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Review content:
Abundant Life is unlike any other evangelical church I have visited in the upstate area. Their facilities are unmatched in both design and cleanliness. The staff that greets you are genuine, caring, and seemingly quite happy to be there. It is undoubtedly the most racially, economically, and age diverse congregation in the area. The services start promptly with energetic worship music led by a dynamic couple, backed up by a choir and talented team of singers. THere were a few vocalists off key, but the sound guys seemed to correct it quickly and they took it all in stride.
The offering was received with a lot of dignity and seemed to be a an act of worship that the congregation took very seriously. They actually taught briefly about why giving was critical to their service to God, and then the pastor prayed over the offering and for the people to be blessed financially, through their giving so that they could be in a position to give more generously to others in the future (a very refreshing and interesting take on the whole give-to-get mantra one often hears about),
The message was dynamic.. His points were incredibly relevant and at times I forgot I was sitting in a crowd of 800 people and thought it was a personal counseling session. When I shared this with the woman next to me, she said ""welcome to the club..."". I left feeling incredibly energized and motivated to do some things differently in my life.
The children's programs and facilities are fantastic. I have never seen such technology used to teach kids. Definitely not the sunday school classes I remember growing up! They had a costumed friendly dog character walking around greeting the kids. It was like being at Disney. Seriously! THe staff was friendly and energetic, and the kids with me LOVED it and asked to come back next week to finish the series.
The church uses technology aggressively but not oppressively. If you didn't have an iPad or computer to take notes with you might be surprised to see how many folks were using these devices to follow the message, record their notes, and look up references the pastor suggested. However there were plenty of people who used paper bibles and notebooks. And others who had nothing.
THe church is very focused on missions, and had just raised 30,000 to send 50 of its members to Joplin MO to relieve those suffering from the Tordado. I was very impressed with the amount of money and volunteer effort that was dedicated to these ""missions"" they conduct all over town as well.
In all I cannot recommend this church more highly to those who like to be challenged to grow. One of the members I spoke with said this, ""Abundant Life is the church of choice for people who want to be challenged to grow up and reach their potential"". Sounded like a church ""slogan"", which apparently it was. But this member felt proud about that. He continued, ""if you don't want to change or be confronted with your complacency, then this is not the place for you. It will make you uncomfortable if you are content to stay the same."". That is not the everyday appeal you hear when church ""shopping"", but it impressed me. They are not looking for everyone. Just people who are ready to take a journey of commitment, service, giving, and personal growth. Having traveled extensively I must say this church is unique and makes a lasting impression. . Still cannot believe a church like this exists in a smaller city like Syracuse.
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