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.
I doubt there is any way for me to adequately express my delight at becoming the new Associate Pastor for Youth and Their Families here at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church! Since my first day in July, I have felt welcomed and affirmed in my call to serve Jesus here, and I am so thankful to become a part of the BMPC family. Walking alongside young people as they grow is a profound privilege, one that I do not take for granted.
Twenty-one years ago, I joined Singing City Choir, first as associate conductor and one year later, as Music and Artistic Director. From the very beginning of my tenure with this august group – founded in 1948 as one of the first integrated choirs in America – I have felt the resonance between its passion for social justice and BMPC’s wonderful focus on outreach and mission. As with BMPC, every decision Singing City makes is driven by those passions.
What is it about mountains that invoke a spiritual or religious response from us as human beings? Maybe the thinness of the air, the lack of oxygen, or the exhaustion when we finally reach the top?
“A holy experiment.” That’s how the English Puritans understood what they were attempting to do, by crossing the Atlantic in the first part of the 17th century and planting a colony far from the reach of bishops or kings. Seeing themselves as the wandering Israelites, seeking the Promised Land after escaping Egypt, the pious faithful huddled on the top deck of the Arbella as their leader, John Winthrop, delivered his now famous sermon.
If there is one aspect of the Christian faith that has embedded itself into my being, one truth that I return to again and again, it is this: Nothing we have is our own. Everything is a gift from God.
To the outside world, I was a 14-year-old dressed in a Bible costume welcoming kindergartners into a highly-decorated preschool classroom. My co-leader and I greeted them asking if they had heard the news about Paul arriving in Rome. They giggled. They knew we were pretending, and we were indeed in the preschool classroom, not Bethany outside Jerusalem. We washed their feet and welcomed them to share a meal at our table. They helped us make bread and soup, grinding grain and kneading dough.
Another program year has ended! And all God’s people (or at least the BMPC pastors) said, Amen!
