I decided to undertake the exploration of the First Presbyterian Church of American Fork namely
because it's close to where I live, and I thought the building had pretty architecture, notably the
stain glass windows. Admittedly, I picked this location due to aesthetics, and proximity as
someone who appreciates historical architecture. Because I am not a religious or spiritual person,
this assignment forced me out of my comfort zone a bit and initially I wasn't really looking
forward delving into this avenue. In hind site this was a I good experience, I learned about some
of the stark differences in this religion as compared to the LDS church which I was raised in.
From this experience I took away an appreciation for the profound sense of caring within this
Presbyterian community, it was genuine and it was sincere, and I did find the concept of
exploring fundamental philosophical questions about human nature using Kluckholm and
Strodbeck's Value Orientations interesting. The church's website provides additional information
about their mission, and values and can be found here First Presbyterian Church of American
Fork.
Religion
Presbyterians believe in "the sovereignty of God, and the authority of Scripture”(Presbyterian
Mission Agency), asserting that salvation comes solely through God's grace this theology which I
don't completely understand is derived Calvinistic theology which still exists in many religions
today.
Another interesting thing to note is the leadership the governs this religion consists of a body of
“elders” (Presbyterian Mission Agency) who make the decisions about the direction of the
church, which is different from denominations led by a single figure like a president or pope. This also leads to different approaches and teaching strategies in different areas meaning there is
derivation on the experience depending on where you go and who's in charge.
Another thing to note is that this religion see's doctrine as the cornerstone they use it to guide
their daily life and decisions, reflecting their commitment to biblical teachings (Presbyterian
Mission Agency), this becomes abundantly clear during my attendance of their church service.
Religious and Cultural Function
Upon entering the doorway to the church I held the door for some strangers who were very polite
and thanked me with smiles. When I walked into the chapel I immediately took in the decor and
architecture. I would re midst if I didn't relay this information as a another stark difference
between the two religions The chapel was a small but ornate building with a tall curved A-frame
type of ceiling. The pews were dark wood with elegant carvings in the sides, and there were
many large beautifully detailed stain glass windows with pictures of Jesus Christ along side
scriptural quotes. This is very different from the Mormon churches I grew up attending, as they
all seem to have a predefined assembly, blue carpet and very little decoration.
Before I go further let me preface this report with some personal background, I am not a
religious or spiritual person, I grew up in the Mormon region and chose not to follow that path at
young age. I am an now an agnostic atheist. I don't deny the possibility that there could be some
sort of creator or god but I wouldn't model my lifestyle off of any type of faith based construct.
That said, I approached this project with an open mind with the goal to learn and broaden my
horizons and leave cynicism at the door.
During my visit and observation of the Presbyterian services, I noticed several stark contrast
from the cultural norms and behaviors when drawing a comparison from my childhood religion.
I'll visit these now through a chronological breakdown. The procession started with a welcoming
announcement from a woman with the title of secretary, Jamie knight, who greeted all visitors and seem to briefly glance my way as I scratched notes and looked around at the people and
surroundings in the room feeling a bit like an impostor.
The opening prayer made it evident that this was going to be nothing like what an LDS service.
The congregation actually participated in the prayer by reciting of scriptural verses in unison to
conclude the prayer. I recognized some of the words of these scripture verses from movies I had
seen. One portion I can still recall was “give us this day our daily bread” , which I later found out
is called the lords prayer. After this prayer it was on to singing next, the congregation sang three
hymns, standing during the performance. I was a surprised actually how enthused, and engaged
the congregation was. Some people closed their eyes and looked upward, as if to receive divine
inspiration. Having heard these hymns in the Mormon church, and I was surprised to find
multiple hymn books containing unfamiliar songs. I stood and observed, by the time the songs
were over I was very grateful to finally sit down.
The service proceed to a time for personal confession after the songs were over. There was
projector which showed a screen that read “What do you need to say to God?”. The Pastor, Phil
Hughes informed the us this time was designated for you to confess your sins and ask for
forgiveness. Everyone was quite for roughly 5 minutes some appearing to pray, while others
looking deep in thought, I tried to keep my writing as quietly as possible, and not appear
intrusive. This was followed by yet another hymn; this congregation must surely like singing.
The next slide read “Prayers of the People” this segment was my favorite part of the service. It
started with the pasture to announcing a positive outcome for someone the congregants had been
praying for, followed by some applause. The applause took by surprise because clapping for
applause was not a acceptable norm in the Mormon church processions. Members then stood and
offered suggestions for whom to pray for today. They then collectively prayed for all of these
people lead by pasture and recanting scriptures at certain times. I admired their concern, and caring for anyone they thought needed a prayer. It was this point I started to realize the emphases
on scriptural doctrine as compared to my experiences in the Mormon church.
It was now time for the pasture to give his sermon which focused on the important principles
about parenting and he related it to the book of Samuel, apparently Samual's children weren't
great god fearing citizens and this warranted a discussion. This was followed by yet another
standing hymn.
Perhaps the biggest contrast between Mormonism and this church was the communion,
specifically there was a cup of red wine on display. I was actually a little in disbelieve that their
was actually red wine in a Utah church being administered. There was a communion cup but it
wasn't shared between people it served more as a symbol, rather they had small cups if some
wanted to participate. After communion there was yet another hymn, I took this opportunity to
leave without having to socialize further which I'm sure my professor isn't going to like to read.
Overall, I sensed that this religion values community and family, with a theme of vulnerability
and an emphasize on confessions with sincerity.
Value Theory
Relating the activities and beliefs of the Presbyterian Church to Kluckholm and Strodbeck's
Value Orientations:
Human nature:
The Presbyterian Church, teaches that human nature is inclined towards sin due to the Fall total
depravity. Essentially the fall of depravity is a Calvinist theology this religion has derived from
it's teachings. It is the idea that the profaned impact to a persons mind, emotions, flesh etc due to
sin lead to a state of depravity and that only through god(Ligonier Ministries). This aligns with
the view that human nature from the text that people are a “Mixture between good and evil”(Martin & Nakayama). Basically people are naturally sinful creatures, but they are capable
of good through divine god.
Unlike the teachings of the Mormon religion, where salvation is contingent upon repenting
through atonement which often involves genuine remorse, according to their doctrine the “The
natural man is an enemy to God”(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), this is a
concept I personally disagree with.
Relationship between humans and nature:
Presbyterians consider themselves caretakers of the earth, and that humans should live in
harmony with nature. This is based on the belief that the earth is God's creation, entrusted to
humans to protect(Presbyterian Church U.S.A). Thus according to the text we can categorize
Presbyterians as “Harmony exists between the two”(Martin & Nakayama) . I personally admire
this aspect about this religion.
Relationship between humans:
Presbyterian's practice collectivism at many levels, they promote community and support the
members. This is exhibited even in the leadership, where the church is lead by a board of elders
that represent their congregation. This egalitarian type structure promotes loyalty among the
members, and we can conclude according to the book that they fall under the “group-oriented”
category.
Preferred personality:
Based on the information provided by the Presbyterian Mission Agency we can see that
Presbyterian Church places a strong emphasis on active engagement in various areas that reflect a
commitment to social justice, community, and mission work (Presbyterian Church U.S.A) thereby can be classified as aligning with the “Doing”(Martin & Nakayama,) category according
to the text.
Time Orientation:
Presbyterians actively engage in planning and actions that prepare for the future, which can be
seen in their emphasis for educational programs. They're a proponent in what could be considered
both moral, and spiritual development for future generations. This is an obvious checkbox that
they show their commitment to the future, thus we can safety categorize them as a “Future
Orientation “(Martin & Nakayama) group according to the text.
Analysis
I often find myself thinking about the question of if humans are or naturally good or evil, and so
I thought I would take this as an opportunity to expand on that. While the Presbyterian believe
that man is a mix of good, and evil inherently, and the Mormons believe that we are evil. I
subscribe to the philosophical teachings of Confucius when it comes to this subject. According to
Confucius, or more accurately, his follower Mencius, humans possess an inherent goodness, a
purity at birth that external influences can corrupt According to Mencius: “Mencius asks us to
imagine a situation in which a child is about to fall in a well. Who would not feel compassion and
alarm at seeing this? One feels alarm neither because he wanted to get in the good grace of his
parents, nor because he wished to win the praises of his fellow villagers or friends, nor yet
because he disliked the cry of the child.” (Ogunyomi & Ogundele, 2021, pg. 77). While I realize
this is a bit of a chicken or the egg paradox I think this sentiment is hard to disagree with, and
thus I have to conclude that I would disagree at a fundamental level about the nature of mankind
or the need for a sovereign entity to deliver us to grace.
Reflection
Before going into this project, I'll admit I wasn't thinking this would not change my perspective
much on religion, or organized religion in general. My stance has not been a very dynamic one
for many years in this regard. However, stepping into the Presbyterian community was an
interesting experience, and it did make me grow an new found appreciation for their
culture/religion. It was interesting to watch their way's of worship (and excessive singing), but
observing the genuine caring restored some of my “faith” for lack of a better term that good can
come from organized regions. This experience moved my very static opinion on the matter
slightly, making me appreciate the collective spirit that religion can produce.
References
Martin, J. N. Intercultural Communication in Contexts (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher
Education.Ligonier Ministries. The Presbyterian Doctrine of Total Depravity. Retrieved
February 26, 2024, from https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/the-presbyterian-doctrine-of- total-depravity
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Natural Man: An Enemy to God. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://rsc.byu.edu/book-mormon-mosiah-salvation-only-through- christ/natural-man-enemy-god
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). About Us. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://presbyearthcare.org/about-us/
Presbyterian Mission Agency. Who We Are. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://www.presbyterianmission.org
First Presbyterian Church of AmericanFork ,https://www.americanforkpres.org/about-us
Ridge Presbyterian Church. Beliefs. https://brpc.org/who-we-are/beliefs/. Ligonier Ministries. The Presbyterian Doctrine of Total Depravity.https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/the-presbyterian-doctrine-of-total-depravity
Millet, R. L. The Natural Man: An Enemy to God. https://rsc.byu.edu/book-mormon-mosiah-
Ogunyomi, A. I., & Ogundele, E. A. (2021). Aristotle, Confucius, and Rousseau on Human Nature and the Golden Mean: A Comparative Analysis. Prajñā Vihāra, 22(1), 71-84. Retrieved from http://www.assumptionjournal.au.edu/index.php/PrajnaVihara/article/view/5547/3120
