Christian Stargazers
Fellowship Mission

fun, fellowship & faith

Last Updated: 8/27/07

We'll be glad to share the beauty of the night sky with you and your group while enjoying fellowship and witness in a unique atmosphere that is fun for both adults and kids. All of our members have had long experince in public astronomy education and will gladly bring the majesty of the night sky to your church or youth group under the stars. We have worked with many local church groups and our members have also provided programming for Camps Li-Lo-Li and Penn-York, as well as Family Life Ministries Youth Action group. We can provide programming in northwestern Pennsylvania and in the western Twin Tiers region of New York and Pennsylvania.

Our members are also often found enjoying the superbly dark, starry skies at Cherry Springs State Park during the May-October observing season and at Hearts Content NFS Recreation Area at other times of the year. Of course coming to Cherry Springs will often mean missing your regular church services on Sunday morning. Don't worry, during the summer season we conduct an informal vespers service at Cherry Springs on Saturday afternoon. Feel free to stop by our camp and chat or come to vespers.

If you haven't thought of these questions or something like them in the middle of the night while staring at a star-filled sky we'd be surprised. The awe that the night sky inspries naturally stimulates thoughts that go beyond our self-centered view of the universe. Of course, most people just "move on" and go back to the petty concerns that consume us most of the time. Still, there are some of us for whom these question don't go away so easily. Answering these questions is another form of exploration, the most important exploration one can make.

The Bible (especially the New Testament) is the best place to start that exploration, the wisdom and teaching it contains withstands the test of time. Still, many who are just beginning their search for spiritual truth find the Bible intimidating or difficult to understand. The most important thing is to find a translation of the Bible that speaks to you. As an adult rediscovering the Bible after 30 years away from my faith, I began with the New Living Translation (NLT). This modern translation was VERY important to me because it allowed me to make sense of the scriptures by replacing flowery and often difficult-to-understand text with an easy-to-understand, accurate, modern translation. Get a New Living Translation Bible and begin reading the book of John, this proved to be the best place to start for me. Studying the Bible is not like reading a text book, I'd recommend reading a chapter a day or less so that you can really take the time to weigh what it is that you have read.

While you're doing this I would also recommend some popular reading. We amateur astronomers tend to be an analytical yet fairly open-mided lot, so I'd recommend starting your popular reading with Lee Strobel's books: The Case For A Creator, The Case For Faith & The Case For Christ. Lee Strobel, was an ex-investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune who describes himself as a "former spiritual skeptic," and is now a teaching pastor. I'd further highly recommend the C.S. Lewis books: Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. Chip Ingram's audio series: Why I Believe is also excellent. There are hundreds of worthy titles to investigate, these are just a few that made an immediate impact on myself and others in the group.

A relatively new (in the USA) program that I'd recommend most highly for anyone exploring spirtuality in general and Christianity in particular is to take The Alpha Course (Alpha Course-USA). This is a multi-week series comprised of evenings that include: dinner, program and small group sessions, all in a very friendly, informal and truth seeking environment. If an Alpha program is available near you I'd urge you to take advantage of it, it is a remarkable experience. Nicky Gumbel has created a companion book and series of pamphlets: Questions of Life and in particular for amateur astronomers, his little booklet: Is There A Conflict Between Science And Christianity? However, be aware that the book only only scratches the surface of The Alpha Course because it is really the small group sessions that make the course.

Finally, if you happen to be from the northeastern quarter of the U.S. and can get to Cherry Springs State Park in north central PA. (PA.'s official dark-sky astronomy park) stop by our camp at the western end of the observing field and join us for some great stargazing and interesting discussions. Come and join us to find out why the area where Cherry Springs is located "God's Country"!

Light pollution is indeed a problem of the world, but it is much more too. God has charged us with being good stewards of his creation. He also demands that we Christians do all we can to spread the Good News. So what does this have to do with light pollution?

Psalm 19:1 says it all for stargazers. But the majesty of the night sky is NOT just for stargazers, it was meant for everyone .... we believe that God created the splendors of the night sky to allow us to see how small we are and yet, God loved us enough to send his only begotten son to die for our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him.

If we tolerate or contribute to the pollution of the night sky with manmade light that hides God's handiwork we are sinning by either ommission of action to fight the problem or by making the problem worse by our own action. So go forth and sin no more.

Want to make stargazers (astronomers) cringe? Call them astrologers. Astronomers are those who examine the night sky to enjoy its beauty or for the purpose of scientific discovery. Astrologers see the sky as a way to predict the future or foretell the traits or actions of individuals. The warning of Isaiah 47 is indeed accurate, but the Old Testament translation of "stargazers" refers to astrologers and we are most surely NOT astrologers! Neither do we worship the night sky or anything in it!