The First United Presbyterian Church of Darlington

Today we worshiped at The First United Presbyterian Church of Darlington, 3385 Old Darlington Road, Darlington, PA 16115, 724.827.2970, Rev. C.F. Hoffman, Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

This is a small country church. The yellow/orange center of the stained glass seemed to amplify the sunlight.

The pews were arranged in an arc, and a small chancel in the corner with an illuminated cross mounted up high. We were greeted by a few people before the service including the pastor.

I don’t know if there was any signage other than on the restroom doors, but even a small church could benefit from some directional signs.

A young woman and child brought a crown of thorns forward to drape over the cross – a very symbolic gesture.

We had a tough time with the first hymn, “As a Deer.” It was our late son’s favorite and evokes some strong emotions.

I thought the pastor’s Morning Prayer was very well done. There is a wood plaque on the side wall like the one that lists the hymns only this one is a register that shows attendance last week and now, last week’s offering, and the monthly budget need. Today’s worship attendance was listed as 55 out of a membership of 93.

The sermon was on the world’s question are you the Christ? :”Just Tell Us.” Without the personal experience of Christ we can’t answer that question and that experience is because God put it there in our hearts. Three times during the sermon I felt God calling me to pray for the pastor, so I am sure there is some spiritual warfare in the church. We tend to think God shields us from this warfare but He promises if we are doing His will we will experience the trials. Until the church is doing Christ’s will, they are the devil’s best friend. When I am called to pray for a pastor or church it tells me something good for Jesus is going on here, the pastor and church are being used by God.

Jan’s thoughts:

Sometimes I wish I knew what God was thinking. Today He sent us to a church where the first hymn was “As the Deer.” This is a beautiful song, but it was one of Dan’s favorites, and one that we sang at his memorial service. This made it very difficult to get through the first part of the service, and I was grateful Bob was there to hold me up.

This is a small rural church with a pavilion and something you don’t see every day – a very large military vehicle (a six-by) outside. This is an older building, but obviously kept with a great deal of care.

Nearly everyone we encountered greeted us warmly.

The bulletin is user-friendly with plenty of information in the inserts.

The Chancel area was decorated with daffodils – what a beautiful touch for the first Sunday in spring!

In more traditional churches we often see the board with replaceable numbers indicating which hymns will be sung that Sunday. One of these hung on the wall, but in addition a similar one hung nearby indicating the number of congregants currently on the roll, attendance last week, attendance this week, offering last Sunday, and amount needed each week to meet the budget.

Before worship began we noticed the pastor and choir off to the side in prayer.

Toward the beginning of the service it was announced that we would have the presentation. Since nothing like that was listed in the bulletin at that point, I was curious to see who was presenting what to whom. It turned out to be sort of a Lenten version of the lighting of the Advent candle. One older youth and one of the children walked down the aisle holding a crown of thorns and together they placed it over the front of a cross on the table in front joining a goblet, some coins, and another item I can’t recall that had been placed there in previous weeks. The older youth read a passage of Scripture. I’ve not seen anything like this before, but it was touching and nicely done.

The sermon was entitled “Just Tell Us” and was based on Luke 22:54-71 and focused on the demand made of Jesus that “if you are the Son of God, tell us.” The pastor asked many questions: “What did they expect?” “What do we expect?” “How would we react?” “How would we feel?” Thinking in terms of “regular” scenarios, it’s not hard to see why these people behaved as they did. Then the real question: “Do we believe Him or do we mock Him?” At this point he read Hebrews 11:1 – “Faith is being sure of of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” – and pointed out that faith defined is knowing without His having to tell us. The world, however, still wants proof.

The message was powerful.