BMPC Pastor's Column

As a five-star general who led the Allies to victory in World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower served two presidential terms before retiring from public office in 1961. In his celebrated Farewell Address of that year, offered just days before John F. Kennedy was sworn in, the outgoing President delivered words of caution to a nation still living in the hubris of armed might and growing Cold War hostilities:

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written, America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Those words ring just as true today as they did when Eisenhower offered them well over 60 years ago. On this Fourth of July, when we honor and celebrate the history of this nation we proudly call home, we are also invited to measure how our allegiances ultimately lead us to love or hate. Are we building a bigger table, or are we determined to fight over the chairs? For as Eisenhower goes on to note, “Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.”

Decent purpose. Is America only for America? Or do we exist as a citizenry for a more decent purpose? What is the aim of our national ambition? Are the blessings we receive from the hand of Providence for us alone? Is our greatness as a people only defined against the defeat, destruction, or demise of another? The 34th American President cautioned us to see our greatness as an invitation and called for the balance of security and liberty, recognizing that both are needed for a free society.

The First Letter of Peter proclaims, “As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil.” The beauty of this nation, even with its tattered and complicated past and our present frustrations, is that our freedoms afford us the capacity to live as a people shaped by the values that point to abundance. Our freedoms afforded us in Christ do the same. We are called to a decent purpose.

Happy Independence Day.

After church on Sunday the 16th, when our volunteers gathered for training, we paused in prayer. Each person offered a hope for our VBC campers. Words like “friendship,” “welcome,” “peace,” “grace,” “joy,” “love,” and “belonging” filled Congregational Hall. The words were a prequel to what would unfold over the next six days as campers and volunteers alike were surrounded by and embodied welcome, belonging, joy, grace, love, and even an occasional second of peace.

Camp is indeed joyful and energetic, sacred and silly, beautiful and messy, all at the same time. For a week, we created a unique church. Our choir was raucous and loved to dance during the quiet parts of a song. Our sermons were delivered in costumes and shared in 2-minute videos. While our members were still learning how to tie shoes, recognize letters, and say goodbye to parents during morning drop-off, they were confident in sharing kindness, bold in trying new things, and positively exploding with creativity.

This year, camp explored how we can use the arts to help tell God’s story and share God’s love. It was only possible because of our volunteers’ love for the project. Incredible guest artists shared their gifts and passion, modeling how our creative work is faithful work. Faithful volunteers created space so campers could try their hands at everything: playing an organ, creating mosaics, directing a play, sculpting, singing, and more. Youth volunteers modeled leadership and faith to our campers. And a host of people filled in, welcomed, prepared snacks, and ensured everything was ready for God to work! Together, adults, youth, and children played, prayed, and explored. In every action, they were sharing God’s love with one another and with anyone who happened to walk through the church or drive past on Montgomery Avenue.

I hope that as you look through the pictures available on Facebook, you will have a hint of what the week looked like. But let me share this memory: I experience VBC from a unique vantage point. Leading our gathering time means I look out on a sea of campers and volunteers, watching as they roll their eyes at silly jokes, giggle with friends, and dive into projects and activities with gusto. There are also sacred moments when we are singing together, and their voices overtake the recording, and they declare in movement and song that God’s love is indeed “wider than my arms can reach, taller than the trees, higher than the stars above, and deeper than the sea.”

Yesterday, we, as a community and a country, once again celebrated Juneteenth, our annual recognition of the day when the very last enslaved people in our country were told that they were free. For several years now, starting even before the pandemic, the BMPC Anti-Racism Committee has been working on ways for our congregation to learn, dialogue, and grow as individuals and as a community around issues of systemic racism and implicit bias.

So, this Juneteenth, we are incredibly hopeful as we share with you a new Statement of Belonging and Inclusion, adopted by the Session this past spring. The statement lives on our website and will guide and encourage the work of all our committees and councils in the years to come. This statement is the product of thoughtful conversation, courageous vision, and loving compassion for the members of our community and the world. I am so grateful to all the members of the Anti-Racism Committee, who each had a part in its creation.

The two overarching values present throughout the statement are these: Our Christian faith compels us to be engaged on issues of belonging and inclusion, and that engagement is not limited to certain parts of our life as a congregation but the whole life of our community.

Over the next year, we will continue to live more fully into these commitments. If you would like to learn more about how you can be directly involved in this work, please contact me directly – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church’s Commitment to Inclusion & Belonging

As members of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and inheritors of the legacy of its preceding denominations, we acknowledge and confront the reality of systemic racism and implicit bias within our community and the broader world. We recognize that these injustices have disproportionately affected marginalized communities, perpetuating inequality. We repent of our complicity and recognize that past wrongdoings have resulted in exclusivity, most notably impacting people of color. Historically, our church has opened our doors and hearts to create a welcoming community. Knowing our journey does not end there, we have a responsibility to further that tradition as we commit to ensuring a place of belonging and inclusion for all. We trust in God’s mercy and capacity to renew our common life.

We understand that addressing these issues requires introspection, education, dialogue, and meaningful action. We commit ourselves to the work of dismantling systemic racism, acknowledging our own biases while promoting inclusivity within our congregation. We will be a church where all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, or background, feel valued, heard, and embraced as part of God’s diverse creation. We can only fully express our identity as the Body of Christ when all are welcomed and recognized as beloved children of God, whose belonging is unquestioned.

We strive to be agents of positive change, creating a more just and compassionate world inspired by the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose words and actions embraced the disenfranchised, crossed cultural and social boundaries, and challenged all to love both neighbor and stranger.

As an outgrowth of our willingness to learn, change, and grow, we commit:

To create a deep understanding of implicit bias and racism through intentional educational initiatives. These include hosting workshops, seminars, and discussions that explore the historical roots of systemic inequalities, the impact of bias on marginalized communities, the role each of us plays in dismantling these structures, and the relevance of these issues for people of faith.

To promote continuous improvement by examining our internal practices to ensure that they are inclusive and equitable, addressing biases and discriminatory decision-making, and nurturing a culture where all feel welcomed and valued.

To ensure that this work embeds every aspect of our church life from welcome and hospitality to programming and fellowship; from financial, stewardship, and mission decisions to pastoral care and worship life. In all that we do and in all the ways we represent ourselves, the work of diversity and inclusion will be obvious.

To serve as a moral compass and voice for change within our larger community: to provide ethical guidance; to emphasize the values of love, compassion, and justice; to embrace diversity and treat everyone with dignity and respect; to advocate for policies and laws which provide for equal treatment of all people.

The Bible teaches about the reconciliation of humanity with God and with each other. Therefore, BMPC and its leadership have a responsibility to address systemic issues that intersect with inequality and injustice in all aspects of our work and society at large. To ensure that our commitment to promoting belonging and inclusion remains a priority, we must be transparent and establish mechanisms for accountability by regularly evaluating our progress.

Glory be to God, who created everyone equal in God’s image, to Jesus Christ, who broke down the walls that divide us, and to the Holy Spirit, who encourages us to work together for justice, freedom, and peace. Amen.

In 1989, the Sanctuary Choir embarked on its first choir tour. That tour, to Austria and communist Czechoslovakia, turned out to be so exciting that the thirst for travel subsequently led the choir to places as diverse as South Africa, Cuba, and Brazil, along with Northern Ireland during the “troubles” and Russia during the chaotic rule of Boris Yeltsin. Some tours have focused on exploring our roots. Tours through the American South and, several years later, through Luther’s Germany whetted that appetite and gave us a context for who we are in this time in history. And, with a war now raging in Gaza, our most recent tour to Israel and Jordan proved to be incredibly poignant, especially considering our profoundly moving encounters with Palestinian children in the West Bank.

We are excited to announce the next choir tour will be to France in June 2025. As many of you know, France has been a particular passion of mine since traveling to Paris as a 14-year-old and experiencing the glories of Notre Dame Cathedral for the first time. Since then, I have enjoyed extended stays in Paris several times (twice for six months and, most recently, for two months) and traveled extensively throughout the country. An important connection for BMPC is that Notre Dame Cathedral organist Olivier Latry designed our marvelous pipe organ. He and his colleagues, Vincent Dubois and Philippe Lefebvre, have performed here many times over these past few decades.

One of the highlights of our choir tours has been the inclusion of “friends of the choir” on our journeys. Typically, 20-30 travelers join us, adding to the richness of our experiences. We warmly invite you and your friends from the church and community to join us on this tour to France. Information is available . If you have any questions, feel free to contact , who is serving as the tour manager.

Today’s 80th Anniversary of D-Day began this morning in France with a gathering of world leaders from twenty-five countries, elderly French civilians who remember being freed from German occupation, and veterans more than a hundred years old returned to a place of extraordinary memories. It’s a day to pause and commemorate the largest amphibious invasion in military history, which turned the tide of World War II, began the liberation of occupied Europe, and, within the year, brought an end to the war. For the sake of freedom and democracy, more than ten thousand lost their lives on those Normandy beaches eighty years ago today.

Three days ago, on Monday, June 3, Reformed theologian Jürgen Moltmann died in Germany at 98 years old. Moltmann is widely regarded as one of the most important theologians since World War II. As a teenager he idolized Albert Einstein and had decided to study mathematics at the university in Hamburg but was drafted into military service in 1943 at the age of 16. In a dark German forest, he surrendered to a British soldier and, from 1945-48, was held as a prisoner of war, first in Belgium and then in Scotland. There he was given a copy of the New Testament and Psalms by an American chaplain. He would later write, “I didn’t find Christ, he found me.”

Moltmann returned home at 22 years of age to find his hometown of Hamburg in ruins from the Allied bombings and immediately went to work becoming a theologian. His experiences as a POW helped him begin to forge a theology of hope born of suffering, and through a long career of ecclesiastical and international academic leadership, he became known as the Theologian of Hope.

A year ago, on the occasion of his 97th birthday, he said:

Every morning, I am amazed that I am still here. … To die means to let go. I am preparing myself for this. To die means to give one’s life over to God. I am preparing myself for that, too. The raising to eternal life is my hope in life and in death. The eternal life will also be lived. This is the life of God’s new creation. Death is like a birthday to new life in God’s kingdom. Every morning of every new day that hope gives me new courage to live. But I did not invite you here to ponder things with me but to rejoice with me. Let us toast to life—here and there!

Moltmann relished life, loved the church, and believed that the theology of Christian hope is the most important proclamation the church offers to an uncertain world during uncertain times, such as the ones in which we live. Today calls forth deep gratitude for an important day in history when freedom and democracy proved to be hard-won. And, thank God for theologians like Jürgen Moltmann, who have committed their lives to studying how, in the midst of all the vicissitudes of life and death, God is ever present, helping us have hope.

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!