Park United Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Park United Presbyterian Church, 115 E. Grandview Avenue, Zelienople, PA 16063, www.parkup.org, Rev. Pat McElroy.


Bob’s thoughts:

This is a small church in Zelienople. Very nice wood work well tied together, especially the paneled wall facing the Sanctuary. Good stained glass, a comfortable family atmosphere in the Sanctuary. Very little signage, but a large directional sign to basement restrooms. The bulletin referred to a nursery in the basement. Did not notice provision for handicapped to restroom level.

We were greeted by quite a number of people, warm genuine greetings. During the passing of the peace a lot of the 50 or so worshipers said hello.

The prayer time was rather informal, very family-like, catching up on joys and concerns before the prayer. The music was from an older hymnal (1946) but the hymns chosen were singable with a good message. The offering was taken before the Word was preached.

I was impressed that prayers were offered after the service, including laying on of hands and anointing with oil.

The sermon was from a series titled Mission Possible, with today’s on outward mission; the idea of executing the Great Commission. I liked the idea of “Open your mouth, dummy.” Many have told me how they can’t do evangelism and then proceeded to relate this great conversation they had with a non-believer. God does the work if we just open our mouth and let Him speak.

Jan’s thoughts:

We arrived early on this gorgeous May morning and so had an opportunity to wander around some. Once we entered the building, however, I was surprised how small it was. We saw only two signs, but no others were really necessary. We looked at the balcony and the basement, each of which took about 15 seconds, then found seats. That was when all the people began approaching us. One after another these friendly, open people came by, introduced themselves, and told us how glad they were we were there. Looking around I saw people greeting each other with hugs just like family, waving to others across the Sanctuary. This church has the most sense of family of all the churches we’ve visited.

The Sanctuary features padded wooden pews and matching wood in the Chancel. The entire rear wall of the Chancel is covered with wood paneling just a shade lighter with a wooden cross on the left and a matching wooden dove on the right. The stained glass was plentiful and lovely.

As small as this church is, they hold a contemporary service also, and we’ll probably try it another time.

The bulletin looks like a labor of love. It consists of two 8 ½ x 14” sheets folded in half and stapled in the center, and color is used to highlight and separate. Following the Order of Worship a note offers the opportunity for prayer, laying on of hands by elders, oil anointing for healing, and/or to receive Christ at the front of the Sanctuary after the service. There are numerous announcements and invitations to participate in the life of the church and, of course, prayer requests.

Since this is Memorial Day weekend, veterans were asked to rise to be recognized and receive applause and thanks, which was touching enough. The prayer that followed left me in tears. I try hard not to cry in a church where I’m a stranger, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. The pastor prayed a heartfelt prayer which touched my heart deeply, forcing me recall the Memorial Day when Dan marched in a local parade (as the sailor he was at the time). Memories made bittersweet by losing him as a Marine.

The sermon series was called “Mission Possible” and the message title was “Transformation of the Spirit.” It was based on Acts 8:26-40, the very cool story about the meeting facilitated by the Holy Spirit between the apostle Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The bulletin contained a sermon outline with the series title, theme, Scripture, sermon title, a “Take-Home Truth,” and the three points of the sermon, in this case:
I. The Spirit directs our witness – Acts 8:26-29
II. Jesus is the content of our witness – Acts 8:30-35
III. God is glorified in our witness – Acts 8:36-40

The sermon was a primer on using the situations in which we find ourselves (i.e., as guided by the Holy Spirit), making Jesus the object of our witness and thus glorifying God. I also appreciated the analogy between military missions and the mission of the church.