Welcome

"Father be with me," Chase prayed softly as he shut off the engine, looking up at the building that was the Greater Faith church. While he'd finally slept a solid five hours the previous night, he suspected that was more likely due to being dead on his feet rather than the vanquishing of his re-occurring nightmare.

His visit the previous Sunday to the Harvest of Christ church hadn't gone great. The service had been nice enough, but the music had lacked the passion and energy that he'd been looking for. Plus he'd felt a fair bit like an outsider, with people talking in low voices around him and pointing in his direction a fair few times. All things considered, he was really hoping that this Sunday went better.

He as he drew near entrance, he noticed that it was made up of two glass doors, reminding him of a grocery store entrance, only that these opened outwards instead of sideways, and were opened manually. As he looked to the two men who had opened the doors, he was taken aback to see that they were, in fact, two teenagers. Still as they looked at him, they smiled and greeted him.

Chase nodded back, waving slightly in response and walked in, wiping his feet off slightly on the provided rug by the doors. He saw that their foyer was much smaller than his old church's had been, another that certainly wasn't a bad thing. Instead of there being several couches and chairs, there was merely a small concession stand with two metal coffee dispensers and a stack of styrofoam cups next to creamer and sugar.

Chase glanced down at his watch. The website had claimed that the service started at 10:30, and by his watch it was now 10:36 and the hallway was still packed. That alone made him smile. Granted, his watch may have been a couple minutes fast, but he couldn't picture pastor Alexander permitting them to start five minutes past the alleged starting time.

He looked around and found something he immediately liked. His clothing was not out of place here. Many walking around sported jeans and t-shirts or simple button-ups. A few wore some nicer clothing but most were extremely casual. In fact, as Chase looked around he couldn't see a single jacket and tie on anyone. It made him feel more secure in sporting a pair of cargo pants and a Green Lantern hoodie. In his old church, he was the preverbal sore thumb. Here, he was just like everyone else.

As he glanced ahead, he saw a large room filled with a half-dozen or so rows of chairs and noted subconsciously that they seemed much more comfortable than the wooden pews that he was used to. He made his way into the room, and glanced around, trying to find an area that wasn't too crowded. While he glanced about, he noticed something else that made him smile. This congregation consisted a lot of children, many of whom being still under the age of ten.

Sure, it meant that there was a fair bit of shouting and excitement, but it also added a feeling that took him several long seconds to put a name to. Earnestness. These people were, just that, people. They had children who were rowdy. They had jobs, lives and managed to gather here to give worship and praise once a week. It made him hopeful. It made him happy.

As Chase decided to move around and find a seat he wanted to strike for, he was intercepted by a couple who appeared to be in their early or mid-twenties. The man had brown hair and green eyes, whereas the woman had dark hair and blue eyes. As they approached him, Chase saw the matching wedding bands around their ring fingers, and smiled politely.

"Hey there," said the woman, holding out her hand to shake his. "I'm Miranda, this is Peter."

Chase took her hand and nodded softly.

"Chase Martin," he said.

"First time here?" Peter asked, grinning brightly.

"Yes," said Chase, feeling far more relaxed once that particular issue had been addressed. "I used to attend somewhere else, but I'm looking for a bit of a change."

It didn't explain everything, exactly but it was true enough.

"Well welcome then," said Miranda. "Peter and I head our healing prayer ministry, we've been coming here for a couple years now. You're welcome to sit with us if you like."

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that."

They led him to their section and sat down next to a woman with slightly darker skin, who turned and smiled at the couple, and then at Chase.

"Well hello there," she said, her voice carrying the slightest trace of a Mexican accent. "I'm Maria, Peter's mother."

"I'm Chase," he said, shaking her hand too, mentally noting that this past minute contained more physical contact than he normally had in a week.

Peter opened his mouth to ask Chase something, but as he did so, a young man picked up a guitar and started strumming animatedly, which was apparently a call-to-action the likes of which Chase had never known.

Every single member of the congregation stood up and began clapping along, which Chase dutifully followed along with. He could feel the thud of the subwoofer going out along with the bass guitar and drums, which sent a wave of pleasure and excitement through him. Whatever else this place might not have it had at least two good things going for it: friendly people, and good music. The musician on stage continued strumming, adding in slide fillers and quickly solo licks between lines or verses. Chase had never played an instrument himself, but he loved listening to music and made a point to understand what made someone a skilled artist, and many of the people on the church's stage were very skilled.

What made it all the more impressive was the apparent mental link they shared, given that Chase recognized a couple of the songs and they didn't follow the exact structure, jumping back to the bridge a second time instead of going all the way through. He would've suspected them of having practiced it that way, except that he once caught the wrong set of lyrics going up on the screen, which meant that the media team had been left somewhat in the dark as to this change in progression.

Nevertheless the performance was solid, with the lead singer stirring the crowd up into something of an organized frenzy. All around him people were throwing up their hands and shouting out, giving thanks and praise, even weeping openly, without a care who was around. And in their moment of wild abandon, Chase felt his own heart caught up in the presence of God that echoed through the building.

He closed his eyes, and lifted up his hands, reaching out to his heavenly father, and he could feel hot tears on his cheeks as he let the words echo in his head, a prayer to God. His thoughts vanished as his heart took up the call, and he called out, smiling broadly through the lyrics and the tears.

As the song came to a close, people through the room began clapping and cheering. However, Chase felt that the applause wasn't only for the performance of those on stage, rather it was the joyful, exuberant calling of people who were feeling emotions beyond the grasp of simple words. It was a joy and a completeness that were not achievable by anything in life, and just for a moment, all his worries, his stress and his sleeplessness did not exist. There was nothing but God hugging his children, and that was everything.

Eventually the clapping subsided, and the worship leader smiled at the crowd.

"Why don't you greet someone around you? Fist bump or high-five someone."

Chase turned and clasped Peter's hand and the other man smiled broadly at him and tapped the side of his nose knowing, which made him feel for a moment that Peter could read his mind. However, the feeling soon passed and Chase found himself shaking hands with what felt like every individual person in the building.

Eventually, everyone returned to their seats and the pastor got up to speak.

"Amen, amen," he said, speaking into a cordless microphone.

Chase figured the man's voice was supposed to be echoing through the speakers, but it wasn't. This confused him for a long moment, and apparently he wasn't the only one, as moments later, the pastor stared down at the microphone, flipping it over and squinting at it, as if it were a set of instructions written in another language. Seconds later, a young girl with bushy brown hair came up from the sound booth in the back with a pen in hand, swiftly taking the microphone from the man and touching it for a moment before returning it.

"Testing, testing…" said the pastor, who was now properly echoing through speakers as he smiled sheepishly. "Well, praise God."

Several people chuckled softly, Chase among them.

"God help him," someone to his left said, just loud enough to be heard over the laughter.

The pastor went through a list of announcements, including the church mission which Chase had read online, and approved of. However, his mind trailed slightly to pick up on an interesting fact. None of the children were acting out. Oh sure, there was a baby somewhere towards the back that was crying slightly. However, no one seemed angered or expected the child to stop as he'd grown used to in larger churches.

However, all the kids who had been running around and playing were simply sitting and listening, or else speaking in hushed undertones to their parents or grandparents. This lasted until the very moment that they were dismissed for children's church, when the calm broke and the flood of children rushed towards the large double doors, pushing to get them open.

There was something pure in their excitement, and Chase couldn't help but feel admiration for the adults who oversaw them through the service. He'd never really known what to do where children were concerned. After all, adult conversation was impossible enough for him, and they were reportedly functional human beings.

The pastor waited until all the children had left the room before beginning his sermon. He was preaching on the importance of boldness and the paralyzing power that fear held over people. Chase had to admit, he liked the man. Pastor Thompson had an earnestness and simplicity to him that made him seem sensible, but also accessible. It was a fair cry from the distant, uncaring feeling he'd come to associate with pastor Alexander.

Part of it was the man's clothing. William Thompson wore a nice button-up shirt with jeans and sensible shoes. He had no tie and didn't sport a suit jacket and in doing so seemed far more like a man you could sit and enjoy a meal or conversation with, instead of an uptight judgmental man.

Chase sat taking notes and by the time they were dismissed, he felt confident in his new church home. He began filling out his contact information on a card he'd been handed on the way in while talking to Peter and Miranda. Somehow the conversation had gotten into Chase's recent life, and he confessed his sleep issues to the couple. At that, Miranda smiled and nudged Peter softly.

"I understand where you're coming from," she said, looking pointedly at Peter. "I was an insomniac for almost my whole life, until a couple years ago."

Peter almost imperceptibly shook his head when Miranda pressed on his side again.

"I don't know if…" Peter began.

"Why not?"

"It's been a while sense I…"

"No reason not to try."

"But what if…"

Chase stood there in utter confusion as they spoke in half sentences with one another, apparently not needed to fully voice their thoughts in whatever disagreement this was. While Chase still had no idea what it was over, Peter eventually gave in and sighed.

"Chase," he said, looking him in the eye. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to pray with you and I'd be amazed if you don't get some sleep tonight."