Month: May 2024

Some years ago, while pondering the summertime rhythms when folks are going and coming, the pastors decided to create a preaching theme for the season. The faces in the pulpit and pews change from week to week, but a series of sermons on a particular topic would provide a sense of continuity. One year, we polled the congregation and asked what theological themes you would like for the preacher to address. Two summers were spent preaching the Old and New Testament stories we teach our younger children. To our surprise there were texts to which a grownup member would say, “I’ve never heard that Bible story before,” and those summers took on the feeling of Vacation Bible Camp for adults!

The pastors have come to realize that a creative engagement with a summer preaching series allows us to explore significant passages of scripture and themes that don’t always fit into the church’s rhythms of the Fall Stewardship season, Advent, Lent, and Eastertide. While each preacher is free to choose what to preach about, we coordinate the series and work together with our musician colleagues to create a unifying offering of worship.

Earlier this spring, we brainstormed ideas and felt called toward Rachel Pedersen’s suggestion of preaching Biblical texts that feature animals. Now, lest you think this topic might be all light and whimsical, some of the most profound passages of scripture feature a diverse creaturely world. We find God revealed through stories from a serpent in the Garden of Eden to Isaiah’s vision of peace with the wild and tame together as wolf and lamb, calf and lion are led by a little child; from the birth of the Christ child in a stable to an adult Jesus imaging himself a Mother Hen and telling tales about sparrows, camels, and sheep. All the scripture stories of animals help us understand the depth and breadth of God’s desire for human welfare.

This Sunday, I will launch the series with a preamble, if you will, on the Genesis 1 account of creation and follow with a three-week series on the most famous fish story of all time, Jonah (which also includes cattle covered in sackcloth and God’s appointment of a very important worm). Then, the summer series will continue with my good colleagues taking up texts that further reveal the essential goodness of God’s creature-inhabited world.

For the theme’s name, of course, we thank James Herriott for lifting the title for his heartwarming book, All Creatures Great and Small, from the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful. If you are looking for summer reading, the Yorkshire veterinarian’s books would be good companions, or you could enjoy watching his stories play on the recent PBS Masterpiece Theater series. One of Herriot’s more famous lines is, “If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” That must be, at least in part, why the Bible is filled with stories, visions, and revelations that feature animals. This summer, I hope you will join us in delighting in the beauty and profound truths revealed through God’s creaturely engagement with the human family.

Some years back, in the early days of the pandemic, I wrote an open letter apology as a pastor’s column to Tammy Faye Bakker. If you’re bored, you can read it here. In the 1970s and ’80s, she and her husband, Jim, had built a media religious empire through televangelism. They had broadcast networks, merchandise, and eventually a Christian theme park. Of course, it all came crashing down following a very public scandal in 1987. I had assumed that as a mainline Christian, I would never need any of the tools they possessed to carry out ministry to an entirely virtual audience. But I was wrong.

The worldwide shutdown of 2020 had every organization pivoting to online instruments. Soon, we were figuring out how to broadcast to Facebook Live, positioning ring lights, setting up Zoom accounts, and leading worship in an empty 1,200-person Sanctuary. Because social media is all about the “likes,” “hearts,” and sharing, we worked to get the word out about our emerging online presence. It was a baptism by fire. We’ve come a long way.

Today, a virtual congregation of 400-500 people watches our Sunday morning services every week. We broadcast from a control room high up in the bell tower using a livestreamer that manages three cameras, with more possibly coming. Worship slides act as a digital bulletin for our viewers, and our streams are directed to our livestream page and YouTube. These videos are then edited and uploaded to our church’s Vimeo page weekly by our dedicated communications staff. We are just beginning to explore ways to engage our virtual worshipers, such as incorporating a digital friendship pad and fostering community. And let’s not forget our volunteers who ensure the sound quality in the Sanctuary, adjusting mic levels and responding to audio disruptions that sometimes occur.

I am deeply grateful for the dedication and hard work of our communications staff and volunteers who are leading our church’s efforts into the future. The next time you join us online, I invite you to join me in expressing your gratitude through a prayer, and perhaps even ‘like’ us to show your support.

See you Sunday.

There is an evaluative tool called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, which seeks to measure the impact of stressors in one’s life that might lead to resulting personal vulnerability. In using the tool, you can choose from a list of emotionally challenging events that you have encountered in the previous year. The list includes things like the death of a close friend, a change in living situation, and uncertainty about the future, among others. The ratings suggest that if you come up with a score over 300, you will be highly susceptible to stress-related illness. 1

It had been a harrowing time for Jesus’ disciples. Just over the previous seven weeks, they had gone through experiencing a death, terrible loss, chronic fear, certain fatigue, and significant anxiety about what the future would hold for them. It is a little hard to rate the stress level for the disciples – the test doesn’t have the option for the stress induced when one of your closest friends is resurrected. But I put in events that they had been through just over the previous seven weeks, and their stress score would have been well over 400, which means they were all fortunate not to have had a heart attack or stroke.

After Jesus’ resurrection, knowing what his followers had been through, he urged them to wait in Jerusalem for when God’s Spirit would be poured out upon them to enable them to carry out their calling. It was on Pentecost morning that the Spirit came in a powerful way. Jesus’ closest followers, the very people who had shown a significant lack of courage, unity, and common purpose when the confusing events of Jesus’ execution took place, were in a waiting room of sorts that Pentecost morning. Within themselves, they clearly did not have what was needed to hold together as a group, much less become a world-changing organization. They were in dire need. Their leader was gone. They showed no capacity to carry forward his ministry. They were dead in the water. But the same God who brought Jesus back from the dead brought those who loved Jesus back to life as well.

Mysteriously, wondrously, sounds of wind filled the room. Could it be the same as the wind of creation, the wind of God, which once again was bringing something to life? Something that can’t be seen, something that moves, something we feel, something whose effects we do see? Then there was fire, yet another symbol of God’s presence, going back to the story of the burning bush. Somehow, suddenly, they were on fire for God, filled with a desire to tell what had happened in Christ’s coming, filled with a God-given ability to communicate even across the normal bounds of languages. The disoriented, the tentative, the timid, and the orphaned were filled with the same Spirit that had enlivened Jesus. The Spirit of the resurrection suddenly took hold of them, and they were utterly transformed, from a wavering and fearful paralysis to a focused and passionate boldness. Peter, who so recently couldn’t bring himself to admit to one person in the middle of the night that he even knew Jesus, was now in the light of day publicly proclaiming that before thousands of people.

Could it be that the wind of God is blowing still? Was it only a brief spark of a holy flame that appeared a long time ago? Or are there, by the Spirit of God, new connections with God and others that move us out of our experiences of stress to stress that there is good news God has for all? This Sunday, May 19, is Pentecost Sunday. It is also when our confirmands will be joining the church. Something tells me the Spirit of God is still needed around here and that, by God’s grace, there is a wind that blows, a fire that burns in our midst, that can bring a new birth of God’s love, God’s presence, and God’s gifts!

1 https://www.simplypsychology.org/SRRS.html

This past Tuesday, alongside BMPC members, fellow Presbyterians, interfaith leaders, community members, and folks from all around Pennsylvania, I traveled to Harrisburg to participate in a CeaseFire PA event, advocating at the state house for the passage of common-sense gun legislation.

Each met with their local representatives and senators to discuss the particular bills in the process – bills that limit access to conversion devices that turn guns into automatic weapons, bills that more broadly apply background checks, bills that attempt to limit the use of ghost guns and someone’s ability to simply “print” their own gun at home.

We spent over an hour as a part of a rally on the steps of the capital where speaker after speaker shared the pleas for a culture and a world beyond too many senseless acts of violence. We heard from elected leaders, faith leaders, doctors and nurses, young people, and local law enforcement. But, of course, the most compelling speakers were the parents who had lost children to gun violence. Their stories of grief and frustration were incredibly persuasive. It is hard to believe anyone could not be moved by their stories.

But people are not. Two of the bills voted on yesterday afternoon—one to ban conversion devices and one to prevent gun trafficking—both failed in the House of Representatives despite the voices that filled the capital all day. This is discouraging and begs the question of what our work is when it comes to advocating for change.

I will confess that I am constantly trying to figure that out.

But while we all figure that out together, I will share the things that gave me hope yesterday.

We were part of a group of clergy who visited specific lawmakers who are extreme holdouts on these issues to deliver a collection of interfaith sermons on the topic of gun violence. In one visit, we were led by a nun connected to the Sisters of Mercy who shared that she keeps the lawmaker in her prayers every day.

During the rally, we heard from the newest board member of CeaseFire PA—a high school senior who lives in West Philadelphia. She talked about what it means for her to stand up for life and speak out for the safety of her community and fellow young people.

We sat together with our neighbors from Beth David Reform Temple in Gladwyne in a meeting with Representative Tim Briggs to discuss what our specific community can do to support him as he works to enact these laws.

I watched my good colleague and vocal leader in the City of Philadelphia, the Rev. Adan Mariena, address the gathered crowds to talk about why our particular brand of Christianity believes in the preciousness of life.

I could go on.

This is hard work, and as a church, we don’t take enough time to figure out our role in it. But it is also something that can only be learned by doing, by being in conversation, by opening our hearts to the pain of others.

I hope that the next time we have the opportunity to make our voices heard together, you will be able to join us. But even more importantly, we will each find ways to use our individual voices to advocate for change as well. To learn more about the important work of CeaseFire PA, check out their website and sign up to receive regular updates.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.

Each year, our Confirmation students go through a year of Sunday morning study, learning about who Jesus is, what it means to be a Christian, the purpose of the Christian Bible, church history, and more. They met monthly with a Confirmation Mentor, a congregation member who committed to be in spiritual friendship with the student, discussing questions about what we learn each Sunday. Confirmands also went on a Confirmation Retreat at Johnsonburg Camp in October this year. They also participated in a Casserole Blitz, where they experienced Christian service together with their mentors.

At the heart of our Confirmation program is the selection of a Spiritual Practice by each Confirmand. These practices, diverse and unique to each student, are undertaken for thirty days and serve to deepen their faith. From engaging in a daily Ignatian Examen to gratitude journals, the variety of practices is as diverse as our Confirmands. This year, we are excited to showcase the creative projects that our Confirmands have chosen, involving art, food, scripture, and more.

Two Sundays before Confirmation Sunday, our youth ministry hosts the annual Confirmation Expo! At this event, each Confirmand presents their Spiritual Practice and how it impacted their personal faith development. At 9:00 a.m., the Session meets with the students to examine their projects, voting on whether or not to welcome them into the full membership of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church pending their public professions of faith on Confirmation Sunday on May 19. Then, at 11:00 a.m., the entire congregation is invited to hear about our Confirmation students’ projects. Your presence and support are encouraged and appreciated.

The Confirmation Expo consistently proves to be a vital day in the life of our church each year, as the whole congregation learns about the faith development of our 8th graders. We hope to see you there on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. in the gym!