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.
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I went there in college with a friend not knowing what to expect. It's a mega church in Manhattan is all it is. I was dismayed by the lack of diversity. You can sum up the diversity in four words: young, white, asian, professional. You can't judge a book by it's cover, but everyone there was very well dressed, so I imagine few poor working class people in the crowd. I wish there was more of a range, with elderly and families with children present. I also found the sermon to be Christianity-lite. But that probably appeals to the young crowd.
ReplyDeleteJust a comment for Stephen --
ReplyDeleteRedeemer is not trying to be a regional church, but a neighborhood church. While we do get some people coming from longer distances--we are seeking to reflect the demographic of our neighborhood, Upper East and Upper West side Manhattan. At this point, Redeemer inside comes pretty close to the media age and ethnic make up of the folks that live in our immediate surroundings.
-- A Redeemer staff member
It took me a bit of time to warm up to Redeemer. After visiting MANY churches, I felt that Redeemer was one of the few that were catering to city needs, justice issues, specific communities with small groups for them, and they are really great at creating leaders. For instance, they have a Hope for New York department where I can go to volunteer any day of the week with partner organizations. It is AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteOut of Hope for New York came MANY other programs, such as Restore NYC, which is an organization that cares for victims of sex trafficking! They are trying to build NYC's first safe house and they are having a fundraiser on October 26th at Symphony Space. Where else but Redeemer would you have Broadway singers volunteering their talent!? It is really awesome.
Their music is out of this world. It is a big church, but it is easy to meet people.