The experiences of visiting other churches are really interesting. On Sunday, October 13th in the morning I visited one of the churches near my house. I tried to call three different churches and finally I got a chance to go to the Chantilly bible church. In my imagination church was a big place with a tall ceiling, stained glass windows, huge piano and some priest that are wearing a rob, but it was not like that. The church was really small, but there were many people. Some of them were dressed up and the other one with a casual dress. The church was two levels, three rooms and a bigger gathering in the first level. When my husband and I entered the foyer one of the church members came towards us. His name was Matt Villalobos. As I talked to him I figured out that he was a pastoral who welcomed new comers. All church members carried a nametag that made it easy to recognize new comers. 

Mr.Villalobos said: "the Chantilly Bible Church met on January 7,1979 in a local school originally. They were members of Evangelicals. Like the other Evangelicals they believe in God, Jesus and Holly Spiritual. Their emphasis is to strengthen the families, working with youths and children to develop a strong relationship between members and Saviors, the Lord Jesus Christ. They have several programs for youths, children and women during the week." I personally saw their emphasis on the youths and kids. 

After talking with Matt, we went to the main saloon that was the biggest room of the church. The worship had started in 11:10 AM by praying in song and pastoral Milt Johnson gave a speech which was about "Being a Visitor Friendly Church" the speech was really interesting and he quoted part of the bible as he talked about the life style and how we see God and his mercy and love in our life. There was a huge TV set in the middle of the salon and he was using a remote control to change the bible quoted on the TV. He was wearing casual and plain cloths. Next part was "Worship Response" that was a company between pastorals and the members. Some of the members raised their right hand when they prayed. The unity and music were really interesting and tangible and made this experience more spiritual than physical. In the middle section, where preacher Johnson was speaking, some other pastorals were praying with other people and some of these pastorals were playing guitar and piano and several other instruments. 

The other remarkable issue about this church is that, they believe in family life and importance of family. There were many pictures of the members with their families on the walls. There was a hand made pictures that was made with some female's members and was dedicated to the church. This hand made was really plain and I could read a portion of bible was written on it. All the walls were plain without any pictures or statues of Jesus, which surprised me. There were about 80-100 people inside this saloon that contributed in the worship. The ceremony was over at 1:30 and Patrols Villalabos came to us (He already left us for the pastoral prayer) and thanked for visiting their church and gave me his phone number for further questions.

This experience was really interesting, because I am a Bahai' and I have never been in the Christian Church. The concentration on worship and family was the main issue that I observed. I found spirituality and peace in Church. The goal of this church was to bring love and unity among people. Unlike many Churches that concentrate on its outside look, this place determined on getting people together.

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