The Church Hopper

On Sunday April 3rd I found myself at Schoolfield Pentecostal Holiness Church. I walked into the front doors and was automatically welcomed by the usher at the door, the folks running the sound, and the folks in the pews surrounding mine. The Pastor was already in the pulpit talking as the clock struck 10am. You could tell that this small church was very comfortable with each other, it gave me a small group type vibe. Not long into the announcements and the usher walked over to me and handed me a welcome folder.

I opened the folder to find a welcome letter from the pastor/church, a pen, and a contact card. I filled it out quickly as I wanted to see if they would contact visitors. (Update: I received a letter from Pastor Michael later that week!) At the conclusion on the announcements, they shifted into a time of testimonies. And out of the 15 people that were present I would say at least 11 of the people stood up and testified about how God had showed up in their lives that week. WOW, is all I can say about that. Truly a beautiful thing to witness.

Next, they continued into worship with the sound of a Shofar. I was shocked to say the least as I figured you would only hear them in a Jewish Synagogue. However, once I saw my new friend (the usher) in the back blowing the horn… I thought to myself… “How cool is this, this kind of stuff is why I am visiting all of these churches… seeing the many ways people are worshiping in our very city!” So very cool!

For a church of this size I was pleasantly surprised that they had the congressional hymns projected on screens and their pastor had a PowerPoint that went along with his message. I really enjoyed that visual help as there was no bulletins or hymnals.

The sermon was around 40 minutes long and was about Jesus being the bread of life. At the conclusion of the message there was a closing song and the alter was open for anyone needing prayer. As I got up to leave after the benediction – everyone made a point to genuinely thank me for coming to the service that day. I felt very welcome and at home in their church.

Name/Address: Schoolfield Pentecostal Holliness Church

1380 West Main Street Danville, VA 24541

Attendance: around 15

Denomination: Pentecostal Holliness

Facebook/Website: This church does have a Facebook page.

Signage: They do have a sign at the road with the correct service start time.

Children/Youth: They seem to have something for children during the service, they had one child there that day.