In the afternoon, I met with Ben Pascal, the 38 year-old senior pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole. This is a new church, fonded in 1994, with a modern building constructed in 2000 and doubled in 2008. The church building itself says: non-traditional, mega-church influenced, trendy, evangelical. No organ, but piano, drums and other instruments, Large jumbo-tron screens at the front. No hymnals. Very friendly. Large staff. I must have been greeted and asked if I needed help by at least five people. Very large parking lot. Great location, across the street from the junior high. (see picture below).
The Church has become, I am told, the community church of Jackson, with outreach far exceeding its 400 members. Like Jackson Hole itself, which I was told is listed as among the richest per capita income towns in the nation, the church is very prosperous. Jackson is one of the more politically liberal towns in Wyoming, and the congregation is politically diverse. The sense of being a Presbyterian Church is fairly weak. While the session is aware of the controversial decisions of the General Assembly regarding marriage and divestment, there has been little discussion of these issues in the congregation. I got the impression that their very popular young pastor, who first came to Jackson Hole to ski and stayed to do youth work in this church before he went to seminary and returned as a pastor, will have to cross those bridges eventually, but there is no pressure for him to do so now.
I can see why many people like this church. It has a more traditional service on Sundays at 8 AM for those who want "no frills so they can get to the hills", and a more contemporary service (i.e., drums and amplified music) at 10:15. It's about as "with it" as Presbyterians get.
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