putin’ down if ya dig? I know he was well intentioned, but I’m wondering if maybe there is a better way? I’m not even going to get into the red velvet lined closet that Jesus treasures our pain in…