Preserving Preference

In the spring of the year, the time when many college students go out to sow their wild oats, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) students from colleges across the nation come to New York to visit churches and Christian ministries during the day and enjoy various restaurants and other attractions at night. All in all, these are great trips that expose Christian students to works with which they would otherwise be unfamiliar and some of them move to the city after graduation in order to participate.

Today we hosted RUF students from the University of Connecticut and I was able to share with them our vision for starting dozens of parish churches throughout the borough. They asked insightful questions about the receptivity of New Yorkers to the Gospel compared to other parts of the country, about our fraternal relations with other churches in our neighborhoods as well as practical questions about our local network.

I have delivered some version of my talk today innumerable times in the last five years to other student groups, churches, boards of directors, potential investors, friends and neighbors, yet I was unusually energized by my experience today. Part of the reason was that today's student group was unusually perceptive. Mainly I was energized by the fact that as Park Slope Presbyterian Church celebrates its 5th anniversary this weekend, I am more convinced today than I was five years ago that God is blessing our church planting efforts. And my conviction is rooted in many things, but the reason most prominent today is that I still love talking about Brooklyn.

Matt Brown, Senior Pastor
Brooklyn Presbyterian Church