THIS IS A NICE CHURCH that I attend periodically...often in conjunction with attendance at the Catholic & Episcopal churches right next door down the block... I can catch all three if I time it right...and I am closest in upbringing to the presbyterian tradition , which is calvinist in general, and I am Christian Reformed by upbringing, which is also calvinist & reformed; so I usually, albeit not always, can depend on a presbyterian to have some of that affiliation to protestant calvinism and the reformed tradition; albeit some presbyterians have kind of gone off into their own world;, but I think Andy Eagles is still with us, still down to earth...seems like a pretty good guy, takes time to give a good sermon...uses some humor, doesn't take himself too seriously, but seriously enough. One thing I don't like about htis church is that they have a paid security guard in uniform at the entrance. It makes it feel too controlled "by law" when a church should allow to a certain extent the Spirit to allow for various inspirational moments "of the Spirit" which a person "of the law" in general is not going to look kindly toward. Even having to pass "inspection" as I enter past the female security guard is a bit emasculating. I have two bachelor degrees and an M.Div, probably at least the equivalent of Pastor Andy, maybe more, and yet some college dropout or associate degree security guard gets to give me the nod of approval or otherwise.? And yet if she was "in the Spirit" it might not matter, but I got the feeling she is "in the flesh." That makes all the difference in the world. A person "in the flesh" will judge you by appearance, either to their taste of approval or not. I don't think this latina female approves of me...maybe not my gender or my skin color or the way I dress, I don't know. But it shouldn't matter going to church, unless you are being a serious disruption, which I'm not.. ; im there to worship God. I go to a LOT of churches all around california and I rarely see a uniformed security guard at any of the, even the big mega-churches don't have them. Why does this little presbyterian church in beverly hills, with so many nice people, need a security guard? Pass this on to Andy. The church would do much better without security; at least not such obvious security at the door in a uniform. That's my prayer
