Cross Roads Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, 3281 Wexford Road, Gibsonia, PA 15044, 724.935.3636, http://www.crossroadsgibsonia.org/, Rev. R. Stephen Cramer, Pastor.

Bob’s thoughts:

I did not notice signage beyond the restroom doors, but it was not a problem on the level we were on. We did not get to see the lower level.

The church is modern-style wood arch and wood ceiling. There is a nice central cross framed by stained glass panels. It was pleasant to see the purple drape on the cross and matching paraments.

There was a good age mix in the congregation. The Children’s Message was about Christ as the Living Water and His message for the Samaritan woman at the well. The pastor seemed to have a real connection with the children for a point some adults struggle with.

A joy for me were the smiles I saw from some choir members. I enjoyed the anthem and the Ericksons’ contemporary music and was pleased with the harmony of the congregation with the two styles of music.

I was disappointed that the refrigeration equipment came on during the sermon and made it hard to hear, but I used that time to pray for the church and pastor.

I was thinking lately that it would help to give the Scripture readers some training on using inflection in their reading to emphasize the message. It would make the pastor’s job easier, too. Today’s readings were a little long but a great opportunity to influence the congregation’s understanding of the message.

This church collects coupons to send to military families overseas, a mission dear to my heart.

We were warmly welcomed by a number of people and offered some history of the church. I was pleased to see good mission numbers in the Annual Report, to see that this church seeks Christ’s direction, that they support some missions that I do, and to see a photo of a friend from Malawi on the Mission Board.



Jan’s thoughts:

We’ve driven past this church the last several weeks, and today we stopped. The outdoor sign is easily visible from the road. The grounds looked well kept and thoughtfully designed; I suspect they’ll look quite attractive when the flowers begin to bloom.

When we first entered I did not notice directional signage so it was a little confusing, but we were quickly distracted by the bulletin boards, one of which detailed a lot of mission involvement.

The people were friendly and welcoming: some stopped to chat for a moment and many smiled and said hello on their way past. Following the service a few invited us to return.

The bulletin was user-friendly, readable, and informative, including a lot of information in a relatively small amount of space.

We did not have an opportunity to see a lot of the building. The entryway led into the rear of the Sanctuary with divider walls on the left and the kitchen on the right. The only stained glass was exhibited in the rear wall of the Chancel. The light color of the wood in the arched ceiling was continued throughout the rest of the Sanctuary, and the colors were tied together nicely. There are interlocking chairs in place of pews.

This congregation seems to have found a way to mix the traditional and contemporary music without the atmosphere of contentiousness at some churches.

I loved even the title of the “Prayer of Humility” and the use of music to close the time of silent confession, allowing the congregation to ease back out of the silence.

The Children’s Message centered on Living Water, a difficult concept to communicate to young ones. However the pastor seemed to have a good rapport with the children, and I appreciated his prayer to “drown us in Your Living Water.”

Unfortunately a hum from the kitchen began just about the time the sermon did, making it difficult to both hear and concentrate.

The sermon was presented by the Student Minister. It was based on John 4:4-42, the familiar story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. To me the most striking point was that when the woman ran into town to tell the people about Jesus she left her bucket behind. She left her past and her purpose for being there, and dove headlong into this new future with which Jesus presented her. Would that we all did the same, and thus were “drowned in the Living Water.”