Avenel

Church visit of the week: First Presbyterian Church of Avenel, where my friend Jason is the pastor. He was the chaplain at camp in 2007. I ran into him randomly at Princeton Seminary while I was hanging out there one day with a bunch of camp friends (he was there for a meeting), I asked if I could visit his church, and he said yes. Done and done!

So today was the day. I didn't really experience holiday traffic given the times and directions I was driving, thank goodness. Jason's church was one of the smallest I visited, but as always, I enjoyed it. Worship was a very comfortable combination of traditional and contemporary, and I really like Jason's leadership and style of preaching.

I wasn't sure what to expect of Avenel. It's just up the road from where I lived while attending Rutgers, and I spend enough time in the Edison area visiting friends. I wasn't sure if it would bear stronger resemblance to the suburbia of Edison or the more post(ish)-industrial areas to the northeast-- Rahway, Elizabeth. Along Route 1 it looked to be more like the more manufactury areas, but as soon as I exited into Avenel, it struck me as pretty pleasant. The church itself was a more modern building than I've seen this winter and spring. I suspected that the sanctuary was built in the 60s or 70s, and upon looking it up on their website, it seems I was right-- dedicated in late 1965. Very kind of oddly-shaped, open sanctuary with some pews that looked like people in the past might envision furniture of the future. It was different and I kinda liked it.

Of course, I was just thrilled to be visiting an old friend and a new town.