The Church Hopper

On March 6th I started driving to Crosspoint Church which I had been told met in a separate building on the property of Forest Lawn Baptist Church. I had driven by there earlier in the week to see exactly where this building was so I would know where to park on Sunday. I pulled into the parking lot around 10:50 and just sat in my car waiting to see what door people would go into. The longer I sat the more it became obvious that no one was actually going in that separate building. So at 10:57 I decided to head to where everyone else was going, Forest Lawn Baptist Church.

Upon entering the church, I saw the pastor of Crosspoint coming up the steps. (I knew it was him because I had checked out their Facebook page) He welcomed and showed me where to go. I was kind of confused because I was told his church was in the other building but I just went with it. He handed me sheet music so I could sing along with them in the service. I sat down and started looking at the songs that we would be singing. They were all my favorites that I used to sing when I was in my youth group band. No bulletins so I just sat back and waited for what would happen next.

Quickly into the service I found out that this Sunday was not only a joint service of the two churches, but it was also Forest Lawn’s last official Sunday. As someone who has been in ministry my whole adult life, it broke my heart to see a church close. Yet, it warmed my heart to know that those pews would not sit empty because Crosspoint would be moving in.

The sermon for that week was not like most. Both pastors had a “townhall” like message. They both sat on stools and answered questions from the congregation about the Bible and things happening in the world. Some may think… “Well, that is not much of a sermon.” …but it was! People asked tough but heart felt questions and both pastors would address them. They continued with questions until noon.

I was so impressed with the way that these two pastors honored each other, their respected churches, and God during this service. I became emotional several times during the service because I really could feel God in that sanctuary, and I knew that for many members this would be their last Sunday there. I will say that I really felt at home and welcomed.

Quick church details for reference:

Name/Address: Forest Lawn Baptist Church/Crosspoint Church

1816 West Main Street Danville, VA 24541

Attendance: around 40 people

Denomination: Forest Lawn is a Southern Baptist church according to their Facebook page and Crosspoint’s Facebook page says that they are a part of the Assembly of God.

Facebook/Website: Both churches have active Facebook pages. Neither seem to have a website besides their separate denominations listing them.

Signage: The service time is correct on the front sign.

Live Stream or recorded messages: Crosspoint streams their services on Facebook.

Children/Youth: There was a children’s church!

Other notes: It can be tricky to know which doors to go into as a visitor. And the two main church doors stay locked.