Into Week #3 of Seminary + More Adventures

Well I passed my first Hebrew test! I actually did really well, but that's over and we're into other weird stuff now that has me baffled. Apparently that's the norm for Hebrew.
Kim and I did go to the Open Door church just over a week ago. They meet in an old church building and the pews are all taken out. We happened to show up on the second Sunday of the month when they share a meal together and have a short worship service following. We felt a little awkward having not brought any kind of dish, but we were reassured that there is always plenty, so we went ahead and ate.
The congregation was mostly young, white grad students and professionals - probably the oldest being in their mid-thirties. The pastor (co-pastor) was really nice and so were the folks we sat with at the meal. Lots of kids! It was very unique and I went away feeling like I'd like to go back again. Apparently each week is different. I think the next week was going to be prayer stations. They are very committed to building authentic relationships, prayer, discipleship, and mission. I felt like with the meal and prayer time after it (w/ just the 4-6 folks you were sitting with) made NOT connecting virtually impossible. You couldn't have attended and walked away not having met anyone.
Last Friday we had some more students over to hang out. We had munchies and some beer and some of our Colorado wine (which was a big hit) and just hung out and chatted. We put the Pirates game on the tv and it was a really nice time.
I was invited to join the seminary's praise band that plays at the Monday chapel. (We knew that was inevitable, right?) So I'm on the schedule to sing & play every other week which works out nicely...not too much. I fear one of these days I'm going to have to break down and learn how to play bar chords...ugh. I've put it off for thirty years..
Kim and I had a really nice weekend. It wasn't totally filled with studying so we actually spent some time together. Ahhhhh... We may actually get this balance thing down a bit!
Sunday we were going to go to East Liberty Presbyterian Church as they had invited the seminary students to their 11 o'clock service to be recognized and then eat at a potluck lunch served by the church. Saturday night I told Kim the only reason I wanted to go was for the free food, so let's go somewhere else. We decided to go to Eastminster Presbyterian.
Eastminster and East Liberty are about two blocks away from each other (and the seminary) and HUGE, old churches. Apparently the Carnegie family built East Liberty and then at some point there was a split, and Eastminster was started.
Our church history class was invited to Eastminster by our prof, Scott Sunquist, who attends there. This church tries to be intentionally diverse and just two weeks ago switched from having two services (early-contemporary and late-traditional) to one. They felt that their two services were dividing the congregation more than bringing them together - and they didn't need to be having two for space reasons.
So we went to the 10:30 service. It started out with a prelude played by 3-4 violins, a flute and the piano. I couldn't tell you if it was a traditional or contemporary song, just that it was beautiful. Then the praise band let the worship. This African-American woman with one beautiful voice led from the front on an electric piano with two other white singers and a full band. (Really reflected the make-up of the congregation!) They were awesome! By the fourth song we were rockin' and people were swaying and clapping, and folks in the congregation had percussion instruments. It was great.
There was a children's sermon (10 or so kids - but lots of babies in the crowd) followed by the kids singing.
The pastor was this great mix of black and white. (He's a white guy) but in his sermon he'd get worked up a bit and some of the black folks would call out "amen" and "yes, Jesus" and we'd occasionally clap at a really good point. He's the perfect pastor for that church - he could speak to everyone there...just enough energy for the black folks, but not too overboard for the white folks! Ha!
About five minutes into the service I leaned over to Kim and said, "I think we've found our church!" He agreed.
There was still liturgy and the choir sang during the offering, and then we ended with a very energetic rendition of Just a Closer Walk With Thee.
Afterwards we went into the fellowship hall and weren't greeted with handshakes, but with hugs. Ahhhhh.....we're home..! (And it was mostly the black folks who greeted us!)
I really did like the Open Door, but one of the reasons we moved to PA was to experience diversity. We'd much rather be a part of a church that really reflects the neighborhood we live in.
Well, I got ahead enough in my reading that I was able to watch the two-hour season premier of Heroes tonight! Woohoo!! Tomorrow is church history til 10:15, then workstudy from 1-3. We're hoping this week to try and start some sort of small group. A friend of mine from Minneapolis really wants one too. I originally suggested a Bible study group, but she said we do enough studying and maybe a "cell" group that does more "prayer/care/share" would be best. So I'm kind of excited about that. I'm hoping we can put out an invitation to all the new students and then we'll see how many groups we end up creating - as long as there's at least one I'll be happy.
So pray for that, and also continue praying for Hebrew. I have another quiz on Friday and currently I don't feel too confident...but it's only Monday!!! There's still hope!!
Thanks for your prayers and comments of encouragement, I love getting them!
Blessings to you, my friends.
~Sally