Austin Church Search: EV Free

Austin’s First Evangelical Free Church meets in a beautiful campus on the southwestern edge of town.  We visited the “contemporary” service and the singles/young marrieds group.

Worship took place in a bright room with high ceilings and pew-like chair rows.  The music was tasteful Christian pop fare, punctuated with lots of prayer.

Pastor Rob Harrell spoke on the concept of Brotherly Love.  His teaching was a great combination of linear points with heart felt confession and stories.  Most impressive was his “commercial” for Austin Stone, another church in town, which was his example of Christians working together in brotherly love.  When was the last time you visited a church where the Pastor told you to go visit a different church?

I felt very welcomed at Impact, the young adults Sunday School class.  People were engaging, intelligent and curious.  People went out of their way to seek me out and engage me in conversation.  They also made the “next step” very clear, explaining when and where the next social event and small groups meeting.

On a side note, EV Free seems very concerned with Prison Ministry, which got three separate shout outs in their bulletin.

I really enjoyed making new friends at EV Free, and especially having a moment to pray with the pastor.  I would recommend it  for Christians looking for a place to worship and hit the ground running in service.