Month: January 2026

Sacred Cows, Proud Peacocks, and an Eager Beaver: Learning the Heart of BMPC

One of my primary tasks as Interim Senior Pastor is to learn about you. Certainly, there is a formal history and a description of this congregation’s vision as articulated in the most recent mission statement. Both of those documents tell me some important things. There are bylaws and titles for each of the committees and task forces here as well. I suspect some of those groups have an articulated vision, too. All of those pieces help me understand something about the ethos here, but what are the underlying norms and values? I want to learn those pieces, too.  

On Sunday, February 1, there will be an opportunity for you to share such perceptions with me. Immediately after the Congregational Meeting, I will be hosting a gathering in Congregational Hall where, through the use of animal imagery, you will be invited to tell me more about BMPC. What are the sacred cows here, and what is the elephant in the room that needs to be discussed? What is it about this church that makes you proud as a peacock, and what are the kinds of things that you think cause this body of believers to be as stubborn as a donkey?  

At the gathering, you will be given a stack of 4x6 cards on which you can write your answers to such questions and a couple more that draw from old expressions about animals. There is no limit to what you can share about each of those clichés. Nor will there be a group discussion where other members can dispute your perceptions. Rather, the gathering is designed to be a time where each of you helps me learn more about the diverse views of BMPC among its members and friends. There will be a supply of push pins, too, where, after writing your perceptions on the cards, you will be invited to walk up to bulletin boards around the room and add your insights to those of others.  

Once the exercise is complete, a member of our staff will collect and compile your comments. Certainly, that event will not be the only time that you can offer those perspectives. If you cannot join us on that morning or think of other insightslater, email your perceptions to me, and I will add them to the list. Such insights will help me continue to learn about BMPC and be invaluable as I seek to prepare the landscape for your next installed Senior Pastor and Head of Staff. They will also give me fodder for future sermons and other tasks. Time will tell.  

I am excited to learn more about this congregation and can’t wait to hear what you think. One might even say that I am an Eager Beaver!   

A Busy Month for Code Blue

This January marks the third year that BMPC has participating in hosting the Lower Merion Code Blue shelter in our Atrium and Gym each night of the month when the real feel outside is 32 degrees or below.

In past years, I would often orient volunteers and then head home to my manse next door, hoping that at least one guest would show up that night to make all of the volunteers’ effort and hours worth it. This year, that has never been a concern.

Each night we have been open, we have had at least three guests, and on at least one night, we have filled every bed. Our connections with the Lower Merion Police have grown stronger, and multiple times a week, they bring guests to stay at the church who, in the past, would have had nowhere to go.

What has not changed this year is the way this project has fostered new relationships and deepened existing ones in our church and community.

Truth be told, volunteering at our Code Blue Shelter is likely one of the quietest and most boring tasks we do in “mission.” For the first shift, there is some activity at the start, and the second shift has a busy last hour of tasks to complete, but mostly it is sitting and keeping watch in the wee hours of the night.

While many of us who work bring computers and books, iPads and neglected work, there is also a part of every shift where volunteers just sit and talk and get to know each other in the quiet of the night. It brings joy to my heart each time I get to introduce members to each other as they start their shifts – often highlighting what I appreciate about each of them, knowing they will find places of connection in the time spent together. This is what it means to be a community.

This year, I have come to especially value the ways that guests and volunteers have connected. Often, a guest will ask about a volunteer they haven’t seen work this year, but who they remember from the past. In the days after a shift, a volunteer will often share with me a part of a guest’s story they learned for the first time.

As we approach our final week of hosting, I encourage anyone who has been considering volunteering at the shelter to grab one of the remaining slots. Not because we need more volunteers to help carry the burden of keeping the shelter open each night (even though that is the case), but because this is what it means to be church and community together.

Sign up for a Code Blue Shift.

Faith in Action: Responding to a Changing World

Jonathan Sacks was a renowned rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and public intellectual. A gifted teacher and writer, Sacks explored the moral foundations of society, the relationship between faith and modern life, and the power of religious traditions to foster human dignity, responsibility, and hope in a pluralistic world.

In his book the Dignity of Difference, he wrote this,
Men and women were made – so I believe – to serve one another, not just themselves.
We may not survive while others drown;
we may not feast while others starve;
we are not free when others are in servitude;
we are not well when billions languish in disease and premature death.

This is an easy sentiment to appreciate and to affirm as an orientation for how we as individuals and as a church live out our Christian calling to service and our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ.

People in our world are drowning in this moment – not so much literally but figuratively.

There is an overwhelming sense of dread among folks in our community and nation:

One of our mission partners here in Lower Merion reached out to me this week to ask for help in gathering supplies and resources for immigrant women whose husbands have been detained and are struggling to care for their children.

One of the Afghan families BMPC has supported for two years is in crisis as two of the men, and primary wage earners, have been detained despite their faithful compliance with the established legal process of being granted asylum in the United States. The members of our Refugee Support Committee have been working tirelessly to help them return home.

This week, news has been shared widely among Presbyterian circles that Rene Nicole Good, who was killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis last week, was a sister Presbyterian among us who served in her congregations and, as a young adult, was in mission service in Ireland in the early 2000s. Rene’s uncle is a Presbyterian pastor in Nebraska.

What is our calling in a world where things like these are happening, where so many are drowning?

That will be the topic of our conversations this coming Sunday morning at 11:15 in Congregational Hall – what is our community called to do to speak up and speak together in this moment? My hope for our time together is three fold – that it will be a space where we can articulate our grief at the brokenness of the world in this moment, an opportunity to reaffirm many of our historic values and practices as a congregation around justice and advocacy, and especially a chance for us to connect and move forward with new ways to engage and work towards good in the world today.

I hope you will join us.

Words of Gratitude

Dear Friends in Christ,

As I come to the close of my time among you, my heart is filled with gratitude—gratitude for the 43 years we have shared, for the faith we have practiced together, and for the countless moments of grace that have shaped my ministry and my life.

It has been one of the great privileges of my calling to walk with you through seasons of joy and sorrow, growth and challenge, celebration and quiet faithfulness. Together we have prayed, sung, mourned, rejoiced, learned, and served. In doing so, you have taught me more about God’s love, patience, humor, and hope than I could ever express.

I am deeply thankful for your trust, your kindness, and your generosity of spirit. Thank you for welcoming me into your lives, for allowing me to serve you, and for forgiving me when I fell short. I leave enriched by your stories, strengthened by your faith, and forever changed by our shared journey.

As I step into retirement, I do so with confidence in the future of this congregation. I am incredibly grateful to my amazing colleagues in the Music and Fine Arts Program — James Kealey, who will take over the reins; Tori Fisher, who is one of the most gifted people I have ever worked with; and Daniel Carroll, my brilliant student and organ scholar. I am grateful to the entire church staff — our amazing pastors, support staff, and facilities crew. With this remarkable team, God’s work at BMPC continues, and with their leadership, I know you will move forward with courage, compassion, and ever-deepening faith.

Please know that I carry you with me—in prayer, in memory, and in deep affection. Though my role is changing, my gratitude and love for you remain.

May God bless you and keep you, now and always.

Jeffrey Brillhart

The Post-Christmas Glow 

If I asked ten people for their favorite part of the Advent and Christmas season, no doubt I’d receive ten different replies. Likewise, if I asked those same people the same question next year, I might even get a different response from the same person. Therein lies the beauty of the season; the same story is told each year anew. It perpetually feels alive, fresh, and just as exciting as it did last year.  

I wonder what the memorable part of this year, from the mystery of Advent to the glow of Christmas Eve, was for you? Perhaps it was seeing a child experience the magic of the story during Wee Christmas, or maybe it was hearing a retelling of the story at the Christmas Concert or the return of Nine Lessons & Carols. Could it have been in the quiet stillness of the Service of the Longest Night, or whilst eating too many cookies at Carols & Cocoa?  You might have found it during the inspiring sermons and meditations offered, or maybe it was during a regular meeting or group gathering. Was it during Silent Night, bathed in candlelight on Christmas Eve, in a full Sanctuary adorned with the most wonderful garland, wreaths, poinsettias, and trees?  

Steeped in mystery, wonder, and awe, I witnessed profound moments of hope, peace, joy, and love during my first Advent and Christmas season at BMPC. I was fortunate to see the people of this church come together, united in love for this church, its people, and the message to the world outside – proclaiming the news of Christ’s birth. May we, in 2026 and beyond, continue to be so bold and spirit-filled, and, in the midst of the world around us, remain ever faithful to this most Holy story. What moments will be with you next Christmas? I can’t wait to find out.