Jonathan D. Blundell

This ain’t your father’s church

By JONATHAN BLUNDELL Daily Light staff writer
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 3:16 PM CDT

You walk into a large dimly-lit ballroom at the Waxahachie Civic Center and notice a hard rock music video playing on a large screen in the center of the room.
People are milling around the room, drinking coffee and meeting new friends.
Images of crosses, Jesus and candles flash on the screen as the video continues.
Once the video fades to black a group of musicians walk on stage wearing shorts, t-shirts and flip flops.
They begin to rock out to “Jesus music” and as the lead guitarist breaks into a guitar solo, you realize this is something different.
This is Encounter – and this ain’t your father’s church.
Utilizing a live band, a different setting and relevant messages during their Sunday gatherings, Encounter has more than doubled in size since it began meeting at the Civic Center last September.
“We try and show people that Christ is relevant in their lives today,” Pastor Brian Treadway said. “The setting’s a little different – we turn the lights down and let you bring coffee in during the service. The format’s a little different than a traditional church but we’re not compromising the message.
“In the traditional church setting, I think people have been turned off by a feeling that they have to somehow measure up. People feel like they have to act a certain way or else they’ll be judged and condemned. People are also turned off by the language the church uses, the technical terms or Christianese. There’s a sense that the people in churches are plastic or phony and no one wants to be part of a group where they have to pretend about who they are.”
Encounter began nearly two years ago as a Saturday night outreach service at Ovilla Road Baptist Church.
“There was a group within the church who recognized that many in today’s generation have tried traditional church and it’s not meeting their needs,” Treadway said. “It doesn’t match their style or meet their needs. Many have been hurt, burned in or bored by church, so they just sit at home and turn their backs on church and on God.”
The leaders of ORBC saw a need and decided to create a service for those the traditional churches were not reaching out to.
“Our goal was to create a place for the people turned off by traditional church to find a place they would be accepted and where they could find Christ – and fall back in love with him or fall in love with him for the first time,” Treadway said.
After nearly a year of Saturday night services in Ovilla, the church leaders made the decision for Encounter to venture out on its own, with a Sunday gathering.
“We made the transition to Sunday after I felt an inward calling and the other leaders in the church recognized we would be more effective as a separate church,” Treadway said. “Our goal is to simplify the church and to remove the bureaucracy you see in many of today’s churches. When you come to church it shouldn’t be about what clothes you’re wearing, who’s sitting by who or who’s on what committee. It’s about a relationship with God.”
And Encounter is built around strengthening relationships, both with God and with mankind.
“People today have a longing for developing relationships,” Treadway explained. “That’s why Starbucks, Barnes and Nobles and other places have developed places where people can come and sit, talk and enjoy community. We live in a hi-tech world but there’s a longing for hi-touch. We want to encourage an environment where people are sharing their lives. We don’t have it nailed yet but I think it’s encouraging to see people meeting in homes instead of in an education building. There’s something about a home that’s warm and comforting and conclusive to sharing life.”
To improve those relationships, Encounter has worked to focus on community groups, a change from the traditional Sunday school hour. Groups meet in homes during the week and focus on a variety of topics, including overcoming addiction, creating community and a group specifically geared toward new believers.
“We were looking for a change in the traditional Sunday school format,” Treadway said. “We were looking for a more fluid format. People have a desire to live in community and in transparency with others. We want to provide a level and environment for relationships rather than sitting and listening to someone teach every week.”
Treadway admits that his passion for Encounter comes not only from a higher calling, but from his own spiritual struggles.
“My own experiences following Christ had become very rule based and routine and a man made standard,” Treadway said. “Once I discovered that I’m accepted by grace, it changed my perspective. As a church we want to break the bondage of legalism. Many people approach their walk that way. Our drive is to set people free from the bondage of rule-based relationships. We want people excited about church and God and want them to serve out of passion and not duty.”
When the church began, 80 people from ORBC joined Treadway to start Encounter. Today, more than 200 people meet weekly at the Waxahachie Civic Center.
“The cowboy churches are similar in approach – just a different flavor,” Treadway said. “Other pastors in the area have been very supportive. I’ve heard some concerns, but upon their own investigation they see we’ve changed the method, but in doctrine we’ve remained the same. When we focus on Christ, that’s where we’ve seen the greatest growth.”
And like the Cowboy Churches, affiliation with a particular denomination is limited.
“You won’t see the word Baptist on our signs or in our advertising,” Treadway said. “You won’t hear the phrase on Sunday morning because it’s one of the stumbling blocks people have with the church today. Our only affiliation with Southern Baptists is our basic doctrinal belief and the fact that until September of this year, we receive financial support from the Baptist General Convention of Texas. They understand that we won’t advertise our Baptist connection and they don’t have a problem with that.”
And while building relationships with others at Encounter, Treadway also encourages members to build their relationship in the community as well.
He tells the story of walking into a mega-mart and getting help from none of the employees.
“If the employees ignore the customers then I think they’re missing the point,” he explains. “In the same way I have to ask myself, ‘Has the church of the living God been guilty of the same thing? Are we too busy with staying in fellowship with one another and avoiding the evils of the world that we absolutely miss the point?’ Being a follower of God means getting out of your comfort zone. Scripture tells us to love the Lord your God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. We get so caught up in our own problems that we miss the point.
“We want our church to be involved in every aspect of life,” Treadway said. “How can we make an impact on the community? The essence of the Gospel is loving God and loving others more than yourselves. We should be rubbing shoulders with those in need and looking for ways we can serve outside our walls.”
The church has recently worked with Cowboy’s House in Oak Cliff and is looking to do future projects with Waxahachie CARE and other groups helping the needy in Ellis County.
Treadway said Encounter is simply a new approach to tell the Gospel story.
“We haven’t taken any church and copied it,” Treadway said. “Encounter is more of a conglomerate or melting pot of different ideas. I feel like we’re on the front edge of what God wants us to do.”
In the future, the leadership of Encounter hopes to be able to meet in its own building. Due to scheduling conflicts at the civic center, the church is occasionally forced to meet in other facilities.
“We’d love to have our own facility,” Treadway said. “Something that is non-traditional looking and something that allows for a flexible worship environment and an interactive experience with Christ. We also want a place where young people can come and meet during the week and our children’s ministry can continue as a vibrant part of our church. Our children’s ministry is a great draw to the church and Brad Hayes has done an amazing job incorporating his different characters to help tell the stories of the Bible in a way the children can understand. Kids are excited about coming to church. And it’s set up like a junior-Encounter. There’s lots of movement and activities they learn with.”
The rapid growth of the church has been a struggle for Treadway and the church leadership, but you won’t hear him complain.
“Our growth has occurred much faster than we originally thought,” Treadway said. “So we struggle with training and finding leaders. That’s been a challenge. The facilities we’re meeting in now have been a blessing. The civic center has been a great place to meet. But we’ve put together a team and dedicated so many of our resources to finding our future facility that my workload has greatly increased. But even with the extra work, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Treadway finds reward in his work while watching lives change.
“The reward is in seeing lives changed,” Treadway said. “That’s the biggest joy. Getting to see marriages brought back together, hearing people say ‘Now I love coming to church,’ people finding their ‘passion groove’ – those are the things you think about as you lay your head down at night and say ‘Thank you God.’ ”
Encounter meets each Sunday at the Waxahachie Civic Center at 10:30 a.m.
For more information, visit www.encounterthis.com.