First Presbyterian Church

(Read my disclaimer here.)

            The fourth church I visited was First Presbyterian Church. I immediately noticed that the people were quite friendly helping me find my way to the sanctuary, and making sure to introduce themselves when I asked for help. In fact, at the end of the service, one of the members actually recommended a Baptist church for me to try when she heard I was a Baptist.

           

            The building was Greco-Roman style and looked like it could have doubled as a county courthouse. Inside, it was much smaller than First Methodist or First Baptist; it could probably seat a maximum of 600 people, and it looked like there were only 300 or 400 people in it. The sanctuary was fairly plain, lacking the beauty of the other three sanctuaries. The audience was entirely Caucasian with not a single minority in the building. They also all appeared to be middle to upper class.

            The service was very much like the Methodist service, with a liturgical service that was not nearly as Catholic as the Episcopalian church was. They also had a choir and organ arrangement.

           

            The sermon was a little bit better than the other two (Jeffress still has been the best, sadly). It was over Exodus 17, and sought to answer the question, “Is God with us?” Apparently due to the lack of growth over the last few years some in the church had started to wonder about this. The pastor wrote the problem off by saying that urban churches have trouble growing, and pointed to things like their feeding ministry, The Stewpot, as proof that God is with them.

            The church has a serious ethnicity issue. In a majority-minority area a church that is 100% white will not, and cannot, grow. Their feeding ministry is great; I think that is something every church should try and do! The service was interesting, but not as moving as the Episcopalian while still having the same liberalism issues. If you are going “high church” you might as well go all out.