| rev:text
| - Central Christian appealed to me when I moved here 5 years ago, and for a time, I considered it my "church home" although I never became a member, but then my attendance decreased.
Central has exciting, contemporary worship in an accepting environment. It is a church where you can attend without working through all your "issues" with church. Everyone is welcome, no matter where they are on their faith journey. They have several locations - the satellite locations have such good screens that it really does feel like the pastor is right there. (And the music is live in the satellite locations, so it doesn't feel like you are gathering to watch tv.) I enjoyed attending in Henderson - there is something great about being there live and the energy of a large congregation, but I liked my local "campus" enough to usually go there. Also, the "first Wednesday" worship where people from all campuses attend, mainly for worship/music, was awesome.
Also, the child care/Bible study program for youth is great. My kids are young, but they have pagers, like PF Changs. They will page you during the service if your baby/toddler is crying - so you can finally relax and enjoy a service and not be worried about your kids.
Note - read the filtered reviews, which share some of my concerns. Why are these filtered?!
What it is not - (I found after attendance semi-regularly over a few years) - it is not in-depth Bible preaching. Pastor Jud Wilhite reads some Bible verses, ties them into the events of the day or a funny story about his family or a sports team or a tv show. It makes the Bible something we can relate to in daily life. But, to me, something about it was lacking. I like something more intellectual, historical, and meaningful. Central leaves deeper Bible study to the "small groups." I never attended those, because of time and family constraints. But I think to have a truly fulfilling experience at Central, you do need to go beyond attendance on Sunday. It is so large, and to make meaningful connections with people and get more into the Bible, you need a small group, not just Sundays. Also, the little movies they projected at the beginning of the service began to irk me. I felt like it was MTV at church. I don't need a soundtrack and an emotional story, or a funny song to get me engaged. The "production" became too much of a production for me, although I'm sure it has the best intentions. I would have preferred that time to be spent on something that felt less trendy and more spiritual - since that is why I went to church!
My biggest issue with Central is that I felt like the church was too into the fundraising and tithing. I have never attended a church that asked for money like this. I have always been to churches with a "give generously and what you can" approach. That said, Central has done awesome things in our community. I realize maybe I can't complain about the fund raising and yet rave about how Central has a great facility, feeds the hungry, and reaches out to everyone. I know the money is used, but I have a problem with this. They showed a video one Sunday of a woman saying she was living in her sister's garage with her kids, had no money, no car, but had a $300 tax rebate and tithed it to her church, and God provided for her and her life turned around. That was the final straw. I never went back to Central. I almost walked out after that video, actually. I was disgusted. Las Vegas is a community with a lot of people in need, especially with the unemployment and housing crisis here. I felt that instead of sympathizing with that, this church is trying to get more money out of every last resident who attends (even online), and not only do they want money, they want people who will give 10% of their income (or to feel guilty if they don't). I am sure many might disagree with me, but if you are living in someone's garage with your kids, I personally think God understands, and your church (if it is a good church) understands, that you need to get on your feet, not be lifting others up. Maybe this church has focused on further expansion over the well being its members or attendees, who helped it grow in the first place.
I still have fond feelings about this church. There is much to love, but enough that I dislike that I need to find a new church home.
As a note - I have a problem with an "open doors" church and then having a "recovery" group for same sex attraction. (Like their groups for alcohol/drug addiction or abuse survivors.) I saw a pamphlet for this and was annoyed. I am not gay but have gay friends, and this is very offensive to me. I thought this church was different. It is not.
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