Redeemer Presbyterian Church

I'd like to apologize for being a little late with my post on Redeemer. Going forward I'd like to do the review a little bit sooner after we go to a service, but I was really lazy this week and didn't get around to writing down my thoughts until now. Christian's post was fairly comprehensive, so I don't have that much to add except for some minor thoughts.

I liked Redeemer. Part of the reason for this, I suspect, is that the church seems to be geared towards people like me. By that I mean professionals in their twenties or thirties who may not have a whole lot of experience with Christianity and who might not feel totally comfortable just walking into a church.

Because the service was held in a college auditorium, I felt a lot more comfortable walking inside. It can be intimidating walking into a house of worship, especially when it's not for a religion that you are a member of or if you are like me and don't have a whole lot of experience going to any houses of worship. Since the service was in a college auditorium and filled with people my own age, it felt like I was back in college and was going to see a speaker on some random topic. While not all of Redeemer's services are at Hunter College, having that option made it a little easier to visit.

For the service itself, it seemed to me to be a fairly standard Christian service. The Eucharist, a reading of the Apostle's Creed and a reading of portion of the Bible all played a role and made it very difficult to mistake this for anything but a very Christian religious experience. The other members of our group, who were all more familiar with Christianity that I am, thought there was something missing. I was unable to pick up on that while I was there. Thought, I will admit that I know no more now about Presbyterianism and how it differs from other branches of Christianity then I did before I went to Redeemer.

I do agree with Christian that Dr. Keller's sermon would have worked just as well as a motivational speech without the religious components. It was partially because of this that I enjoyed it as much as I did. In my limited religious experience, sermons in any religion can often feel very forced and dull. I'd prefer a sermon with a coherent and interesting moral or life message to one that forces a connection to God and doesn't flow well. This is one of the few sermons that I have heard that was interesting enough that I would feel compelled to go back again just to hear another.

The events that Redeemer listed in their bulletin also seemed much more likely than a typical Church to draw me in. In addition to the more typical volunteer and counseling events, I noticed a number of professional and social activities that I would be interested in checking out, if only for the networking opportunities. Based on the size of the church, I would also imagine that many of these events get a sizable number of people. Perhaps that's not the best reason to join a religious group, but if the idea is to create a community, Redeemer seems a lot more effective in creating an environment that fits Manhattan professionals and caters to their needs.

Something that also probably draws a lot of people to Redeemer is the chance to meet someone of the opposite sex (I can't seem to find any reference to homosexuality on their website or in their materials so I don't know how accepting they are for people trying to meet someone of the same sex to couple off with). There were hundreds of people at the meet-up after the service and there seemed to be a lot of individuals that weren't in groups that were probably looking to meet people and make new friends.

In a city like New York, a place to meet relatively sane and well adjusted people in their twenties and thirties is very rare and is very much a good thing. Just based off numbers alone, I'm sure hundreds of people have met their significant others there and I wouldn't be surprised if there have been more than a few marriages that resulted from meetings at Redeemer.

Redeemer might not be for everyone, but it seems to succeed in its efforts to cater towards a specific demographic. If you are a member of that demographic (young professionals) and are interested in religion I would definitely recommend checking it out. At the very least, as I said above, the sermon is more interesting than most that I have seen.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church

I like my churches to look the part. I want to see crosses, iconography, paintings, statues, arches, stained glass, etc. I'm sure it has a lot to do with my Catholic background and now Lutheran adventures. So, I'll get that part out of the way: Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC does not look like a church because it doesn't have it's own building.

Adam and I had the pleasure of being accompanied to church this Sunday by two good friends. There we were, a Jew, a Roman Christian, a follower of Meher Baba, and a lapsed Catholic sitting in the Hunter College Auditorium, all chuckling like Middle Schoolers at the graffiti some college student had left on the back of a seat. Let's just say they didn't like calculus.

The auditorium filled quickly to what I imagined was a little over a thousand worshipers. According to pre-visit research, Redeemer gets around 1,000 people at each of it's five worship services on Sundays. Incredible numbers for New York City, I think.

Once the service began, it was clear that this was not the liturgical, traditional stuff I love. The worship leader barely mentioned that historically Christians celebrate the Epiphany around this time before moving on to songs of praise. The music, I must say, was beautiful and the worship singer was pretty amazing. After three songs, though, I was longing for the meat.

And that's what I kept waiting for. There were a few spots that reminded me that this was an actual Sunday service: the Offertory, the Apostle's Creed, proclaiming the mystery of faith. But, even the Sermon lacked the meat and potatoes I sought.

Tim Keller, the pastor of Redeemer, appeared minutes before the Scripture Reading, and disappeared soon after the sermon. The Scripture Reading itself was from Genesis 2, the creation of Eve. In his sermon, titled The First Wedding, Dr. Keller identified three things that are necessary for the success of marriage: An eye for idolatry, patience, and humility. He went on to give a rather captivating sermon, intelligent and, at times, funny.

Dr. Keller reminded me of the college professor everyone loves. I can see the appeal of going to a Keller service. The young professionals in the crowd seemed enthralled by him. But, for me, the sermon seemed like a motivational speaker's presentation. It was good, but you could easily remove the Scripture and still have a good speech. Although we did hear about God's humility and Jesus dying on the cross, I felt like it wasn't the center of the sermon. Maybe it was supposed to be, but I simply didn't hear it that way.

This was the very first Presbyterian service I'd been to that wasn't a wedding, so there's a lot I still don't quite understand about Presbyterianism and their theology. I wonder how much of the service reflected the theology.

I can say that I appreciate what Redeemer Presbyterian is doing here in New York City. They've managed to build a church for young professionals that seems to draw growing numbers and do a lot of good in our community. Their post-service fellowship had hundreds of attendees and their bulletin listed numerous groups and missions serving a wide range of individuals and needs. It really seems like a great place to find a spiritual home and it seems like many have found it there.

It was my first Sunday attending two services, my own and our Worship, Gotham! visit, and I look forward to many more to come. It always helps to bring friends along to share in the experience and bounce ideas off of afterwards.

So, if you're reading this and want to join Adam and I on our Worship, Gotham! visits, let us know. I've created an "Upcoming Schedule" box in the right hand column so that you can join us.

Worship with us!