New Covenant Presbyterian

This is a blog I am a little nervous about writing. But, here I go anyway...

Nathan and I have been looking for a new church ever since we were booted out of our last one for reasons stated in the Forgiveness blog. If you want the gory details on that story, however, you're looking in the wrong place...I'm tired of telling that story!

So anyway, since last March we have only seriously "courted" two churches. One was in Savannah, and one was in Hinesville. As you may imagine, we are not what you would call "ready" to marry a church. What we do want, however, is to be obedient to God's command to worship with believers. Needless to say, corporate worship has been more of a matter of obedience than desire for about a year now.

We are not looking for a perfect church, because 1) one does not exist and 2) if one DID exist, we could not be a part of it, imperfect as we are. We have been looking for, however, a church with solid doctrine and genuine people. Proximity of no farther than 20 minutes away would be a plus, but not necessary if we could find relevance, strong doctrine and genuine people all in one place.

Now, if you are reading this blog and have been or are members of the church in Savannah or Hinesville (if you are, you'll know) please don't be offended by the following sentiment: We have found that many of the churches in Savannah totally miss the mark. A church may be contemporary but lack depth, or be traditional and also lack depth. Most lack warmth all together. We have often lamented the lack of spiritual depth in this area, and have prayed for God to send missionaries here. We have encountered the same spirit in many churches. It is a spirit that says, "This is what we do, this is how we do it, and that's that."

What is incredible to me is that traditional and contemporary churches seem to have the same problem. They SEEM to be more interested in "how" they want to proclaim the scriptures than in actually proclaiming the scriptures.

For instance, in one church the pastor proclaimed from the stage that they do things loud and fun, and they would NOT turn in down. The only problem that presented to us was the issue of the strobe lights. Since I have epilepsy, that church was out. That's too bad. Thousands of people in the Savannah area have epilepsy and will therefore be prevented from hearing the Word of God at that church. And the attitude of "we will NOT change, even for YOU" does not denote love.

At another church, a main leader lives a different life on Facebook than in church. Now, don't get me wrong, I think people take social networking way too seriously! But if leaders of a church actually have to post on their Facebook pages that the thoughts and views expressed on their page are not the thoughts and views of the church, there is a double standard. We are to be the same no matter where we are. And the way I understand scripture, that applies all the more to church leaders.

So, anyways, we decided to visit a totally new denomination for us as a couple, the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA). This made us nervous because of some doctrinal differences (which are minor, and definitely not deal-breakers. We do have a list of deal-breakers, but the PCA does not conflict with that list) and MAJOR style-preference differences (also not deal-breakers).

But can I tell you that we walked away from church last night feeling a little confused? What were we confused about you may wonder. Well, how is it that we could not slip in and slip out unnoticed? I mean, people actually SPOKE to us, and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Weird. We almost did not know how to talk to people. We have never been spoken to so much in church, even when Nathan was on staff.

Not only that, the pastor was out of town so he had his best friend fill in. When we heard that, we expected to see "Billy Bob" in his plaid shirt and straw hat, all prepared to share "what ever was on his heart." But no, the pastor's best friend is an ordained, educated pastor from South Carolina who came all the way to Coastal Georgia to assist in--get this--the mission work of New Covenant Presbyterian in Coastal Georgia. What? You mean the Word of God is treated with respect? You mean the person teaching the Word is actually trained to rightly divide it? And the church plant is considered mission work? You mean you don't suppose that the Deep South is already reached? Where WERE we? Certainly not in the sticks...certainly not in an area where the SBC does not have any new work going...(we called the association and asked, trust me when I say there is nothing new)

The message was out of I Corinthians 1:18-25, about the wisdom of man versus the wisdom of God. It was SO relevant to where we are right now. We deeply appreciated intelligent handling of the Word, combined with practical application. The guest pastor made some points that struck a chord with us. One was the "wild" notion that the biggest, best band (you know, all the new, contemporary styles) are not what will reach the people. What will reach the people is the truth of the Gospel. Then there was the statement, "We are called to preach the Good News, not to edit it." He admonished us to go out and live our lives as Christians, share the Word everywhere we go, sow the seed everyday, and leave the increase to Him. Wow. So simple, yet so powerful, and so true.

Now, lest you forget, we are firm Southern Baptists. We are used to loud bands, a little shouting now and then, a meet and greet, and an invitation (usually something especially touching that the band played after the meet and greet, or else a trusted hymn such as "Just As I Am" or "Softly and Tenderly"). So the solemnity and reverence in the Presbyterian service is new to us. Nathan said the Presbyterian service made him think of TV, with a show playing and constantly interrupted by commercials. He meant the order of the service with the liturgy and the payers and sermon. We both agreed that the prayers seemed like mini-sermons, the liturgical recitations and readings like commercials, the sermon was the heart of the program, and finished by more commercials. We laughed at the analogy. We figure the Southern Baptist traditions could be analyzed the same way.

But will you permit me to say that it was refreshing? To be in a place where God's Word is so highly respected, yet the people so incredibly warm and inviting? There was no slipping in and out unnoticed at New Covenant. And there were no notes passed between Nathan and I during the sermon debunking the pastor's opinions with the Truth of Scripture, or worse yet, filling in the gaps of a poorly prepared sermon. What we saw and heard was the Gospel Truth, and the Gospel action. The wheels in my head and heart are still turning...

Does that mean we are ready to jump into the new member's class? No, certainly not yet. But for once in what seems like forever, we are genuinely interested in a local church. We do not feel an obligation (strongly laced with skepticism) to return. We are actually interested.

We know that the problems we have seen in Baptist churches exist everywhere. We seem, as Christians in general, to fall into the trap of thinking that we have already arrived in our spiritual journeys and consequently become puffed up with self-righteousness about all of our knowledge and "right" behavior. Whether a person is proud because of how solemn and intellectual their worship is, or because of how contemporary and fun it is, pride in ourselves is sin. So let me reiterate: we are not looking for a perfect church. One does not exist.

But I have to admit. We are both very interested in this one particular (and peculiar) local body.