Xueping Mosaic Church Cultural Immersion

June 3^rd

       Today, I went to Mosaic church with my friend Joyce for the first time.  This was also my first time to come into contact with a western church.  Before I came to the U.S, what I could imagine about a church was from movies: Dome design, used in the interior architecture of the buildings, and accompanying colorful roses at both sides of the windows create the overall solemn atmosphere of the church; romantic wedding as well.  However, when I drove to this church, it was totally different from my imagination.

       This is an international church, which is located in

418 Hayden RD, Tallahassee

. It seems that it is on the campus of FSU.  The lead pastor of this church is Mario Solari, who pioneered Mosaic Church and has served as the lead pastor since its inception in August 2007.  He has been married to his wife, Robin, for over 20 years and is a parent of three teenagers.  He moved to Tallassee in 1993 to plant Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship on the campus of FSU, a ministry that remains strong to this day.  Nearly five years ago, Mario felt stirred by the Lord to plant a new church that reaches the university and beyond.  He envisioned a place where young professionals, university students, and growing families would create a close-knit community that influenced Tallahassee closer to the heart of God; this vision has come to fruition with Mosaic Church.  

  

       We arrived at Mosaic Church a little later than their service started.  When I entered the church, people were singing the Christian song, How Marvelous How wonderful with a band.  This song made me suddenly feel the religious atmosphere and started to feel the inner peace and appreciation.  After we had sung it for 3 times, people started to greet with each other and communicate with some new friends close to them.  At that time, a usher, Branton, came to my son and I and talked with us.  He introduced himself to us and ask another lady to take my son to the Kids’ room, where the kids could listen to Bible stories.

       Then, people started to follow pastor Mario to learn Bible.  Most people had the book in their hands, some people use their IPhone or IPAD like me.  I searched http://bible.us/e/HWL and found the pages I should read. What interested me was the way that pastor preached in .  When Mario preached that people should challenge themselves in a good way, he explained it with his son for example, it was definitely not boring.  We read Mark 10 – 43 and Luke 7 – 36 together.  In this sermon, Mario focus on being responsible.  He inspired people to do the right things and not to let credit card control their lives.

       The whole service ended with people’s pray.  All the prayers looked very religious.

       When I went to look for my son to go back home, I found him in a kitchen in the church.  He had a lot of fun listening to the stories, playing some games with other kids and making a sweet cookie.  He was very excited to share his cookie with me.  Jessica was taking care of these kids.  She is a student at FSU.  We promised to keep in touch with each other. I like to make friends with people from different culture.  I believe that this was an impressed experience about different religions.