imago dei

I think the hardest thing about moving is going to be finding a new church community. No two churches are gonna be the same. I remember it took us a while before we found Overland Park AOG and even longer before we felt connected. I decided to start immediately on this search for a new church and visited Don Miller's Imago Dei which is right down the street from my house.
Imago Dei meets at a local high school for services at 9 and 11. It's a huge congregation of at least about 1,000. Suits and slacks look like they are forbidden since everyone wears jeans. Most of the people there were young adults between 20 to 40. Many looked like they were married with small children.
The church claims it is a post modern church with many booths that are set up for various environmental and social causes. Other booths sell books (Don Miller's complete works) and CD's of musicians that attend the church. I attended Pastor Rick's sermon that I found pretty interesting and relevant. He was a good speaker. The music was pretty good too and they even played a Violet Burning song for worship.
After worship I checked out their children's ministry which is located in the preschool section of the school. The children's minister was very friendly and said they took the security of small children very seriously. In fact, you can't even get into the preschool without a pass and a picture of your child. The minister explained that they strongly emphasize Biblical teachings the whole year round. The preschoolers go into a room with various stations where the teachers interact with them. There is a strong emphasize in arts and crafts there.
Apparently you meet people through Home Communities which are through out the week and are throughout the whole city of Portland. I was given a complete book of these Home Communities and told to call a few that are near where I live.
On top of the Home Communities, there are Connection groups that connect you with people of similar interest. They have a surfing group that get together and surf monthly, a Mars Hill group, automotive group, Outdoor group and even a social worker group.
They also have a Missional communities that work with pregnancy, elderly, homeless, AIDS, and even the Ronald McDonald House.
If you dig the arts, they have communities with songwriters, writers, a film and faith group, literature group, photography, graphic design, film makers, dance, and architecture groups.
It looks like this church has something for everyone, but the size is overwhelming. I think I'll try a few home community groups and see how they go.

Yesterday I decided to see my new home. It is located in an older section of town with a lot of old style homes. In fact, no two houses looked the same. Most of the homes in the area are built on smaller lots than in KC. My house happens to be the only ranch style home around. Most of the homes are two stories with a huge porch. About a block away, I found a babysitter that sounds too good to be true. She quoted me a rate that was cheaper than what I was paying in KC. She was definitely a Christian and said she was praying for a family like us to move in. She said that she currently watches a girl Woogy's age.
The plan now is for Wah-Wah and the kids to fly in Weds night, then on Thursday, my parents will pick them up and take them out to the new house for a tour and meet with the babysitter. Wah Wah will of course check some references out on the babysitter first. Wah-Wah will then go to Newport with my parents for a week until the house is ready to move into.