Review

BICF is one of the oldest expat churches in town, and probably the largest. This is especially true if you consider their many satellite branches.

Pros:

1. Tends to be very friendly, and newcomers can easily plug in and find a home.
2. Well organized, when it comes to all things outside the worship service. Provides a host of activities for people to take part in.
3. Many, many service opportunities both in the expat community, in BICF and in the community at large. Anyone who wants to help, can, and the church encourages this.
4. Very diverse membership. If you couldn't find someone with whom you have a lot in common, that would be strange.
5. This could be a pro or con, depending on your point of view, but provides a contemporary worship style alternative in the city.

Cons:

1. Though very organized outside the service, the services themselves are not. Very difficult to sing unless you already know all the songs by heart, since no readable music is provided and the tune is lost in a sea of drums and guitar, with the worship team changing lines, backtracking or moving on with no warning.
2. Preaching is spotty at best. A variety of guest speakers mean that one week can be a relatively good, Biblically based sermon, while the next week may be taking Eastern meditation techniques and trying to pass them off as "prayer."
3. Man-centered in the extreme. For example, I recently heard a sermon at one of the satellite organizations concerning loving the Word. The upshot of the sermon was that we love it, not because we love the Giver, but because it makes us smarter than everyone else and good business people.