Pastors’ Column

Each week one of our pastors or staff members writes a column observing what is going on in our congregation, the Church and the world, and offering reflections on the Christian life and faith. Through this series of columns, we hope to connect your and our story to the enduring story of Christ; to offer pastoral reflections on our ongoing congregational life and mission; to report on news of the Presbyterian Church and Church universal; and to invite further reflection and deeper discipleship. We welcome your comments and suggestions. In other words, our words here are an invitation to continue the conversation.

Advent Workshop

the Rev. Rachel Pedersen November 30, 2017

In college, I had the opportunity to spend a summer working and researching in rural Ghana. Based at a vocational school, I worked with a microloan organization, with students preparing for national exams, and with a small sewing cooperative. I arrived ready to interview and gather data — a clear research plan in hand. One of the women I worked with asked how I would learn anything if I didn’t use my hands. I was confused at first, and then she showed me. When you study the cooperative’s business model, you need to actually sew a few buttons. If you want to teach the students, help them gather water when the pump breaks down. If you want to understand social capital in the community, sit in the kitchen before the microloan meeting and join the women grinding tomatoes for the community meal.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

the Rev. Dr. Agnes W. Norfleet November 22, 2017

Loving God,

We drink from wells we did not dig, and we eat from a bounty of goodness we did not harvest. You love us beyond measure, shower us with grace and patience, and call us into lives of meaning and purpose in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Our hearts overflow with gratitude for countless blessings.

Twenty-Five Years of Alternative Giving

the Rev. Rebecca Kirkpatrick November 16, 2017

In December 1992, the following article appeared in the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church Messenger:

Send a Kid (Goat) to Indonesia

Buy an “Alternative Giving Christmas Card” card for $5 to honor a friend, teacher, or relative. For each card purchased, a goat kid will be given by World Relief, an international Christian Agency, to a family in the Purwomartani region of Indonesia. Female goats give one-half a gallon of milk daily, providing children with a rich source of protein and calcium. The villagers will not only benefit from the immediate gift of the small animal, but will also receive training to breed their livestock. This is another opportunity provided by the Hunger Task Force.

What Lives On?

the Rev. Mary Steege November 9, 2017

What is a legacy? A legacy is something handed down from one generation to the next — an inheritance or a precious heirloom. It might be an ethnic or cultural history, or beliefs about the world, or expectations of how you should be in the world. We experience some legacies as blessing and others as burden. What has been handed down to you? What have you received from those who went before? Even better, what is the legacy that you will leave behind? What are you passing down through the generations, for good or ill?

For All the Saints

the Rev. Dr. Agnes W. Norfleet November 2, 2017

We associate O When the Saints Go Marching In with joyful, jazz funeral processions in places like New Orleans, and I imagine most of us only know the opening verse… O Lord, I want to be in that number when the Saints go marching in. The hymn actually has 12 verses, and it reads like the Book of Revelation, filled with apocalyptic images of the end times when God will be fully revealed and the people of God will stream into worship with endless praise before the throne of heaven.

Reformed and Always Being Reformed

the Rev. Rebecca Kirkpatrick October 26, 2017

All this month in worship we have been reflecting on what it means to claim the label of Protestant and even Reformed... to follow the watch words of the Reformation as we call them: Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, and this week, Scripture Alone.

On Wondering and Wandering

the Rev. Franklyn C. Pottorff October 19, 2017

These days I do a lot of wondering… and wandering. I suspect that’s what people do who are in new places, and as of this writing, who are also desperately trying to both pass and treasure the time before a new baby’s imminent arrival.

And as I continue to wander through the physical spaces of our incredible campus, a tiny question keeps lingering over me. It normally sneaks up on me when I have walked up to the side balcony of our English-Gothic Sanctuary to listen to a practice run on the organ, or when I’m sitting in the darkness of our Chapel, where the strongest light shines through our stunning Tiffany windows. It comes on slowly, and then sits on my shoulder, where I can’t seem to shake it off: Why don’t we build cathedrals anymore?