We are just three weeks from once again hosting the Lower Merion Code Blue Shelter in our building for January. Last year was a transformative experience for our neighbors and our congregation as we welcomed men sleeping outside in our community on the coldest winter nights to stay in the church gym. Hosting again this January will continue to shape who we are as a church and as individuals.
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.
Gracious God, we celebrate this Thanksgiving Day by rejoicing in the abundance of your many blessings. We are thankful for our nation's long-ago commitment to setting aside a day of rest dedicated to gratitude. We praise you for your goodness, which makes life meaningful and fills our days with joy. Thank you for the love we share with family and friends, for your claim upon our lives to share our gifts with others, and for your grace, which binds us to one another in community.
As the season shifts from fall into winter, the days are cooler, and the nights are longer; thank you for your light that shines within us and through us as disciples of Christ. We are grateful for the shelter of comfortable homes, for tables overflowing with the food of your good earth, and for the company we share among those we cherish and those whom you beckon us to serve. We give thanks for the church, which brings us together for worship, to raise our voices to the music of the spheres, to enjoy Christian nurture among our congregation, and to reach out in service to those in need.
As we celebrate the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving, we give thanks for our country’s beauty and wonder, its brave history, and a future of hope and dreams. We ask your guidance among leaders who govern us, our allies with whom we share a common call to justice, and all those who work to ensure basic human needs for your children the world over. May the earliest Thanksgiving meals shared long ago on the shores of this young nation inspire that wonderous peace that comes through cooperation and appreciation of human diversity.
As we feast around bountiful tables, we are mindful of those who do not have enough to eat in our community, in our fair city, and the world. We pray for you to work miracles again of multiplying bread and enlisting us to share it. May our gatherings this day be blessed by your presence so that we may be strengthened to serve you in all we do in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Agnes W. Norfleet
Pastor
Pastors, especially interim ones like me, step into stories that began long before they arrived in a congregation and will continue to be told long after they leave. Why things are done in an idiosyncratic way, why certain people or committees are at odds, or the fabled origins of a beloved tradition are common stories pastors must navigate. Of course, this can be challenging, but other times, it is a delight to step into a story that started before you and will continue long after you. The annual youth Thanksgiving Pancake Breakfast, occurring next Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, from 8:30-11:30 a.m. in Congregational Hall, is one such delightful story.
This week, every year for the past ten years, I have written to the church about the virtue of alternative giving at Christmas. I have told you that the piles of physical gifts in our house have continued to shrink. I have shared how I use gifts given through AGM to teach my friends and family about the mission work of BMPC. I have even confessed how I send fewer and fewer Christmas cards each year, but when I do, they no longer have baby pictures but AGM insert cards stuffed in them. But this year, I want to highlight something completely different regarding the BMPC Advent Gift Market.
Grace and peace to you from God and our Redeemer Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
This has been a difficult election season during a time of great division in our country and community. Our families and church family have been anxious and conflicted. This fall, the church has hosted many gatherings to help us consider and claim our values as Christians and as citizens. Through preaching and prayer in worship, classes, special programming, and a Community Forum focused on political polarization, BMPC has encouraged engagement in political dialogue with those of differing perspectives and voting responsibly according to our Christian values and as Presbyterians who affirm the basic tenet of Reformed theology that “God alone is Lord of the conscience.”
Regardless of one’s stage in life, certain dates are remembered. A child’s birthday, a couple’s first date, the birthday of a beloved pet, perhaps the date you were offered your dream job, and, of course, wedding anniversaries! For most of us, those landmark dates also include the date a loved one passed from this life to the next. While birthdays are typically observed in a group with much festivity, dates such as a spouse, parent, or child's passing are typically observed with some solitary reflection. I have lived long enough to now observe many such dates –my brother and mother, numerous choir members, and countless beloved members of BMPC. Even with the passage of time, these observances are difficult.
Through the years, I’ve been blessed by friendships with several clergy mentors, from whom I have learned many of those churchy things that don’t get taught in seminary. Among them, the best teacher for stewardship was the late K.C. Ptomey, who chose autumn as the season to retire so he could preach through yet another Stewardship Season at his beloved Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Nearing the end of a long and distinguished career in ministry, K.C. enjoyed being plain-spoken and honest about the need for his congregation to support the church with their financial resources.
- Serving More Than Food: How BMPC Students Are Nourishing Their Neighbors
- Grateful for Our Long-Term Members
- October 6: Breaking Bread and Blessing Animals
- Community Forum Hosts Robert Talisse
- Fall Food Drive
- Singing for Your Life
- The Vital Significance of Befriending Strangers
- Safe, Sound, Whole, Well
- Big Shoes to Fill
- Blessing the Backpacks
- Welcome Andy Greenhow to Youth Ministry!
- “Canticles of Praise”
- The Creatures All Around Us
- What has Value?
- Youth Mission Trip to Peru
- A Decent Purpose
- Vacation Bible Camp
- BMPC’s Work Toward Belonging and Inclusion
- Invitation to Travel with the Choir to France June 13-24, 2025
- Thank God for Theologians