church

This morning, at a whim, I decided to go to the State College Presbyterian church on Beaver and Fraser.  I was raised Presbyterian, but haven’t spent much time within the Presbytery since coming to college.  My church at home is in the middle of an identity crisis, so even when I’m there it’s not the church I remember from my childhood.

I should tell you that Presbyterians are widely known for being very conservative in their approach to worship.  Many (probably most) Presbyterian churches still adhere to a very traditional Sunday service.  (In fact, those who don’t probably don’t consider themselves Presbyterian any more.)  The church in State College is no different; I busted out ye’ old hymnal for the first time in many years and enjoyed the very structured and familiar service layout.

The structure of Presbyterian worship isn’t the point of this entry.  The point of this entry is to convey my amazement at the worship service I experienced today.  By all modern standards, it was dull and boring.  There were no drums or tasty guitar licks.  There was a significant lack of face-melting pentatonic solos.  I didn’t catch a glimpse of Buddy the Elf or Conan O’Brien (not ragging on you Jon…just making an observation).  

I did, however, catch a glimpse of Jesus.  The service, as low-key as it was, was one of the more moving experiences I’ve had in a long while.  That’s due to several reasons…which I will now go into…

Reason number one:  hymns.  I would say on average, a hymn has about 10 times more meaning than a standard contemporary piece.  Hymns are not plagued by the fluffy, repetitious drivel (I know nobody says “drivel” anymore, but it’s really the best word I could find to convey my meaning) our modern Christian culture has grown to love.  Hymns were written by people with problems, which I like because I’m a person with problems.  More than that, hymns convey a message of hope for an imperfect world.  Singing “Blessed Be Your Name” at the top of my lungs may give me a warm feeling where I think my heart is, but the feeling is artificial.  Hymns provide the substance that justifies the warm feeling.

Reason number two:  the Apostles’ Creed.  This is one of the most powerful professions of faith you’ll ever hear.  It has denominational connotation, so most contemporary churches have done away with it.  I wish they hadn’t.  It’s an incredibly concise and powerful expression of personal belief, and when each member of the church speaks it out loud in unison, it’s the boldest assertion of Truth I’ve yet to hear.  It’s strange how something that seemed so trivial to me as a teenager has come full circle and proven to be remarkably important. 

Reason number three:  baptism.  I love Presbyterian baptism.  There’s no special service or dunking tank.  The water isn’t flown in from Israel or some other “sacred” place.  It comes from the sink…no joke.  A few years ago at my home church, one of the deacons forgot to fill the baptismal bowl before the service.  When it came time for the baptism, the pastor, finding the bowl empty, excused himself from the sanctuary, walked to the bathroom, and audibly filled the bowl from the faucet.  When he came back, the baptism continued, the soon-to-be baptized got three splashes in the face, one for the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that was it.  The service continued with the newly baptized an official member of the body of Christ.  It’s a very no-nonsense approach to baptism.

In fact, no-nonsense is probably the best way to describe my experience with the Presbyterian philosophy.  It’s worship at it’s mere form.  For those who recall, just yesterday I was whining about returning to Christianity at it’s mere form, and it seems less than coincidental that I made it out to a church this morning that offered just what I was hoping for.

The long and short of all this is that I’m planning on going back to the State College Presbyterian church on a regular basis.  For the time being, it’s definitely what I’m looking for in a church.  Plus, they have these sweet tablets of paper in the pews that say “Divine Doodles” at the top of each page.  Score one for the Presbytery.