Frankfort Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Frankfort Presbyterian Church, 3326 State Route 18, Hookstown, PA 15050, 724.947.3240, www.frankfortpresbychurch.com, Rev. Allison Bauer, Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

I don’t offer much input when Jan is trying to discern which church we should attend. It really does not matter to me, and God has redirected us enough that I know we will end up where He wants us anyhow. We knew the pastor had worked with some of our children at camp, and we had a few minutes to catch up before the congregation came in.

We were warmly welcomed and treated much like family by a few people. The church does not have much signage but is small enough not to need much. There is a restroom right off the Narthex (with a sign outside) and class room/social area in the basement (which we found by exploring).

The rear wall of the Chancel is somewhat startlingly plain white with a large wooden cross, which really amplified the effect of the cross for me. There are two classy banners on the side walls, and the double-hung rounded-top windows have a solid color pane on the sides and around the top.

When it was time for the children’s message, music was played till they all got up front. It seemed unusual that the pastor waited for the children but that small act verified their worth. They connected well with the mini-sermon which was tied to the adult message, and afterward were given a corresponding activity page and insight to what would follow in the sermon. It seemed to get their attention when they were told that Jeremiah was 12 years old when God called him.

I believe Christ has blessed a prayer ministry here. They have an impressive prayer list and commitment to pray. In addition to their regular prayer ministry, they have made individual commitments to pray regularly for one year for unchurched people in their lives.

The sermon was given as a story – a child talking to Jeremiah when he was old. The congregation seemed to really pay attention and get the message.

The ratio of female to male worshipers was about 3 to 1, which is about normal for an older church, but there was an interesting influx of children. I think God has some interesting plans for this church.

Jan’s thoughts:

The church’s website was informative and enthusiastic, but I still wasn’t sure what to expect from this modest, very rural, church – especially when we pulled into the parking lot only to find we seemed to be the first to arrive. It turned out to be quite a friendly place…friendly to us and to each other. The people were relaxed and genuine, and excited to talk about their church and their pastor.

Unbeknownst to anyone there, the pastor went to college with our daughter Jill, and worked at Camp Crestfield with three of Jill’s siblings – Dan, Amber, and Brandy – at various times. I haven’t seen her for at least 10 years, probably longer. Members told us excitedly that she is creative and ingenious, sometimes involving the congregation in the sermon and encouraging participation in imaginative ways. This was borne out in the sermon, to which I’ll speak later.

The Narthex area was completely rebuilt in 2007 after lightning struck the steeple. We saw an amazing photo of the burning steeple as well as some of the damage and subsequent rebuilding. I thought they used the opportunity well, installing a neat stairway to the balcony in the rear of the Sanctuary in addition to the new Narthex.

The Chancel was very open with only a large wooden cross on the wall and lots of “white space” on either side. It actually made for a striking setting for the cross. The windows are very tall with semicircular panes on top of the rectangles and the only stained glass outlining each window.

The bulletin is large-print and user-friendly. I couldn’t help but notice that there were many more hymnals than Bibles in the pew racks.

There were several unique points about the service itself: 1 – following the Prelude the service began with about one minute of silent prayer. I appreciated the opportunity to quietly center my mind in preparation for worship; 2 – the Children’s Time was very well done. We were told that the five children there this morning were about half the usual attendance; 3 – during the announcements everyone was encouraged to attend next Sunday when the service would be led by the children and would include the “Blessing of the Backpacks” in preparation for the start of the new school year. A great way to help the children know that they’re an important part of the church.

The untitled sermon was based on Jeremiah 1:1 and 4-10 during which she told the story of Jeremiah’s call as if Jeremiah, as an old man, was telling the story to a youth. Again an imaginative way to keep peoples’ attention and help them remember.

Today I re-learned not to judge a book by its cover…just because it’s a small country church doesn’t mean it’s not full of life and the Spirit. Praise God!