Just because a church is “traditional” doesn’t mean that it isn’t viable, active and impacting the world.

This may be contrary to popular, current opinion.

Sunday I sat in a service of an “old stream” Presbyterian Church. And, other than a few rituals with a twist, it was anything but “old stream.”

In fact, I wonder if the mainstream PCUSA would be totally happy with this band of brothers. They sung the doxology with a contemporary upbeat, they laid hands on the pastor and prayed for him, the lady sitting next to me speaks in tongues, the drummer was 50ish while the pianoman wasn’t yet 18 (and they both performed remarkably) and the kids danced with flags during the music.

Nothing like the Presbyterian Church my grandfather used to attend.

They are actively engaged helping Burmese refuges in the community as well as supporting active mission efforts covertly in Burma (Mynamar). They are helping to clean up the community by going out and picking up trash as well as supporting programs to help those with addictions. They make funds available to folks who are adopting/rescuing children in Africa and go over the top to provide programs for the kids that doesn’t bore them out of their minds in the name of Jesus.

You never want to put new wine in old wineskins, but neither do you want a fine wine in a bottle with a twist off cap. Foster Presbyterian was anything but Thunderbird. More appropriately, it was a nice, local version of pure Jesus.

Refreshing. Way to go Foster!