Jamie and I finally got to visit our first church in LA yesterday. We had heard a lot of positive stuff about <a href="http://www.fpch.org/">Hollywood Presbyterian,</a> so we got online to check out when their services are. One of their services is called C.U.E. for Contemporary Urban Experience. While I realize that this may sound like religious types trying too hard to sound cool (ala J.A.M. singers), the description seemed to suit us. Better yet, the sample of the music for this service really suited us. So, we went down to Qtopia to check it out. Qtopia appears to be some kind of night club on Hollywood Blvd that is used for more than one purpose. For instance, Jamie's friend from work recently had some art exhibited there. The outside walls were covered in graffiti, but we couldn't see any of the graffiti on the approach, because the wall was covered with a huge black plastic tarp. I'm guessing that the graffiti might have been offensive. Once inside, the place was basically just a warehouse, probably about twice as big as the old 12th street ubc building. The reason I think that it is still a functioning night club was because of the expensive lighting system in the ceiling that they were not making use of during the service. The room was full of green plastic lawn chairs, but not very full of people, though it was starting time. The band started up, led by Rich Ochoa, and the music was really, really good. Some songs were familiar, others were not, but were easy to catch on to. Slowly, the chairs started to get filled in around us until the whole place was pretty packed. So far, so good, right? But then people started talking. The language and the presbyterian formality that crept into the interaction seemed to miss the point of having an informal setting and guitar-driven worship. The sermon was short, which is an apparent requirement for this service. But a short sermon also misses the point of reaching its intended audience if it is filled with the religiosity that turns many of us off. All in all, the music was good, but the marketing of the rest of the service was confusing. It seemed to me to be a glorified youth group setting. I realize this sounds harsh, and I pray that they are effectively reaching some people, but we're going to keep looking. I wanted to ask the guys in the band where they would be going to church if they weren't leading here. Jamie and I did experience a very powerful and relevant message later that day, however, when we watched the movie 'Signs'. Wow, it was better the second time around.