Ambassadors Visit Peace, Ben Salem
Four Redeemer Ambassadors traveled to NE Philadelphia to visit Peace Lutheran Church in Ben Salem. We encountered a friendly, small congregation very much like Redeemer. There were about 30 in worship at their second service.
We were greeted by a very friendly woman who asked where we were from and sat with us for a short chat. She didn’t know where East Falls was and confessed to knowing little about Philadelphia. We suspect there are many in SEPA who don’t know much about East Falls or urban ministry but are less willing to admit it.
The sanctuary is small and comfortable. 100 people would fill it pretty well. There was a strong age representation.
A woman made an announcement that 198 meals had been prepared that week and announced other plans for their women’s group.
Someone offered to train anyone interested in handling church finances. The laity seemed to be showing leadership initiative—a very good thing.
A five-member choir sang new seasonal words to a Christmas tune — Rise Up Shepherds and Follow. The organist/choir director led hymns with an understated organ. Very nice. The hymns were favorites which made for comfortable worship.
Pastor Harold Evans strayed from the lectionary for the first time in more than a decade, he said, to address the age-old question, Where is God when bad things happen? He concluded with a quote: “He is in the same place He was when His Son was dying on the cross.” The message was an appropriate follow-up to a week accented by violence.There was also a prayer call to the altar.
We like the way they distributed communion. We see so many take and dunk “fast food” communion presentations where people file by stations. The purpose seems to be to get the ritual over with. Redeemer always took the time to gather together at the altar. So did Peace.
We enjoyed singing The Lord’s Prayer, even with that high F—or was it a G—at the end!
We spoke with several members after church and they seemed to be most congenial and good-humored.
Pastor Evans approached us after church and asked a few questions. He referred to the letters one of our Ambassadors sends from time to time. We had a nice conversation.
One of our Ambassadors will be looking up a Lutheran church in St. Augustine, Fla., next week. Who knows where the rest of us will go!?