Before I got here, I looked for churches online so that I would have a place to go when I got here. And I had narrowed it down to two: the Allegheny Center Alliance Church on East Ohio Street and the Community House Presbyterian Church and Learning Center on Parkhurst. I actually went to both churches this morning. ACAC was at 8:30, with Community House at 10:45. And with that, I was able to pick one. They made it easy, too. ACAC would just be more of the same. They even went so far as to say that they do not allow women to speak in their church, that if we had questions, we had to ask our husbands, or tell our husbands our thoughts and they would relay them. Yeah. No thanks.
Community House on the other hand is completely different from any church I've ever been to. It seems more authentic, which surprises me, given that it's a Presbyterian church; I went to one of those when I was a kid...and then became an atheist. I'll be going to Community House from now on.They are literally "Come as You Are." And there's no "But don't stay that way." This church truly is Christ-centered, which for me is a first. People are friendly, not judgmental. When I'd walked into ACAC, no one said hello. No one was smiling. You'd think people would be happy to be in church, but in this case, apparently not. It's like that line from 2004's Miracle: "They're Russians. They get shot if they smile." Community House has real, welcoming, people. That's what I was looking for, and I found it.
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