April 2026 – BMPC Pastor's Column

A Big Day for Young People in the Church

This Sunday, May 3, is a celebratory day for young people in the church at three different pivotal ages, and I hope you can be there to support them.

During 10:00 a.m. worship, 5th graders will receive their own hymnals and then “step up” into the youth program. They’ll attend their last-ever children’s moment, then walk out with the youth who will welcome them to the gym and to the next step in their lives as young people walking in faith. I’ve loved getting to know the 5^th-grade class this year, and I’m looking forward to them being in my care in the years ahead. I cannot wait to see the future that God is preparing for them.

For our confirmands, this Sunday’s Confirmation Expo is the chance for them to show off their capstone discipleship projects. They have spent the last year wrestling with the big questions of the faith, connecting with each other, and developing relationships with caring adults like their mentors and teachers (special shoutouts to Kathy Fisher, Michael Giampetroni, and Ariel Gonzalez!). The session will examine them this Sunday and then, should the way be clear, vote to extend membership to the class. Before and after 10:00 a.m. worship, you will have the chance to review their discipleship projects and ask them questions. They’re an engaging group, and I hope you take the time to get to know them and show them the sort of caring, supportive, and inquisitive church community they’re joining.

Finally, during the children’s moment, Pastor Rachel and I will pray for all the seniors by name as they move on to the next phase of their lives. As you saw on Youth Sunday, our seniors are impressive, and I cannot wait to see where they will go next and what they will do.

In each of these cases – 5th-grade hymnals and Step-Up, the Confirmation Expo, and senior recognition – there is a chance for us to fulfill the vows made to these young people at their baptism. In various ways, we have a chance this Sunday to raise these young people in the nurture and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and to be the community that gathers around them. I hope you can join us!

Heading to Babylon

A few weeks ago, I was enthusiastically sharing information about our upcoming VBC (June 22-26). I was deep into the daily reflection questions, plans for decorating, and the eternal question about snacks, when my friend interrupted me.

“Wait, did I hear you correctly? You’re taking the students to Babylon? Isn’t Babylon supposed to be bad!?!”

Indeed, from their rise as a neighboring empire to their eventual conquest of the land to their New Testament role as a stand-in for everything bad and ominous, Babylon was often shown as counter to what God wanted. Babylon was the anti-Jerusalem; it was not a place you wanted to go, and going there was dangerous. And yet, God’s people spent a generation in Babylon. It was there that the prophet Jeremiah told them to plant gardens and pray for the peace of the city. It was there that Isaiah had his visions of a desert and a people restored. It was in Babylon that young people taken into exile found a place to practice their faith.

This year, we are going to Babylon. Not because it is easy, or because it will be fun to build some replica Ishtar Gates, but because we want every child to know that God is with them. Through the story of Daniel and his friends, we will help children understand that God is with them when they go to new places (willingly or not). God stands with them when they face dangers like Shadrach, Misrach, and Abednego. God stays through the night when you are alone and surrounded by lions like Daniel. And God is there when you step up to lead in new ways.

We are ready to welcome 150 children into our church to explore and experience God’s close and loving presence. If you would like to join us, we are looking for volunteers who can help the week of (June 22-26), but also in the weeks leading up to prepping projects, praying for students, and helping to transform the church into an ancient city.

You can sign up here to volunteer.

P.S. You don’t even need to read cuneiform!

For the Beauty of the Earth, Sing, Oh Sing Today.

On April 22, 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin and youth activist Dennis Hayes held the first ‘Earth Day,’ inspiring over 20 million Americans to educate themselves on the harms of pollution and the need to protect the environment. From these grassroots(!) efforts, Earth Day has spread globally, as we continue to learn the best ways to protect the planet entrusted to our care. We might also think of the Earth as a living being, one in constant conversation with its inhabitants; we might even call her Mother Earth, or “Gaia.”

In the 1980s, the Dean of The Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC, held a series of talks on ecology, faith, and the environment – often with a call to action or finding collective efforts to ease the crisis of climate change. Through a series of “Artists-in-Residence” programs, Paul Winter, a saxophonist, and his band were given a platform for creating sacred and secular events in the Cathedral. Partnering with the Organist of the Cathedral, Paul Halley, a fruitful friendship and future collaboration was born, and, at the request of the Dean, the work “Missa Gaia” came into being. For the Church (with a capital C), Masses have formed part of the worship of Christianity for centuries, and throughout that time, the musical material on which a Mass is based has changed; from plainchant to popular songs of the time, to… whale and wolf noises (in this case!). “Missa Gaia” is an incredible work; it pays homage to Mother Earth and all creatures who inhabit it through the blurring of sacred and secular lines.

I invite you to attend various events this Sunday, April 19, as we honor and celebrate the Earth:

8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Worship Services will focus on Earth Day.

11:15 a.m. Adult Ed Class in Fullerton Room (led by me) will explore the spiritual and thematic threads found in this seminal musical work.

3:00 p.m. Meet and Greet in the Court with creatures and animals from our watershed, in partnership with Riverbend.

4:00 p.m. Concert in the Sanctuary featuring this work, and others with jazz orchestra and video projections.

5:30 p.m. Reception in the Court, where you can enjoy the current incredible Gallery Exhibit, “Gaia: In Reverence to Earth,” including inspiring works of five local artists.

I hope you’ll consider joining us this weekend and leave inspired to further our shared work of caring for this planet, so generations upon generations can enjoy the riches contained within.

Bring Your Questions!

There is much that I admire about life at BMPC: its vibrant worship and mission efforts, stellar educational opportunities for all ages, and a willingness to tackle the most challenging issues of the day, special times of fellowship, faithful officers, a beautiful campus, and an incredible staff. Each of those aspects of our shared life is visible and a source of pride for you and a cause of joy for me as your Interim Senior Pastor.

Behind all of those realities is another dynamic that isn’t as obvious, but essential even so: the financial health of this church. The Bryn Mawr church is blessed by the generosity of believers from the present and past, along with the faithful stewardship of those gifts by BMPC members and staff. As a team, they work diligently year-round to manage and draw from those resources in well-considered ways that undergird our diverse ministries. It is a complex system that, even with my full-time presence on campus and undergraduate degree in Economics, has taken time to understand. I suspect the same is true for many of you as well.

As part of the class I led in February to learn about this church, the suggestion was made for a time when the congregation could come together and ask their questions about the financial life of BMPC. Sunday, April 12, at 11:15 is an opportunity to do just that.

Gathering in Congregational Hall, I will facilitate a time where you can inquire about anything regarding the financial life of BMPC. What is our church’s total operating budget, and how is it allocated? How is the budget set and funded? What are the latest stewardship numbers for 2026 and trends of giving in this congregation? What is the current value of the BMPC Foundation, and what amount from it is used to support the church budget? Given such deep resources, are the gifts of current members to fund the ministries here really needed?

At the meeting, such questions and more will be fielded by individuals who are directly involved with the finances of our church. If there are any questions that stump that team, such queries will be researched afterward with our Director of Finance, Sarah Miciek, and an answer will be provided soon thereafter. On that morning, we will also have paper copies of the 2025 Annual Report available for you. In addition to summaries of the church’s finances, its pages include accounts of our diverse ministries, membership statistics, and much more.

I hope you can join us for this informative and transparent look at the finances of our church. If you are unable to be present that morning, pass on your questions to me, and I will have someone who knows the answer get in touch with you.

In the meantime, and beyond, know of my ongoing gratitude to God for the privilege of serving you in this time of preparing the landscape for your next Senior Pastor. May the joy of Easter continue to shape your heart and home and this body of believers.

An Observation of the Triduum

In these final days before we witness the Resurrection, perhaps we enter the most traumatic part of the church year. From the betrayal of Maundy Thursday to the terror and heartache of Good Friday, to the joyful feast on Sunday morning, I invite you, as much as you are able, to sit with Christ in these three days. The Triduum (translated as “three days”) is not an easy thing to endure in the moment, though two millennia later, we’re fortunate to see how it ends.

This Good Friday, I invite you to a special service in the Sanctuary at 7:30 p.m., where a service of Worship will be presented, featuring Arvo Pärt’s haunting Passio, sung by the Chamber Singers, accompanied by a small chamber orchestra. Composed in 1982, this seventy-minute work recounts the Gospel of John (chapters 18 and 19), sung in Latin, and employs a particularly unique style of composition. Tintinnabuli was first ‘invented’ in the late 1970s by Pärt himself, and this work, Passio, uses it to its greatest extent. In essence, two vocal lines work together; one by stepwise motion, the other by small or large leaps. The resulting effect is both dissonant and consonant. Beyond this, rhythm and orchestration are treated carefully throughout, creating an almost trance–like quality to the work.

Pärt choral scoring for this work is interesting, too; Jesus (sung by a bass) and Pilate (sung by a tenor) sing solos throughout the piece, while a quartet narrates the story (the Evangelist Chorus), in addition to the “Coro,” the “Crowd Choruses” punctuating the story with short outbursts throughout.

What is our role here? I believe our role is to sit, listen, observe, wait, and watch. This powerful work speaks to the heart of our Christian life in a profound way, heightening the pain and anguish of the day ahead, all while preparing for the resplendence on Easter morn.