Hi First Presbyterian,
This Sunday will be our first outdoor worship service of the summer. There will be no 8:30 am service. The 10:00 am service will occur as usual, followed by the outdoor strawberry social at 11:00 am and the outdoor service at 11:30 am. I will be delivering the same sermon at both services, but they will be structured very differently. The outdoor service will be led in the spirit of American folk worship services, with special instrumentalists and American folk hymns. The service has been inspired by Charles Finney and the Second Great Awakening. Throughout the service, “prayer stations” will be utilized. Each of these prayer stations will have a different activity to help you pray. I will be located at one station for you to ask me for prayer and/or anointing oil. There will be a station to help you remember your baptism. There will be another station to have you write down a prayer request to be shared with another church member. One station will have meditative coloring pages with scripture passages on them for you to color during a time of prayer. You will also be able to use a prayer journal throughout the service. I am truly hopeful that this will be a meaningful time of worship.
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It occurs to me that you might not know about Rev. Charles Finney and the Second Great Awakening. Here is a little bit of context. Finney was a Presbyterian minister in the 19th century during a time of fierce disagreement between what were known as “Old School Presbyterians” and “New School Presbyterians.” The disagreement between the two groups was centered on a few issues, including church polity, theology, and slavery. Old School Presbyterians firmly rejected welcoming New England Congregationalists into the Presbyterian Church (as they believed it was compromising a strict adherence to the Westminster Confession of Faith) and felt that the issue of slavery was “too political” and fell outside the scope of the Church’s spiritually-focused mission. New School Presbyterians welcomed the union with New England Congregationalists into the Presbyterian Church, felt that scripture could be interpreted faithfully without strict adherence to the Westminster Confession of Faith, and saw advocating for abolition as falling within the scope of the Church’s spiritual mission, regardless of its political nature.
Charles Finney was a New School Presbyterian active in Upstate New York, and his ministry represented one additional point of disagreement between the Schools: revivalism. Finney is known as the “Father of Modern Revivalism.” He led revival services to inspire people to a commitment to faith in Jesus Christ. At the time, Finney’s revivals were popular and effective and also very controversial. He often had women lead public prayers, frequently denounced slavery (calling it a “great national sin” and “a sin of the church”), and denied Communion to slaveowners. His preaching emphasized the work of the Holy Spirit of empowering believers to overcome sinfulness and live like Jesus. He invented a preaching tool called the “anxious bench,” a place in the sanctuary reserved for those who wished to receive prayer because they had been so affected by the preaching. This “anxious bench” was the beginning of the modern-day “altar call.”
Finney led a revival at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester from September 1830 to March 1831. As a result of the Rochester Revival, people in the city and surrounding areas were deeply affected. People attended church services more regularly, and there was an almost instant social reform.
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This period of Presbyterian history is important and inspiring. While I won’t be offering any altar calls (or utilizing an “anxious bench”) on Sunday at the outdoor service, there will be multiple opportunities for us to engage in personal prayer. If you are comfortable attending the outdoor service, I sincerely hope to see you there.
Peace to you,
Pastor Neff