Trinity Presbyterian Church's Move to Cahaba Heights

Just in case any of you have not heard, we received our CO (Certificate of Occupancy) yesterday afternoon, and will begin meeting weekly at our new building in Cahaba Heights, a suburb of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. This has been a while forth coming, yet it has also not been overly dragged. It did take a lot of work, but it does seem the Lord is rewarding our efforts.

The first thing we should do is give God glory and thanks for this opportunity to now own our own building. We have of course, owned our own building before, at 1401 Montgomery Highway in Vestavia. Overtime, we began to slowly descend into nothing. It was as if the Lord made us start over, almost, though certainly not entirely, from scratch.

Shortly after voting in favor of continuing the congregation instead of closing doors, several new families joined. Before we realized it, God gave us the gift/curse of outgrowing our facilities. Fortunately, the Lord gave us Berney Points Baptist Church to be a good and beneficial host to us. And not only did BPBC help us, but in certain ways, we probably helped them.

Now, after renting the facilities of BPBC for some four and a half years (give or take), we have worshipped for the last time at BPBC. We now have our own building once again. This is a gift for us. Many of the members of our congregation have never been able to worship at our church while having our own facilities.

We must ask what this means for us now. Because God has given us this blessing, we must use it to bless others. We must begin learning geography as well as Christology. In size, the building may be similar to that at 1401, but the location is vastly different. We are not off a major highway in a bustling Vestavia Hills. Nor are we a church with no sign that sits right off the interstate, but detached from a real city or community. Now, we have our sign, and we are a representative of a community. We do not represent CREC churches as much now. We are not as much of a global church known for its theology. We are a community church known for its love for that community.

It is easy, though maybe not as much now as used to be, to find Baptist churches that represented a community. It is not hard to find plenty of FBC’s around as you roam from city to city through the South. While we have a fun time naming our churches after Reformers or Reformed ideas, it is often hard to find a FPC, and even when we do, it is not the face of the community. My point is that often times churches like ours are known more for theology than community, and many Baptist churches, for example, are known more for community.

I am not trying to degrade the importance of theology, and I believe there are things we bring to the Kingdom that many other denominations do not. And since hiring Pastor Lusk, community has been a major theme of our church. And most people who visit our church can see that. Even before Pastor Lusk came, we had a form of community not many other churches had. I remember one of my first impressions upon our first visit to RHPC (former name of TPC) when I was ten was that the people were nice. Now, the Lord is giving us this building and this community, so that our love flows out from within just our congregation, to the wider community. It is time people like me use our hands and fingers for things other than posting theology on the internet. Instead of focusing on growing our minds by what we take in, it is time we focus on growing our hearts by what we give out.

It is easy for Presbyterian churches, through their form of church government, to be connected with another Presbyterian church five states away, yet hard to be really connected with the community. I even see this within our congregation. I hear so much about Jim Jordan’s church and Jeffrey Myers’ church, or about the works of Peter Leithardt and Douglas Wilson. I hear about CCB or about our sponsored church St. Marks in Tennessee. I’m sure with great reason, and I’m not by any means speaking against the Presbyterian form of church government. But are we known more just within our CREC Presbyterian group, or for being a blessing to the community we are in? I’m sure the same could be asked for many other churches like ours nationwide. Are we known for critiquing the other churches of this city because they don’t share our liturgy, or are we known for working with them to accomplish the same goals we have: to do the will of God and advance His Kingdom? Will we be known more for the blessing we are to Cahaba Heights, or for the blessing we are to CREC Presbyterian theology?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we need to take over the Cahaba Heights community and make a monopoly on the churches. There are other churches in the community as well, and they may doing a great job. But we need to take the community we have with each other, and share it with the wider community. Nor am I saying I think we have a lot to change if we are to do a good job at the goals listed above. I believe God has been preparing us for this, and would not give us this building if we were not ready. But I am saying we should not take this for granted, nor only look at the benefits it gives us (not paying rent, not having a time to be out, better acoustics, not having people fuss about our little children). Those are great, but we should look at this as a new and better way to spread the Kingdom, first to Cahaba Heights, and then to Birmingham, and throughout the entire earth. “Presbyterian” should become more of an adjective for the noun (and perhaps even verb?) “Church,” instead of a noun within itself. I’ve heard it was mentioned we could take out the word “Presbyterian” from our name and just be “Trinity Church.” While I don’t think this is completely necessary or helpful, I am glad we are seeming to focus more on what it means to be a church than what it means to be Presbyterian.

In all ways, we should thank God for this new building we will worship in tomorrow. We should also thank Him for giving us BPBC for a while. It has been helpful. I am also personally thankful for the men and women in the church who helped make this possible. I did very little helping compared to some people in the church. We should also expect some stress to come in the first several weeks or so, until we get fully moved in and situated. I will probably be at BPBC in the morning for the first fifteen minutes or so of service to direct any misguided members or visitors to our new building. I look forward to coming for the second half of the service at our new building tomorrow morning.

What do you think?

God bless America

God bless the Church

May 16, 2009

Ryan Hampton

I Am Now Eagle Scout - Thanks To All

Tonight I completed the requirements of my Eagle Scout by passing the Eagle Scout Board of Review. I should hear back from Boy Scouts of America soon, as all of the information is processed nationally. I would like to take this time to thank all of you who have encouraged me along the way, whether as a friend, family member, scout, any or all of the above.
Just below is a picture of how the area of my project looked before hand.


I began as a scout in Tiger cubs, and worked my way a little there. But after a while, I lost interest to basketball and left. I came back in Pack 335 where my Uncle was Den Leader with my cousin Devin. I had fun in Webelos I & Webelos II. I left there to Troop 351. In 2003, I left Troop 351 and went to Troop 335, where I have been since. I have been Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader, Historian, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, and finally now Chaplain's Aid and Troop Guide.
Below is a picture of some of the work being done.


My project was a bit difficult. You have probably been seeing some pictures from my project on here. But with many people encouraging me, I succeded, even if my original goal of laying some 14 yards of concrete was not accomplished! It was difficult and time-consuming, but it was all worth it.
And as you see below, we are moving right along. The images speek for themselves!


I would like to thank everyone for whatever part you have had. God, my family, my friends, and those in the Troop- especially my Scoutmasters- Mr. Cuntiff, Mr. Watkins, Mr. Lenz (RIP), and Mr. Milam. Also a thanks to my Uncle David who got me back into Scouts when I was about 9. If you received an e-mail from me telling you thanks, then you are included - even if I did write to my entire address book. If I left you out, then don't worry. I might not have your e-mail address, or something could have messed up in sending it to you - or you may just be a random viewer of this. I know that there's many of those! (Not really). I will let you know of the plans for my ceremony. Thanks again, and God bless,
Hey, I am working! I am in the picture below!

And there is some of the final work being done.


Ryan

The Final Word

Just to let you all know, Ryan Hampton has another blog issued for sports. This blog is called The Final Word, and you can find it on the links. Among the topics listed now is the impredictability of college football, and the great games amongst the state of Alabama. Soon, we will be issuing a Top 25 (or perhaps higher) of the college football teams. The Final Word exists to discuss more than just college football, but college football is obviously the top priority now : )

Ryan

Who I'm Voting For

Currently, to the right, you should see several candidates for President. In my last blog, I wrote that soon this blog, "From the Mind of Ryan Hampton" will be issuing their official support for a candidate. The list to the right, in no particular order, is a list of potential candidates to win my official support. You may realize, that they are all Republicans, and that none of them are really considered the "front runners" in the election. For a while I had the picture of Ron Paul as the only candidate up there, because he was in the "lead" to win for the support. But I have not yet come out with official support, so I would rather leave the choices open, and when I decide to place my support for a candidate, I will make it known, and perhaps leave his picture as the only one left. You may leave comments to see who you think would make the best President, your reasons why, so that I may carefully consider the readers opinions. Thanks again,

Ryan

Been Busy

I have been very busy lately. Sorry! I will try to put together some more posts on here when I can relating to church worship, disagreements within the church, the Presidential Race, and so much more. There's more topics to talk about then there is time to write about them. I'll be back. Sorry for the millions of people out there on the edge of their seat waiting on my newest post. I have not forgot about you! Take care and God bless!
Ryan