Greater Nashville Church
Greater Nashville Church, a non-denomnational church in Nashville
3646 Murfreesboro Pike
Antioch, TN 37013
Sunday Service: 10:00am
The Greater Nashville Church is a musically talented church focusing in on relationships. It is fairly visible from Murfreesboro Pike in Antioch, Tennessee. It’s fairly unassuming on the outside however once inside there’s no mistake it’s the church.
Once inside one sees a Christmas tree, coffee / cookie stand, and the sanctuary entrance. The lobby is standard fare. People were standing but no one was going in. I wasn’t sure if the sanctuary was open to enter but eventually people went in and so did I.
Once inside it looked like a standard sanctuary but with an abundance of purple seats. Yes. Purple. But the purple cushioned seats were some of the most comfortable seats I’ve ever sat in my entire lifetime which is as of this writing 49 years. Eventually the countdown appeared on the big projector screens at the front as well as musicians on the stage to start worship at this non-denomnational church in Nashville.
As the music worship segment started, there was a clear separation between the musicians and the band. The band was on the left of the stage, musicians on the right, barely any interaction between the two. Some songs were called to be sung in parts. The room was oddly spaced out with people in the left upper wing, rear, and sides but not many in the center which actually ended up leaving the 4-person worship team fairly visible. After 2 Christmas themed songs and 1 standard worship tune, the team left the stage and another speaker came.
The main speaker appeared to speak on the book of Acts but opened with a verse from Ephesians. He spoke a bit about new leadership posts being filled in a few weeks. This is where it got interesting – he referenced the Church of Christ / ICOC but didn’t come out and say they were COC/ICOC.
As I recall, COC/ICOC believed in no musical instruments, you have to be baptized immediately upon salvation, etc – I didn’t hear any of those tenets so I was unclear if I had stepped into a COC / ICOC. To be clear, COC / ICOC doesn’t consider itself a denomination so this still counts as a non-denominational church even if they are COC / ICOC. It then transitioned to a missionary testimony segment.
The missionary speakers spoke of going overseas to Latin American countries. They were making a point to connect the overseas trips to the local churches by referencing people overseas who had visited their local congregation. The servicing being made here seemed to be in reference to “relationship” and to show how the whole point of the missions was to build relationships across their particular network of churches from locally hosting certain people to people being on stage – and then being seen overseas during missions trips retreats, and conferences. Then the main speaker came back out.
There was another segment by the main speaker talking about the book of Acts. It was an interesting split of message, testimonies, then message. The whole ‘we are connected to a greater group of churches and foster relationships with them’ seemed to be the servicing happening here. As a first time guest I was pretty lost but it was important to them this hour service the need to inform and show practical applications of this fact. This segment flowed into the worship song “Here I am to Worship” and communion.
The other segments included communion which was preceded by a 20-30 minute testimony by a member about how he came to Nashville for music, serves in the church, and never took an official job with a recording studio but had worked for them for years. Communion eventually followed about 20-30 minutes later with hour-glass communion elements. I didn’t get one initially but a member air-tossed me one which I thought was awesome in-and-of itself. I’m all for the air toss. There was no clear direction on the taking of the body and blood of Christ other than to take it at your own pace. It was followed by the giving segment and then announcements.
After communion there were announcements. They included a cookie exchange, men’s gathering – which was the first mention of inviting non-members to a function (there was no alter call or attempt to reach the lost or first time people who may have encountered the Holy Spirit, just this.), honoring of two people with bibles, and while never fully explained, a “restoration” recognition / ceremony for someone who had returned to something.
But returning from what? It was unclear at least to me what he had left let alone what he had returned to but much of this session was servicing their church family and probably unfortunate for a first time visitor. One is left to wonder if this individual simply stopped coming to church or was restored from a severe sin and removed from office. But before one could figure it out it was time for…another song.
The service concluded with another song and dismissal. This was definitely a different experience as I’m still unclear if this was a Church of Christ / ICOC church, what transgression the restored individual committed (did he abuse a child or simply just stop coming to church? – the term “restoration” usually implies a fall of some kind from a position / office of the church. ), and why two young people were being honored with bibles. That’s the challenge with family servicing church services such as giving, mission-vision-values, vision casting, etc. First time visitors are left to fill in the blanks – as I was at this non-denomnational church in Nashville.
