Calvary OPC in Glenside, Pennsylvania is a fairly vanilla Orthodox Presbyterian congregation.  Granted, the exterior is aesthetically quirky, and the constraints of parking leave visitors wondering if they’ll be left behind should the rapture occur during a service. But the services are modest, centered on the word read and preached, the hymns are traditional; the Supper is administered once a month. Calvary is by no means high church, nor is it happy-clappy.
So when the PCA decides to plant a congregation only two miles from Calvary OPC, some on both sides might wonder about the need or advisability of a new conservative Presbyterian work in the area. What makes the situation even more anomalous is that the new plant is a daughter church of Tenth Presbyterian, a Center City Philadelphia congregation whose worship differs from Calvary’s only noticeably by virtue of special music – Tenth has an ambitious and tasteful choir, organ, and set of soloists while Calvary gave up on choirs in services about a decade ago. Granted, the new church plant may not be trying to replicate Tenth’s “style”; it might be after a different liturgical market. But since Calvary already provides a service and pulpit ministry that is in the ballpark of Tenth’s, it is not at all clear why the new church is necessary. Continue reading “Too Cool for You? Whither the PCA”
Old Life 