Tag: Pittsburgh

Bridges

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Pittsburgh is the City of Bridges. You can’t go anywhere in Pittsburgh without crossing them. Unlike that other famous city of bridges, Venice, which is crisscrossed with canals, Pittsburgh is crisscrossed with rivers and hills, and bridges are needed to cross between the hills, and over the streams that run down from them. 

When you cross a bridge, you trust that the bridge will hold. Countless times every day, that trust is affirmed.

Ann Voskamp, in her book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson in saying, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”

When some great challenge looms up ahead, and we’re consumed with fear and anxiety, Voskamp suggests that we say a prayer of thanks.

Thank the Bridgebuilder every time you cross a bridge to remind you of the countless times His bridges have held.

The church at the start line

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The Pittsburgh Marathon is Sunday, May 6th. Tens of thousands of runners and visitors from across the country and around the world come downtown. It’s like no other morning all year.

Our church is just blocks from the start line, right in the middle of it all

A lot of churches are completely blocked by the course on Marathon Sunday. Ours isn’t. You can take the “T” to within half a block of the church. If you drive and can make it to Grant Street, you can park in the Mellon Garage, half a block from the church on Sixth Avenue.

God put our church in the perfect place to be a blessing on Marathon Sunday.

When they built our church building over 100 years ago, the idea of closing streets and churches on Sunday to run a race would have been scandalous. It would never have happened. Even in the 1950s, streets were closed for church events, not the other way around.

For the last eight years, I’ve been out on the street in front of the church at 5:45 AM on Marathon Sunday, blessing runners. I pray with folks in small groups or one-on-one, or over the loudspeakers to the hundreds of runners walking down the street to their corrals.

I’ve discovered that people are nervous about taking on so big a challenge. In those moments before the race, they’re anxious to call on a Higher Power. Many runners are Christians who run for God, and many others run for causes that are important to them. Hearing words of blessing, grace, and peace is important to them.

This year, we’ll again be playing motivational Christian music in front of the church, interspersed with our prayers. Later in the morning (10:45) we’ll hold our worship service outside and preach from our unique outdoor pulpit. God’s Word will be loose out on Sixth Avenue.

What a privilege to be the church at the start line.

Heart of the city

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I often wonder if the folks who dedicated our beautiful church building could have imagined the changes the city has seen over the last 111 years. A century ago, the city was a dirty and gritty industrial giant. Downtown was home to factories and factory workers. Back then, they carved the worship times in stone on the front wall of the church, never imagining the day when faith would no longer be the center of civic life.

But today, Pittsburgh is back.

Over ten billion dollars in investments have poured into the area around this church in the last decade; over a hundred million this year.

Where else would you put a church today?

With faith no longer the center of people’s life, we have an amazing opportunity to live and speak God’s truth into the heart of the city. More than ever, people need to hear the Good News of the Savior’s birth, and the message that God is still making everything new.

Most livable city? For whom?

We’re proud that Pittsburgh continues to be recognized for things like the country’s “Most Livable City.” But there are still thousands all around us for whom Pittsburgh is not yet livable at all.

That’s why God has us here.

In the New Year, we hope to grow our ministries of service and compassion, and lift up the hurting people of Pittsburgh. As always, we will speak God’s truth in a thoughtful and winsome way.

Will you join us?

Marathon Sunday

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Its 5:45 on Sunday morning and it’s still dark, but there are more people on Sixth Avenue than in the middle of a normal workday. It’s Marathon Sunday in Pittsburgh. I’m helping Victor set up the new sound system on the front porch of the church when a lady in running clothes comes up the steps. She’s on her way to the Point for a group photo with her relay team, but first she needs a blessing.

Praying with people before the race is one of my very favorite things about being a minister of this church. Most Christians are reserved about sharing their faith, not sure how they’ll be received. But not Christian runners on race day. They know they depend on a higher power.

We played motivational Christian music over the loudspeakers which you could hear a block away. People loved it. One lady came down the street singing along to Mandisa’s “Overcomer.” Four guys from New York had seen the ad for “Blessing the Runners” and asked me to pray for them. A trembling woman grabbed my hand and asked me to pray for a loved one. A mom asked me to pray for her kids. I approached a big group posing for a picture in front of the church and asked if they wanted to be photobombed by a minister. They joyfully put me right in the middle of their group and asked me to pray for them. Still others left wiping away tears.

I prayed with folks in small groups or one-on-one, and other times I spoke over the loudspeakers to the hundreds of people walking down the street to their corrals.

Adam from New Castle checked in on the church Facebook page: “I wanted to give a shout out to you guys. As I was trying to navigate my way early Sunday morning to my corral for the marathon, I got turned around and started to panic a bit (which I almost never do). I called my wife and asked her to pray as I was nearly in tears because I couldn’t find my way. At that moment, playing loudly from your outdoor sound system was Casting Crowns’ “Courageous”. I immediately became at peace, turned the corner, and directly in front of me was the area with which I needed to be. Thank you so much for the encouragement. Also, praise to Him for helping me on my way.”

What a privilege to serve Christ in the heart of the city.