Asbury Church

Being a newcomer with a few months of attending: People are super friendly. I will bring guests of color. If we need help of any sort we will ask the armed security gaurd of color to assist us. I have seen Muslim children there who loved it. They will be coming back just for the fun. The children's area is very well developed. I think the free food ministry is handled by a Latino church that is embedded within Asbury. They are Very friendly and generous folks as well. The landscaping is a dream scape and professionally maintained. The full orchestra every Sunday is exquisitely presenting with a robed choir and I suspect a few professionals mixed in. Full production team on all audio video lighting sound very very well done. The contemporary musicians on second service at 11 are rock stars. Just go, sit and soak this place up for a while. Today was Christmas Eve candlelight service and they will repeat all day long and the big church bells ringing at midnight. Sermons are written in series with free guide books for at home study if you like. The professional chef and kitchen staff are likewise fabulous. Free sign language interpreters. All of that being said many of the congregants are driving in from remote locations. They don't necessarily represent the racial mix of nearby residents. It's going to be exciting to see that trend change. Everyone is welcome. Everyone. I have had to leave churches several times in the past for reasons that were essentially cruel selfish political money motivated downright sinful and unloving. It hurts the work of the Lord. That is why I will take a lot of effort to see that never, ever happens again. If anyone wants help with this just ask. I will help make it happen as it should to the best of my ability.

The Christmas Eve service tonight was a disappointing and disheartening experience. I was a member at Asbury in the days of Tom Harrison and Bill Mason, and this evening reminded me how much I miss their grace, kindness, warmth, and compassion. I grew up at Asbury and came back this evening for the first time in many years and felt insulted and belittled because, according to Andrew Forrest, I "do not have a belief system" because I'm not approaching Christianity and religion in the way he finds acceptable and correct. He stated that Christmas Eve services are many times filled with people who don't regularly attend church, and instead of speaking to these people (including myself) with tenderness and empathy, he grouped "us" all together and compared "us" to lost souls and sinners who are drinkers living empty and joyless lives. I did not feel that I was welcome at Asbury; I felt isolated, and I would imagine others like me may have also felt shame instead of feeling welcome and safe to come back to church. He also grossly misrepresented Matthew Perry - he spoke about his alcohol addiction and his desire to be famous but mentioned nothing about his charity work and the sober living facility he opened that helped men who struggled with addiction find their way to sobriety. He painted a picture of a man who was lost and a drunk and did not go any deeper and show compassion to a person who struggled, like we all do, but still did what he could to make a positive difference in the world and help others. I truly don't understand the goal of the message from Andrew Forrest tonight. If he wanted to praise the people at Asbury who don't drink and attend church every Sunday and make them feel superior to others, then congratulations, he succeeded. But if his goal was to create a safe and welcoming environment to invite people to find their way back God without shame and judgment, in my opinion, he failed miserably.

POC do not go to this church. It is not a safe space for you. They happily called the police on a black family waiting in the parking lot while waiting for their child to get back from camp. There were non black families also waiting in the parking lot but only one family was surrounded by security and police. There have been multiple posts/DMs addressing this to the church but they have not responded.

*Review of the food distribution. On the day I went I arrived about an hour and a half early and parked in the lot, I was later told I was in the wrong spot (there were no signs) so how was I to know. Distribution was 45 minutes late starting. I think it was a bit unorganized But it was free food! I am not complaining just telling my experience.

I attended church with my family from 2000 - 2015. I was actively involved and so was the rest of my family. I started attending another church because the Bible-based church had changed. Behind the scenes it wasn't practicing what it was preaching. I will leave it at that. I ran into someone that knew during the time I was attending Asbury and the couple encouraged me to give it another try. Asbury has a new pastor and I think you will be pleasantly surprised, so I gave another try. To say that I was impressed with Andrew Forrest would be an accurate statement. He is AMAZING. He is so PASSIONATE about the Bible and knows his stuff. He is there to share the TRUTH, not to candy-coat or turn the meaning of a scripture or any chapter or book of God's word into something that excuses those who "have ears to hear" to be anything but obedient to the commandments God gave us as a guide to live by in our everyday lives. The TRUTH coming from the pulpit is music to the ears. Asbury is headed in a great direction with Andrew Forrest as their TEACHER & COACH.

This church has changed dramatically. It's hard to fathom how a message with White Christian Nationalist undertones, shouted at a passive audience, is going to bring people to Christ. I never felt like I was in a political patriarchal church before last summer. Every Sunday I am reminded that I am no longer in a peaceful, loving space but an aggressive, authoritarian, borderline ANGRY space. 💔

The Christmas Eve service tonight was a disappointing and disheartening experience. I was a member at Asbury in the days of Tom Harrison and Bill Mason, and this evening reminded me how much I miss their grace, kindness, warmth, and compassion. I grew up at Asbury and came back this evening for the first time in many years and felt insulted and belittled because, according to Andrew Forrest, I "do not have a belief system" because I'm not approaching Christianity and religion in the way he finds acceptable and correct. He stated that Christmas Eve services are many times filled with people who don't regularly attend church, and instead of speaking to these people (including myself) with tenderness and empathy, he grouped "us" all together and compared "us" to lost souls and sinners who are drinkers living empty and joyless lives. I did not feel that I was welcome at Asbury; I felt isolated, and I would imagine others like me may have also felt shame instead of feeling welcome and safe to come back to church. He also grossly misrepresented Matthew Perry - he spoke about his alcohol addiction and his desire to be famous but mentioned nothing about his charity work and the sober living facility he opened that helped men who struggled with addiction find their way to sobriety. He painted a picture of a man who was lost and a drunk and did not go any deeper and show compassion to a person who struggled, like we all do, but still did what he could to make a positive difference in the world and help others. I truly don't understand the goal of the message from Andrew Forrest tonight. If he wanted to praise the people at Asbury who don't drink and attend church every Sunday and make them feel superior to others, then congratulations, he succeeded. But if his goal was to create a safe and welcoming environment to invite people to find their way back God without shame and judgment, in my opinion, he failed miserably.

POC do not go to this church. It is not a safe space for you. They happily called the police on a black family waiting in the parking lot while waiting for their child to get back from camp. There were non black families also waiting in the parking lot but only one family was surrounded by security and police. There have been multiple posts/DMs addressing this to the church but they have not responded.