New Age Orthodox Christianity?

I have just recently moved to Washington D.C. from New York City, and I have been in need for a new church. I have been attending and serving Hillsong NYC for the last 4 years, and I have had critiques of the church. From theological critiques to questioning their background logistics, I knew my time at Hillsong was over. I took my move as an opportunity to find a new church where I can make new connections and understandings within my faith and philosophy. 

Today, I visited a small church called: The Table Church. A friend back in NYC told me about it. The service was at a theater at 10:15 am, which was different than my typical Sunday serving from 12:00pm until 10:00pm. Being the new person at church can be stressful; it can be compared to being the new kid in class. Everyone knows each other, but you know no one. I was greeted and shown where to go. I was given a connect card, and a prayer card. I knew what these were. My past church had an entire volunteer team called the Welcome Lounge team, so it did not intimidate me. I feel that once you go to such a big church, dare I say a megachurch, for so long, smaller churches are simpler than they really are. I appreciated its size. The fact that it was at a small theater did not intimidate me either, knowing that Hillsong NYC has yet to attain their own venue and rents out the Hammerstein Ballroom. 

When I walked into the actual theater space, a Hillsong playlist was playing. I keep forgetting that Hillsong’s Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) is a global phenomenon. I walked in thinking that this church was going to be a watered down Hillsong. Which, in a way it was, and I hate comparing churches to Hillsong. All churches are different and I truly need to get out of the mindset of comparing my NYC church home to others. The Table's worship was beautiful; we even sang a Hillsong song, Who You Say I Am, which I obviously know all the words to. You learn every Hillsong song when you attend services. They rarely sing other CCM artists, but I get it--you know, branding and marketing. Hillsong is known for their propaganda. The sermon was not the typical Hillsong sermon. The pastor did not pull a scripture from one of Paul's letters and make an entire message about it. Instead, the pastor pulled many stories and scriptures from the Gospel and also intertwined some of Paul's writings. I have recently been analyzing the pattern of sermons by Hillsong pastors, and have gotten very tired of the typical Christian Moralism sermon every Sunday. I very much appreciated this sermon from The Table about giving. The congregation does not even pass buckets for tithes and offering, but instead you can give online or as you leave. People can drop off their offering by the door. 

However, I think the biggest twist was the communion. The churches I have been raised in and attended to have done communion on the first Sunday of each month. I would take the wafer and little cup of grape juice and swig it. It is simply only symbolism, unlike the Catholic faith. On stage, there was a table (get it?) with an actual loaf of bread and a chalice of grape juice. Yes, I said chalice. Before we took the elements, we had to read off a screen a short paragraph about how we are now confessing our sins. We then prayed, and got ready for communion. I walked down the few stairs from my seat, broke the bread, dipped it into the juice filled chalice, and walked back to my seat. I had trouble breaking the bread and I absolutely looked like an idiot. As I was tearing (or attempting to tear) the bread, the woman holding the plate said something along the lines of: may the bread be blessed as the body. But, do not quote be on that because I was so stressed about holding up the bread line because I could seriously not tear that thing. I then dipped the bread into the chalice, and the woman holding it said a very similar phrase about the grape juice. However, I could not hear her because I was so stressed about me dropping the bread into the chalice. 

After communion, we sang one last worship song, and the executive pastor made some last announcements about what is going on in the church. Apparently the lead pastor is moving to California, and they are on the search for a new one. Whenever I think of California and Christianity, I just think of carbon copies of Judah Smith (whom I love, and think is a great pastor and preacher don't get me wrong). It is just a Protestant stereotype for pastors going to California. Before we could exit, the executive pastor led a benediction. The service was then over. 

I walked out thinking: is this a new age orthodox church? While searching their website, I came across a list of Board of Trustees and Board of Elders. I am familiar with Orthodox Christian Churches having a significant hierarchy within the church. Not only that, but I had a heavy feeling that these particular traditions, confession, communion and benediction, can be seen as orthodox to outsiders, such as myself. Obviously, this is nothing compared to an Eastern or Greek Orthodox Church, but his church could have elements from the denomination. With the mixture of CCM, casual clothes, hierarchy and traditions, The Table Church could be a "New Age Orthodox Christian Church."