Skyway Church of the West Valley

I don’t normally believe in evaluating churches on Unilocal,but I felt compelled to provide a balance to other reviews. I have been a christian for over 30 years. I have been a part of over a dozen churches, and when i count all the churches I’ve visited in my life, i have been in probably 100. My wife and four kids (8 and under) have now been coming to Skyway for one year and I can honestly say there has never been a church I have recommended more than this one. I have never been around such a large concentration of people who have an intimate loving relationship with Jesus and Father God. I continue to baffle that a typical sermon by Pastor Greg can inspire and encourage everyone from new believers to the most mature followers of Christ (such as Christian authors and powerful evangelists who are members here). If you are looking for a church where God is not relegated to the back of the church, then come to Skyway. If you are looking for an encounter with God, then come to Skyway. If you are someone who judges something by its fruit not its appearance, then come to Skyway. If you feel like there has to be more to church, or more to Christianity, or more to God then what you’ve been experiencing… then come to Skyway. (and how’s this rare credential… both senior pastor and associate pastor have been together for 20 years, and are still on their first marriages)

My first impression of the Church was good. However when I tried to find the entrance I began to feel a little unsettled. As there was no signage so I just kind of followed the people. But then shortly into the service they asked for all those who are visiting to raise their hands from that point forward I began to feel more and more uncomfortable. Then they took a 15 minute offering and had everyone come forward to present their offering into a bowl that had tithe marked on it with another bowl that said offering. I do believe in giving but the way they take the offering I felt a lot of pressure. As a visitor these things made me and my wife feel uncomfortable. I can see the people love God. And the pastor is very passionate towards the Lord. His message was good. Towards the end they began to pray for people and as a visitor was felt uncomfortable again. I think this church is suited for someone who’s really into a deeply spiritual church but not someone who’s is a unchurched person trying to find the Lord. The service lasted just under two hours which I felt was a bit long.

We’ve gone for three weeks here. It is important for me for there to be a fair amount of worship, a diverse population, cohesive solid biblical teaching, a pastor that encourages people to love Jesus with abandon, which is why were created (and others as ourselves which can b challenging), and different ministries available ie women’s, men’s, outreach, marriage and healing seminars. It is also important for there to b «prophesizing» which is just christianese for declaring outloud Gods promises in order to encourage, edify and remind us.
The worship has variety– old hymns, contemporary and somewhat soulful gospel. I must admit I would like it if the worship wasn’t as constrained but I understand people are at different spiritual places and we all worship differently. The teaching by the pastor is easy to follow is relevant, is a fair amount and refers to scriptures often. So far we r pleased with this pastor and church and will continue to attend.

We were there for an hour before we got up and walked out, and they had not started a sermon yet (not sure they were ever going to). They were singing and making announcements the whole time. They had a bunch of people come to the front that needed prayer, and then the Pastor started yelling «Jesus» over and over again. The worship leader would sing a verse of the song and then laugh all weird like he was possessed. At one point they had everyone in the room hold hands and sing together. People in the crowd were moaning and yelling all loud during the songs and speeches. They were talking about prophesying and speaking in tongues. When they took the offering, they said this WEIRD prayer while everyone who was giving money held their envelopes up…
I have never even thought about getting up and walking out on a church service before but I was the one that had us leave.