Welcome
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.
Early this Sunday morning, nine youth and three adults will hit the road for Charlotte, North Carolina, for this year’s youth mission trip with our partners at CROSS Missions. Throughout the week, these young people will have the opportunity to meet people completely different from themselves, serve their neighbors, grow in their own faith, and develop community with one another.
While several folks extended their stay in France, most of us who joined the BMPC Choir Tour to France returned Tuesday evening, tired perhaps from travel but also exhilarated by the experience. There are stories to tell, pictures to share, videos of the choir singing in stunningly beautiful and historic cathedrals, from Aix-en-Provence to Paris, with stops in between for sightseeing, community building, and, of course, amazing meals. Larry and I were privileged to be among the guests who got to tag along with the choir and support them with our presence during their five concerts.
The Wednesday before camp begins marks the start of a precarious countdown. It’s the moment we start moving our carefully laid out supplies and begin setting up shop in the Ministries Center. This Wednesday, we were facing a bit of a conundrum. Looking at the radar, there was a large swath of green heading for us. In the education building, there were boxes and baskets packed with supplies, giant tissue paper flowers, and a team of volunteers with the singular question, “Can we beat the rain?”
Tomorrow night, 76 BMPC choir members, church members, and community friends will depart for a choir tour to France. This trip, with the largest number of travelers since the 2001 tour to Brazil, will start in the south of France and over the course of a packed week, head north to Paris. The choir will perform in some of the most historically important churches in France, including the church where Mary Magdelene’s remains are purported to be buried and in Paris, St. Sulpice Church, home to one of the most spectacular organs in the world (and the inspiration for many of the sounds in the BMPC organ).
Almost exactly ten years ago, the letter that announced the Congregational Meeting to call the Reverend Rebecca Kirkpatrick to join the BMPC pastoral staff described a process that considered 77 individual pastors, ten phone conversations with potential candidates, and four in-person interviews from a strong pool of candidates. The letter concluded with these words from the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee:
Earlier this spring, I went on a mini-retreat with a group of high schoolers to start considering spirituality in college and beyond. I gave them three questions to wrestle with throughout the day, questions that I think are core to faith development in emerging adulthood.
Who are you?
Who are you in God?
Who are you in community?
I am always grateful when elders and deacons are getting ordained and installed (as recently happened at BMPC), and we all get to hear the vows they take. But there is one question that always brings me up short, because it was also a question for me when I got ordained as a pastor over four decades ago. “Will you in your own life seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love your neighbors, and work for the reconciliation of the world?” Okay, on my personal to-do list: an oil change for the car – check; cleaning out the gutters on the house – check; and working for the reconciliation of the world – checkmate! It is a good thing to recognize that we, by ourselves, are lacking the capacity to carry out the expansive ministry to which God calls us.
