Why Lawrenceville?

November 15, 2006 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Church New Member Process, Religion 

Tonight, I go before the session of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church (NJ) to be received by Reaffirmation of Faith as a new member.  There are about 15-20 of us (I think) being received by various methods.  To that number you can add 6-10 kids.

A while back, I wrote about my return to the church after an absence of almost 20 years.  What I didn’t really put into that post was why I chose this particular church.  Apparently, I’m going to be asked that question tonight, so here’s my summary of why (in no particular order).

1. It feels like the church that I grew up in.

That could have been a bad thing (since I had some issues with my original church that were minor contributors to my departure), but I checked on the issues that I had with the church that I grew up in and reportedly they are not a problem here.  The way in which Lawrenceville feels like the church that I grew up in are:  size (number of members and attendees, size of sanctuary/buildings), service format and content (basically a traditional service with the old standard hymns and a format that I’m used to), music program (wow! can this congregation sing!) and an active youth group.

2. The church has a policy of tolerance for all viewpoints.

A church can either be somewhere along the “conservative” to “liberal” axis, choose to work for tolerance of all viewpoints (within reason), or choose to avoid controversial issues. Based on what I was told (and have seen since), this church shows an unusual tolerance for a wide range of opinion.  One story that I was told was about a table at a men’s meeting where a discussion of a controversial issue erupted. Two people staked out the opposite positions, but everybody contributed with opinions all the way across the spectrum on that issue. None of it was heated.  That’s what I want – nice respectful academic discussion.  Having said that, the church averages out to someplace center to progressive in theology.  This is truly a “big tent” within the Presbyterian mold.

3. This church is a thinking church.

There is a big emphasis on adult education and study. Not just “let’s all study the Bible together” but discussions on applying faith to issues.
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4. The church has lots of volunteer opportunities.

There are a lot of things going on. The church wants to have as many people involved as possible – but at the same time doesn’t want to push anybody beyond what they want to do.

5. Church leadership is open and involves lots of people

Unlike other churches that I know (or grew up in), this church rotates a lot of people through it’s leadership roles. At the ordination/installation service that I attended they asked anybody who had ever been an elder or minister to get up and lay hands on the new officers. 1/3 of the congregation got up – a HUGE ratio.

That list was written back in August when I chose this church.  Since then, I have also come to realize that there is a warmth to this congregation that might not be apparent to a casual visitor (or a summer visitor, for that matter).  Put simply – people care at this church.   About each other, about people in the local community, about justice, about evangelism.  There is a level of warm commitment – not just words or slogans but actual one-to-one action.

Feels good to me.

Tomorrow, you should be reading a post about tonight’s meeting.

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