{"id":1082,"date":"2010-04-13T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2010-04-13T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2010\/04\/a-thriving-church-in-a-great-city-why-part-2.html"},"modified":"2010-04-13T00:00:01","modified_gmt":"2010-04-13T00:00:01","slug":"a-thriving-church-in-a-great-city-why-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/04\/a-thriving-church-in-a-great-city-why-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"A Thriving Church in a Great City . . . Why? Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago I began a short series<\/a> in response to a spring-break trip to New York City, in which my family and I visited Redeemer Presbyterian Church. As I explained in my first blog post in this series, Redeemer is an exceptional church in many ways. It has received plenty of attention because, among other things, it has grown in the last twenty years from nothing to a vibrant community of over 4,000 worshipers each Sunday. And all of this in New York City, not exactly the place we’d envision as a greenhouse for new church development and prodigious church growth. <\/p>\n

Why? Why is Redeemer Presbyterian Church thriving today? And why is Redeemer attracting thousands of younger people, who, according to recent studies, are notoriously uninterested in church, even though they may have a warm spot in their hearts for “spirituality”?<\/p>\n

You might think Redeemer is thriving because they feature cutting edge worship, with a hot band leading the latest worship music, lots of attention-grabbing visuals, encouragement of social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) during the service, and a trendy “worship in a dark warehouse lit only by candles” experience. It’s true that the worship service I attended was led by a high-quality band. Yet I wouldn’t call them “hot.” And some of the music they led was quite dated. We worshiped in a well-lit auditorium, and I could see no sign of liturgical art or mood-altering candles. There was no digital projection. Nor were we encouraged to exercise our texting thumbs during the service. What impressed me most about the worship service at Redeemer was its lack of cutting-edge gimmicks, combined with its solid theological integrity. The point was not for any of us to have a sweet experience. It was for God to be worshiped in Spirit and in truth.<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/span>The mention of truth makes for a nice segue to the sermon. It was preached by the Rev. Dr. Timothy J. Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer. In addition to leading Redeemer for the past twenty years, Keller is a best-selling author and highly-regarded national church leader. Before my visit to Redeemer, I had read several of Keller’s works, but I had never heard him speak. (Photo: Tim Keller preaching at the Hunter College evening service of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, March 14, 2010)<\/p>\n

\"PatrickWhen Tim Keller came to the front of the auditorium in order to preach, he didn’t look like the kind of charismatic figure who draws thousands of people, especially young people, each week. He looked rather professorial, actually, though dressed in black pants and a sweater rather than a tweed jacket. His almost completely bald head and pleasant visage reminded me of Professor Charles Xavier as played by Patrick Stewart in the X-Men<\/i> films. (Photo: Patrick Stewart. Public domain.)<\/p>\n

Like the worship service at Redeemer, Keller’s sermon didn’t utilize any bells and whistles. When the female worship leader finished reading the Scripture passage from which he was going to preach, Keller stood up and began to remind his congregation of the recent focus of his preaching, a series of sermons focusing on the Servant of God from the latter part of Isaiah. <\/p>\n

To be continued . . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago I began a short series in response to a spring-break trip to New York City, in which my family and I visited Redeemer Presbyterian Church. As I explained in my first blog post in this series, Redeemer is an exceptional church in many ways. It has received plenty of attention…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[102],"class_list":["post-1082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-life","tag-church"],"yoast_head":"\nA Thriving Church in a Great City . . . Why? Part 2 - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/04\/a-thriving-church-in-a-great-city-why-part-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Thriving Church in a Great City . . . Why? Part 2 - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A couple of weeks ago I began a short series in response to a spring-break trip to New York City, in which my family and I visited Redeemer Presbyterian Church. As I explained in my first blog post in this series, Redeemer is an exceptional church in many ways. 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Why? Part 2"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}