Concord Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Concord Presbyterian Church, 2832 Conway-Wallrose Road, Baden, PA 15005, 724.869.9135, www.concordchurch.org.


Bob’s thoughts:

We had the joy today to revisit Concord Presbyterian Church for a report/service by the mission team. As usual for me, I came away with a lot more from a heartfelt, maybe less orchestrated, service. The passion of the mission team is very apparent with the relaxed service. Even the adults let their enthusiasm show.

There are some very special youth at this church. Their skits and reporting were very well done. With a hard act to follow, the pastor, Harper, led from a core message on the Good Samaritan (the mission focus) to pose an interesting observation about our reluctance to share within the Church. While at the work area, a larger, long-term mission team was also present which was granted overall control of the projects, which led him to ask if we with “ownership” within the Church do the same? How welcoming are we to others? I go one step further in asking, “How welcoming are we to new Christians?” We have something almost too good to mention; are we willing to share Christ?

It was an exceptionally uplifting Sunday. My thanks to the mission team for sharing.

Jan’s thoughts:

Our daughter, Amber, returned yesterday from a one-week mission trip to Philippi, WV, so we attended the service, led by the members of this trip, in order to hear the details of the past week as well as to be available to assist Amber since she returned on crutches. (I’m glad to report that her fiancé, Dan, did most of the assisting, but Dad & Mom felt better being there, and Amber will be just fine in time for the wedding.)

The music was entirely contemporary, the congregation was as friendly as always (that is, very friendly), and the atmosphere was relaxed and supportive. The service lasted about an hour and a half, and it was time well spent. Mostly the service consisted of four youth performing the series of skits they acted out for Vacation Bible School during their week of mission. During the necessary breaks, photos from the week were shown on the screen and accompanied by commentary of team members about the work they performed. The group put in extra effort on some home improvements for two families, in the process displaying their servant hearts and glorifying God.

As you might imagine, it was great to hear details about the week from the point of view of the participants, but witnessing the skits was a special treat. I was astounded at the obvious talent of the youth: Josh, Emily, Miranda, and Ashley. They appeared totally comfortable in their roles and had every nuance of their parts down pat. They really were extraordinary. I thoroughly enjoyed the transformation of the two youth as they started out a week of adventure camp totally self-absorbed and oblivious to God and by the end of the week had had their eyes opened to His presence, power, and beauty. On their last day they found themselves overjoyed to learn they didn’t have to leave God behind when they returned to city life. It was a great reminder that we don’t have to go anywhere to find God; we only have to look where we are. Kudos to the youth and to Concord.