Ambassadors Visit St. Paul’s, Doylestown
The Redeemer Legacy Lives in Doylestown
The Ambassadors were an imposing force at St. Paul’s today. There were the usual number of us but we were surrounded by family and friends.
Many of the Leach family, a charter family of Redeemer, were gathered to share memories of a loved one. They have been active at St. Paul’s for decades.
The Redeemer legacy has contributed to at least two of the largest congregations in SEPA Synod. We gathered at Trinity, Lansdale, earlier this year.
Published statistics have St. Paul’s membership at about 1700 with average attendance of 400. For the last ten years the statistics have held their own. An occasional slight rise or fall. That is an accomplishment, considering the average rate of decline in many churches—large and small.
St. Paul’s has two pastors, The Rev. Carl Linders, who has preached there since 1977. Today, a young pastor, Thomas Rusert, conducted the service.
In planning the funeral, one of the pastors questioned whether there would be enough people to carry the singing of the family’s choice of hymns, which varied from those suggested. They don’t know the Speakman/Leach tradition of singing! Voices filled the sanctuary as if there were several hundred and not just 100 or so. Some of that tradition comes from having roots in Redeemer. We continue to share this strength of our congregation in our Ambassador visits.
Tradition is carefully guarded at St. Paul’s. A soloist in the family (and there are many) wanted to sing The Lord’s Prayer, a family tradition. The family was told it can’t be sung during the service. We enjoyed it as a prelude.
The Ambassadors have joined in singing the Lord’s Prayer in several of our Ambassador visits. We often sang it during our services. So we wonder what the problem could be.
The family was also discouraged from speaking at the service. This had been one of the most moving and memorable parts of our last family funeral. Instead, we compiled a Memorial Booklet. There are always work-arounds when faced with rigidity. And sometimes they lead to something better!
The pastor wore a cassock and cotta, which is rarely seen these days.
A study of their website proves they are a consummate program church. I checked their long list of activities and wondered what some of them were. Relational Ministries seems to be smaller segments of the congregation with special interests. In other words—clubs. Large churches need small groups.
They have an active youth group. Some of our family—the ones with infants and toddlers in tow today— were once involved.
They are also proud of their many musical ensembles ranging from various choral groups to a brass ensemble and bell choir. Again, our family have been very involved musically at St. Paul’s.
We saw a page for downloadable forms. Ah, perhaps they’ll have a sample Membership Application Form! SEPA had accused us of contempt of court for not providing these records—all to make us look bad. We had never encountered Application Forms for Membership—and still haven’t, but a judge could easily believe that there should be such a thing.
Actually, there was only one form available for download—a youth participation permission form.
This was our 71st visit to a SEPA congregation. Perhaps we will return some Sunday morning.