New Sewickley Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at New Sewickley Presbyterian Church, 101 Big Knob Road, Rochester, PA 15074, 724.846.5734, www.nspchurch.org, Rev. Daniel Callahan, Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

This church could really benefit from some signage starting with the road into the very adequate parking area. (We passed by the entrance before we saw the church.)

The ceiling is a low arch covered in knotty pine and there is a beam through the arches to resemble being set on edge, to very good effect. Didn’t remember to get a close look at the windows; they appeared to be etched clear glass, almost like an etched design one could then “paint by numbers” to look like stained glass. There is a good central cross, and the offering was taken in response to the Word.

We had a few minutes before the service and found some good bulletin boards in the hallway, including an excellent one on veterans of the church. We met the pastor in the hall and he mentioned he was rather new to this congregation. I was impressed that during the children’s’ message he was able to call the children by name. There was an easy interaction with them as well as their parents.

This was a very welcoming church; many people introduced themselves and welcomed us. The family in front of us (with beautiful children) asked us to stay for Sunday School. From what I saw and heard, the church has a strong orientation to mission.

I found last week’s bulletin in the pew and was sorry we weren’t there for the sermon “Tithing or Tipping” – a subject dear to my heart.

I was impressed with the congregation – they spoke out loud and clear. This is something we don’t see often. It makes me look forward to a visit to the contemporary service.

Today’s sermon, “Giving Thanks” was built around giving God thanks in all circumstances. A good message that might have gone a little more into the hard times to thank God, but I understand with a recent war death in the congregation it may be too raw of a situation. We were given 30 seconds to think of the blessings in our lives, which no one could condense to 30 seconds.

The pastor told a story of a man who was putting his house up for sale and gave the real estate agent the particulars. When she called back to confirm how she planned to list the house and started to read off the list, he interrupted and told her never mind as this is the house he always wanted.

A few years ago we were living in a house that God had given us at the South Hills Country Club. The house was built in the mid-1920s, and very little maintenance/updating had occurred. So one day I made a list of what the house would need to bring it up to modern standards. On a separate sheet I wrote a pipe-dream wish list of what we would look for in a house if we could afford to look, let alone buy.

It was almost a year after we moved to Economy (at His leading) that I came across this wish list. This house He led us to fulfilled everything on that list and much more. Many were items we had forgotten. We have experienced the worst times and the best times. Thanks be unto God that He’s always closer for the bad times.

Jan’s thoughts:

This church is about a 20 minute drive and nearly a straight shot from home, but approaching from the direction we were we would have driven past it had we not stopped at a stop sign and happened to see the marquee. There is, however, plenty of parking on an asphalt lot and a level entryway.

Finding a table set up in the narthex bearing gifts for SERRV (much like Ten Thousand Villages), I was immediately distracted…not that it takes much to distract me. After being greeted by many of the people in the narthex, we wandered down an innocent-looking hallway where we found restrooms, offices, and several bulletin boards. Church bulletin boards are often a good indication of the heart of a church. There was one with information for and photos of youth events, one with plenty of mission info and notes of thanks, and one honoring members of the military both past and present. The pastor indicated that the church had recently lost a member Marine in active duty and his service was yesterday. There was no way he could have known that we had experienced a similar loss just over 3 years ago.

The Sanctuary was not fancy, but very nice. No stained glass that I noticed, but a lovely wooden cross in the Chancel which matched the striking wooden ceiling. All the walls were painted white. The carpet looked well-used, but clean.

The bulletin is plain but easy to read and follow. And I knew we were approaching Thanksgiving because we sang “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.”

Many folks greeted us warmly during the passing of the peace as well as after the service. This was an open, welcoming church; surprising only because they have a second service. As we’ve said before, most churches with two (or more) services tend to be less responsive to visitors as the members usually assume that anyone they don’t recognize attends the “other” service. We do plan to attend the contemporary service sometime.

The pastor mentioned he was fairly new there, but he seemed to share a good rapport with the congregation. Prior to reading the Scriptures, he gave terrific instructions, giving the page numbers and chapter and verse twice, and plenty of time to locate the Scripture so we could follow along.

Unfortunately, following the Prayer of Confession the bulletin listed a “moment of silent confession.” The bulletin did not lie: the moment lasted about two seconds, not long enough to confess hardly anything. (Possibly I just had more to confess than he did.)

In the message, titled “Giving Thanks,” he gave instructions on living a life of gratitude:
1. Learn to rejoice always – give thanks in the bad as well as good;
2. Learn to pray without ceasing – prayer and giving thanks go hand-in-hand; and
3. Give thanks in all circumstances – it releases God’s power in our lives.

Obviously the first part of each point is Scriptural, but I’m not too sure about the “releasing God’s power in our lives” thing. It sounds too much like the “name it and claim it” stuff that’s being preached, and I have sincere issues with that. Other than that, I appreciated the sermon.