Redeemer Presbyterian Church Part 2

Worship band playing before the service.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church

This is a continuation of the last post.
Redeemer Presbyterian Church purchased a parking garage on the Upper West SIde of Manhattan. Over a number of years they renovated it into a worship and office space.
Knowing the price of commercial real estate in NYC, this was quite a coup for the church.

The resulting building is a narrow sleek building that blends in nicely to the chic surroundings.
When we went, I was quite surprised at how slim the building is. Instead of building out as most churches would, they had to build up - 5 stories up.

The entry level is actually the balcony of the sanctuary. You go down some stairs to get to the main level.
the sanctuary is quite small - I imagine that my church here in Ithaca would actually seat more people.
The design is quite minimalistic and sleek. It looks more like a contemporary concert hall than a church.
The kids programs were on the third floor, so I went up there to check them in.
Also - since there is limited space, they actually have a stroller check in! To minimize strollers becoming obstructions.

We had planned on going to the 11:30 service, but were unable to find parking nearby and ended up coming in late at 11:45.
We were informed that the sanctuary was full but they had set up an overflow room where we could watch it on video.
We headed up there and were then told the overflow was also full, but an additional room had been setup - but it had audio only.
We went there and sat down.
After about 5 minutes, I didn't want to be there anymore - I convinced Felicia we should head out and come back for the 5:00 service,
She agreed so we walked out just as Tim Keller started speaking - that kind of felt like a sin!

We ate some expensive sushi and roamed around Central Park and the Upper West Side. At 4:00 we headed back to the church to guarantee a seat.
It was empty and the sanctuary was not open yet.
At 4:30 we were allowed in and we sat in about the 6th row with a good eye-line to the stage.
I settled the kids in their classrooms and then the service began.

The worship band was a group of jazz musicians and they were very good.
The worship itself was fairly sedate - neither overly energetic, nor dull.
The associate pastor was a pleasant guy who led the prayers and made announcements.
They were taking a special offering for a fund that helps people in crisis. A woman gave her testimony of how she had been helped through this ministry.
Her story was quite inspirational - she shared from her descent from being an ad executive to being homeless and pregnant while escaping an abusive boyfriend.
Very compelling and moving and a testimony to the heart of mercy that exists in that church.

Finally, Tim Keller took the stage and delivered a classic Keller sermon dipping into C.S. Lewis, the Lord of the Rings and the New York Times.
It was a bit surreal to see Keller in real life. I had listened to so many of his sermons and watched a lot of them on youtube.

After the service I met a young couple who had just moved to NYC from Virginia. He was working in the financial sector on Wall Street. It was only their second time at Redeemer. They seemed to like it and were going to join a community group.

I suspect much of Redeemer's growth has been Christians who have moved into the city and had heard of the church through Keller. I'm sure there have been some conversions as well but I think the bulk of the growth is as I described.

So, if we lived in NYC, would we attend Redeemer? Surprisingly, I would more likely attend the evangelical church closest to where I lived - if that happened to be Redeemer then great. If not, that's fine too.
I think redeemer is fine and I'm sure I would be fed and grow there.
Anyways it was a thrill to visit Redeemer and hear Keller. I am grateful for him and for their ministry in the big apple.
I'm sure we'll be back for another visit soon.