Exceptional Church Service at 1st UMC Niagara Falls

Even when traveling I like to make it to church, and I especially like to visit new churches and see just what they’re doing. One often ends up in an annoying service, but I’ve also had some of my most encouraging moments with regard to the state of the church in attending services I picked out of the yellow pages (as I did today) when traveling.

Today’s choice was First United Methodist Church of Niagara Falls. I couldn’t even find a web site for them, but I could follow the directions to their address, so off I went. I’ve previously blogged about St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Niagara Falls, which is now closed. That was disappointing though not too surprising due to small congregation and large building that was demanding to maintain. The good news is that the building was donated to a growing congregation and is thus still being used to God’s glory.

I generally am not going to blog about negative experiences, and certainly not by name. There’s enough negative stuff going around. I’ll do what I can to influence United Methodist worship by underlining the things I like.

Since Niagara Falls First UMC doesn’t appear to have a web site, I’m not sure what the situation is with the pastor. Rev. Tom Kraft, listed as senior pastor of Pendleton Center UMC was presiding, and appeared to be covering the church as pastor. A retired pastor under appointment is listed on the conference web site. In any case, Pastor Tom conducted an excellent worship service.

Amongst the things I really appreciated were the relaxed style, even for a service with liturgy in a traditional format, well-done music. The choir isn’t large, but is accompanied and well-directed by Carl Mayer. I could listen to him play twice as much without getting bored, but then the service would probably be too long. He chooses music that is well suited to the choir size and abilities. (Probably the most common failure in church choir directors is selected music that doesn’t suit the choir. Even a non-musician such as myself will notice the results.) He also plays some engaging music on the piano.

Probably my biggest pet peeve, and the one I encounter the most frequently is a communion service that is sort of an appendix to the service. You’ve probably all experienced such services. The whole service appears to go one direction, and then all of a sudden it feels like someone suddenly remembers communion. This is followed by a rote reading of the liturgy from the UM hymnal with no additions, a very formal blessing of the elements, and offering the elements in an efficient and rapid way.

In this case, the liturgy of communion fit in, Pastor Tom connected liturgy and proclamation of the word seamlessly, “words appropriate to the season” were sprinkled where they belonged, and thus the Eucharist became part of a unified act of worship. The pastor prayed for people at a kneeling rail which I think is an awesome addition to the service.

It is unfortunate that the sanctuary was much less than half filled. The folks who weren’t sitting in those pews missed something special.

I say all this not to flatter or advertise a particular congregation but simply to relate my own experience, and hopefully to encourage some folks. I’m not a consultant on liturgy, and I have no idea what next week will bring at this church. But why not take the trouble to visit churches on vacation? Sometimes you will be disappointed, but many times you will be blessed, and maybe you will have an opportunity to bless others. I have found that I receive a blessing many more times than I’m disappointed. Often I see things that I can take back to my home church and apply. I also find that actually experiencing various United Methodist churches is a strong antidote to the negative attitude of some United Methodists about our denomination.

There was nothing really complex used in this service. Simple props and a video screen enhanced the presentation of the Word, but the props didn’t take over the message. The sermon was on “Handling Complaints” from Exodus 16. I particularly like the suggestion of the “five finger check”–when someone claims “everyone” is complaining, ask them to name five. I think that would work. Enthusiasm, energy, and a serious effort at congregational involvement all paid off. Of course it didn’t hurt at all that the pastor presented a message he clearly believed, and thought important, or that he clearly was fully involved in the Eucharist.

I won’t be in Niagara Falls for another Sunday, so this will be the only church service for this trip. I hope all those faithful readers who have tomorrow off will enjoy themselves, and I empathize with those who have to work!