Bethany Baptist Church

A few weeks back, I walked up to the front door, but it was locked at their advertised Sunday School time. (OK, I was 5 minutes late). I walked around to the back and on my way in I see two guys showing each other their handguns. Turns out one of them was the pastor! Anyway, I am greeted by one cowboy guy who looked me up and down like I was there to rob the place. I told him the front door was locked and he told me it was for security purposes. A church with it’s main door locked on Sunday Morning? Wouldn’t want to let the rabble in!\r \r OK, so I move on anyway. Then I get to the service and there's some decent upbeat music playing. I'm like, good start. But then the pastor (the guy with the gun, they called him Pastor Don) is in the back with some poor guy, dragging him back to the sound booth yelling ""turn off that black music!"" I'm sure the guy would have yelled back if the pastor wasn't packing heat!\r \r So it turns out the guy he was dragging was the music guy cuz when the service starts, he's up there leading the songs. \r \r Freaky place, I had to get out. I stayed for the music. The music guy wasn't bad, not the best voice but it wasn't supposed to be a concert, right? The music was very smooth though, they did the best job I've seen at getting from song to song. Overall, the worship music was powerful. But when I saw the armed pastor taking the pulpit, I wasn't about to stick around.\r \r Thinking about going here? Give it a miss. \r \r And BTW, the glowing review above from ""DontheBaptist"" was probably written by that gun-toting ""Pastor Don"" who hates ""black music"". more

Wow, sorry but this church really is a real church; Don't quote me, but the candlelight service was excellent; Thank you for the excellent singing and word by the pastor. The heaters on the sides of the church were the small distraction. When the congregation with candles ringed the church that was really kind of old fashioned which reminded me of growing up in a small town-feel kind of experience. Also, the men's group on Saturday morning was very in-depth. Experienced a water baptism by viewing there and that was great also more

I wanted to rate this trainwreck of a church with zero stars, but the site would not let me. This church was literally a blend of Baptist and Church of Nazerene, complete with two pastors from the two denominations performing the service! If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'. It got even better with the electric guitar and drum set plus the overhead projector with PowerPoint show that you only see in about 1,000 of these ""community center"" churches in Colorado Springs. The best part was the song leader had 4 hot women ""back up singers"", dressed like Tina Turners group, only their dresses were too short for Tina's stage show! The wierdest part was when the two preachers (!) re-married a couple that had already been married 11 years and had two grandkids that looked to be 5 or 6 years old. The claimed their original pastor ""forgot to send in the marriage paperwork"". I guess the direct children had kids starting at age 7. You may think I'm kidding, but this is all true. It was so strange that if it had not been for the pews, I would have thought I walked into a Soap Opera rehearsal. One positive point, the sermon was typically forgettable as most are for ultra-contemporary churches, but they had a very nice set of slides (with pretty moving clouds on each slide) on the overhead that totally distracted the congregation. I half expected a man on stilts to come walking through and someone to yell ""Peanuts, get your peanuts before the lion tamer show!"". Pros: Good if you like a circus Cons: too many to list more

If you're ""tired"" of being a face in the crowd on Sunday morning church, try this place - Bethany Baptist Church. Friendly people, lots of space and everything's paid for! Oh...you'll get a Biblical-accurate message along with lots of hugs and handshakes. Pros: Plenty of Parking, people that care about YOU and no judgmentalism. Refreshing! Cons: May not fit those who want contemporary worship on Sunday AM. more