Month: May 2026

Having Your Say

A couple of weeks ago, you received a survey from our Mission Study Task Force. That tool was developed by six BMPC members who have been working faithfully since March. Appointed by Session, the MSTF’s charge is to prepare a written snapshot of this body of faith, known as a Mission Study; a required first step before seeking BMPC’s next SeniorPastor.

Much of the information to be found in that final document will summarize details easily available to the team:

  • A demographic study of the communities from which BMPC draws
  • A brief church history, including membership trends
  • An overview of the congregation’s financial health
  • BMPC’s 150th Anniversary Vision Statement
  • A description of the process used to create the study

Members of the MSTF are working on each of those components now. Yet there is one more critical part of the Mission Study–congregational input. On that front, we need you!

For those of you who have already completed the 14-question survey, we thank you. If you have not yet done so, please complete the survey to share your thoughts. You can also drop off or mail a completed paper copy of the survey to the church office. Lastly, members of the MSTF are staffing a table in the atrium after worship for the next few weeks, where you can complete the survey. Whatever method is most convenient, we need your input by June 15. Once the Mission Study is completed and approved by Session and Presbytery, we can begin to form the Pastor Nominating Committee.

It remains a deep honor for me to serve you in this time of transition. And like you, I’m eager to hear the collective voice of this congregation as we continue to prepare the landscape for your next installed Senior Pastor.

Thankful for Children and Youth Volunteers

When people ask what the typical volunteer in children and youth at BMPC is, that person is hard to describe. They range in age from 9 to 98. They’ve been connected to the church for their entire lives or for just a few months. Some have formal backgrounds as educators or pastors, and others are still looking in the table of contents to find books of the Bible.

There are the stalwart volunteers who commit to a particular role and lead every week, with rare exception, and the volunteers who fill in during an emergency.

There are the discipling volunteers who commit to a particular student or small group and walk with them through the year.

There are the behind-the-scenes volunteers who are prepping, tending, and putting things in action.

There are those who come early to set up spaces, and those who stay late to check in with a particular family or student.

There are the teachers who are comfortable at the front of the classroom and the ones who make sure everyone has the supplies they need, hanging out on the side or in the back of the room, making everything run smoothly.

There are the volunteers who are always ready for a game or a surprise, and those who have their lesson plans memorized before class begins.

We have volunteers who are up with the most recent slang, movies, and episodes of Bluey, and others who are happy to learn about the current culture from our students.

There are the volunteers who love a good art project and the ones who endure them.

There are volunteers who respond to a text a few minutes into the worship service to help in a classroom, and others who have their schedule worked out a year in advance.

We are grateful for these volunteers who show up every week and bring themselves, just as they are, for young people in the church; for these volunteers who are willing to teach what they know and share their wisdom, who are willing to learn something new alongside a young person, and who are willing to learn something new from a young person.

We are grateful for these volunteers who embody the variety of gifts that we all have to bring and that make up the body of Christ. Meaning, they teach the rest of us that if you feel a little too wiggly to sit in worship every Sunday, there’s still a lot you can contribute to the life of the church.

We are grateful for these volunteers who don’t try to fix the intensity, candor, or curiosity that young people bring, who are able to hold the tough questions they’re asked, who, in so doing, are in real community with young people.

Our programs would not be possible without these incredible people sharing their time, energy, love, and faith with our children and youth. You create the foundation and the framework that allow our students to continue building the church Christ calls us to be.

Thank you. And if you want to be part of this team next year, let us know!

Hunger Doesn’t Take a Summer Vacation

Each year, our Hunger Committee gathers representatives from the 18 different pantries and feeding programs supported by the Hunger Fund for roundtable conversations about their work, their concerns, and how, by connecting and collaborating, we can support the thousands of families locally and regionally who struggle with food insecurity.

Table conversations focus on volunteer management, food access, relationships with organizations such as Philabundance and SHARE, grant writing, anxieties around immigration enforcement, and the growing number of guests who are in need.

One of the most frustrating topics for all is the changes to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, which are increasing pressure on both recipients and local food pantries.

Expanded federal work-reporting requirements now apply to more adults ages 18–64, requiring many recipients to document at least 80 hours per month of work, training, or approved activities in order to keep benefits. Hunger advocates warn that people with unstable work schedules, limited transportation, or caregiving responsibilities may lose assistance because of paperwork barriers rather than ineligibility.

One of our partners pointed out the reality that even as we lament these restrictions, the support given through SNAP provides nowhere near the support families need to feed their families. The average SNAP benefit in Pennsylvania is only about $170–$180 per person per month, roughly $6 per day, and many households already struggle to make benefits last through the month. All of our partners expect increased demand as more families experience gaps or reductions in assistance.

All of these shifts mean that our partners have never been more reliant on the financial assistance that is granted on a quarterly basis from the BMPC Hunger Fund. And so, the Hunger Committee, once again this summer, is reminding us that this need does not take the summer “off.”

Each week in the bulletin this summer, there will be reminders to give to the Hunger Fund with examples of how our Hunger ministry and our partners use financial donations. We hope that once again this summer, you will respond generously.

I also want to remind you that, just as you can set up a recurring online donation as part of your giving to BMPC Stewardship, you can also set up a recurring donation to the BMPC Hunger Fund. You can navigate to this link https://onrealm.org/bmpc/give/hunger and choose the recurring option, which lets you donate in a variety of recurring intervals.

The generosity of this congregation continues to overwhelm me with gratitude. It is our hope that as we all better understand the shifting needs of our neighbors, our generosity will only grow through our compassionate care for one another.

The Commitments We Make

This coming Sunday marks an important day in the life of our congregation. At the 10:00 a.m. worship service, we will ordain and install new officers as Elder and Deacon. These individuals have said yes to the call of God that has come by way of our Nominating Committee. (Individuals are also nominated as Trustees by way of this same process, although in the Presbyterian tradition, only Elders and Deacons are ordained and installed.)

Whereas the call of Elders is to exercise leadership in the governance of the church, as part of our primary governing body, the Session, the call of Deacons is to exercise leadership in the care of the congregation, as part of our primary caregiving body, the Board of Deacons. Both are essential to building up the body of Christ and the effective functioning of our community of faith.

Just as important as the commitments that these individuals will make as they are ordained and/or installed are the commitments that we will make together as a congregation. On Sunday, we will be asked the following questions:

Do we, the members of the church, accept these men and women as Deacons and Elders, chosen by God through the voice of this congregation to lead us in the way of Jesus Christ?

Do we agree to pray for them, encourage them, to respect their decisions, and to follow as they guide us, serving Jesus Christ who alone is Head of the Church?

I invite you to join me in raising your voice in a resounding “We do!” as we affirm these leaders on Sunday. And in all the days ahead, let us be faithful to our call: “to pray for them, encourage them, respect their decisions, and follow as they guide us.”

The following individuals are our new Elders and Deacons. Thanks be to God for these faithful servants and the work they will do in service to Christ!

Elders Class of 2029
Beverly Fleuter
Sarah Gunther
Linda Himmelberger
Whitney Hoffman
Carl Reynolds
Steve Udicious
Kent Walker

Elder Class of 2027
Corinne Brown

Deacons Class of 2029
Tony Brown
John Decker
Jennie Jacobson
Morris Kay
Kay Kerr
Matthew Peterson
Jane Wilber

Deacon Class of 2027
Cameron Liggett