Secret Church – Good Friday

What’s secret church?

In many countries, hostile to the Gospel, Christians are persecuted for their faith. If found out, they’ll be imprisoned, tortured, or killed. The only opportunities these brothers and sisters have to fellowship, encourage, and learn from one another and the Word is through the network of homes, apartments, and hidden places that make up the secret church. Despite the risks, these Christians worship, study, and pray for hours, with steadfast devotion that is humbling.

The Church at Brook Hills (Birmingham, AL) offers Secret Church as its take on home church. Secret Church is a time of in-depth Bible study and prayer for persecuted Christians. Studies are led by Dr. David Platt, lead pastor and author of the Radical book series, who covers a lot of ground over 4 to 6 hours, leaving attendees wanting more. Secret Church helps attendees to know God and prepares them to make disciples of Christ in all nations.

The secret is out!

Offered since 2006, Secret Church isn’t so secret anymore. While Brook Hills is no small church, this periodic event is a hot ticket selling out quickly. Beginning on Good Friday 2011, LifeWay began simulcasting the event expanding the home church experience to homes across the globe. Secret Church is also taped and then translated into several languages and distributed throughout the world.

Brook Hills Ticket Information

Tickets for the Friday, April 18, 2014 Secret Church at The Church at Brook Hills go on sale at 9am on January 13, 2014 and usually sell out within the hour.

• Tickets are $7 and include your study guide for the evening
• Tickets are non-refundable
• Tickets are only available through the Secret Church web site http://www.secretchurch.org/
• The day of ticket sales a link will be provided to purchase tickets
• If not able to attend live, plan to join the simulcast.

Simulcast Information

Secret Church will again be simulcast in partnership with LIfeWay Christian Resources. Small group and church simulcast participants will receive the same program materials as are provided at the live event.  Register on the Secret Church Simulcast site by March 1 for discounted program materials.

While nothing can compare to being there, God will be wherever you are.  Having participated in the live event and via simulcast, we find both to be uplifting and enriching.

The Secret Church Experience

My husband and I have wanted to attend a Secret Church meeting for several years however they sell out very quickly not to mention it is an out of town venture for us. We finally had an open weekend and were blessed enough to acquire tickets.

The event began at 6:00pm so we decided to arrive around 4:30. We were pleasantly surprised that the church doors were open and we were able to wait inside the lobby until the sanctuary doors opened at 5:15. The lobby had several seating areas though as time drew near, there wasn’t a patch of carpet that didn’t have someone camped out waiting for the doors to open. The church staff and members work the event and were very friendly and helpful. They even offer free coffee.

Once the doors were opened we were able to get seats as close as we wanted. Most seats in the sanctuary are good from an audio/visual perspective. Although you have to be very careful of the camera stands – try not to sit behind them. If you do arrive late you will be watching via TV in an overflow area right outside the sanctuary.

The event begins with Praise and Worship by the talented Brook Hills band. This lasts about 20 minutes and then the teaching begins. Each teaching segment is about an hour or two with a 15 minute break in between.

The Secret Church meeting is a total of six hours but I must confess that my husband and I sat riveted in our chairs. Even though we were suffering from the time zone difference we felt like we could have listened for hours longer. Everyone told us that Pastor Platt would go longer than midnight and he did go over by about 15 minutes.

Helpful Hints

1. Arrive Early – no later than 4:30pm central time
2. Bring a snack – we brought sandwiches and waters (there is no food allowed in the sanctuary but we kept our cooler in the car and since we arrived early we were right by the doors)
3. Bring a good pen and pencil
4. Bring money for an offering
5. Leave your phone in the car – focus all your attention on what is being discussed and do not be tempted to check your phone/text/twitter
6. Do not sit behind the camera stand
7. Make good use of the breaks for restroom time – the shortest lines are the restrooms near the front entrance. They convert the men’s rooms into women’s restrooms so there are twice as many available.
8. If you are from out of town make sure you get a local hotel room – make a weekend of it and then head back to the Church at Brook Hills for Sunday service.

For more information or to access past Secret Church videos, visit www.secretchurch.org and their website for Disciple Making www.DiscipleMakingIntl.org

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