McConnellsburg and Wells Valley

All in the family.

I had a Sabbath day experience that captured, in one day, all the blessing and all the challenge of my job.

Wells Valley Presbyterian Church:
I arrived very early at the Wells Valley Presbyterian Church in Wells Tannery. The ride up the road from route 30 is pristine Pennsylvania forest, the kind of place I love to spend time. Wells Tannery is a very isolated little collection of homes that encourages you to breath deep and slow down your soul. I found the church and was immediately impressed with its very good condition. Both in and out the church building shines with pride and dignity. Wells Valley is a family church whose primary and sometimes only purpose during the week is to offer a sacred place for friends to worship God together. I imagine that all 20 people in worship sit in the same pew every time they attend. I am sure they all know each other, and worship is very much a weekly family reunion. This kind of congregation and style of worship is the way I was raised. Worship in a family style church is always restful and peaceful for me. In what ways is God calling us to sustain and nurture small, strong churches? Rick Cepris’ temporary supply worship leadership is a wonderful gift, and a huge commitment of time and energy on his part.

McConnellsburg Presbyterian Church:
Quickly after leading worship in Wells Tannery, Rick drives back to McConnellsburg to lead worship there, where he is the Installed Pastor. McConnellsburg is a thriving, healthy, mid-sized congregation with a good mix of different aged members. There is a wonderful worshipful spirit in the congregation with a fine choir. This Sunday there was a bluegrass group doing some special music in worship. This is the first time I have ever heard a banjo in worship. It was wonderful! Rick does a very nice coordinating the different parts of worship, and preached on the importance of putting our faith into practice. It is not good enough to simply have a personal, private, interior faith which does not directly impact your daily behavior. How is God calling small-town churches like McConnellsburg to grow spiritually and numerically? How can the Presbytery nurture such growth? How can we support and encourage solo-pastors in small towns where, I know, the spiritual isolation can be a heavy burden?

Pine Street Presbyterian Church:
In the afternoon I attended the Installation service of Russell Sullivan at the Pine Street Church. With its classic, cathedral-style stone and wood work the sanctuary of Pine Street Church is a spiritual and architectural masterpiece. Simply being in that sacred place inspires my heart to soar with praise and prayer.

On the same Sunday I worshiped in these three Presbyterian Churches. The differences made my mind spin. They could not be more different, but we are all in the same Presbyterian family. These three congregations and three very different places of worship represent both the beauty and the challenge facing our Presbytery and the whole Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). What do the Wells Valley and McConnellsburg and Pine Street Churches have in common? One is a small family church where everyone knows your name. One is a small town, solo-pastor congregation which is on the edge between being a family-style, pastoral church and being a program church. One is a large, multi-staff, corporate congregation with an amazing diversity in membership and a commitment to serving the city. What concerns and objectives do these churches share? What can we do as a Presbytery to connect together these wildly different types of churches into one family? In these three very different communities - rural, small town, and city - what are the similar and different ways in which church people live out their faith? Worshiping in these three different churches on the same Sabbath day inspired me, once again, to lift up a prayer of thanksgiving for the sacred and beautiful tapestry that is our Presbyterian Church.