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Pastors’ Column

photo showing part of a bible.

Each week one of our pastors or staff members writes a column observing what is going on in our congregation, the Church and the world, and offering reflections on the Christian life and faith. Through this series of columns, we hope to connect your and our story to the enduring story of Christ; to offer pastoral reflections on our ongoing congregational life and mission; to report on news of the Presbyterian Church and Church universal; and to invite further reflection and deeper discipleship. We welcome your comments and suggestions. In other words, our words here are an invitation to continue the conversation.

Table Scraps

The Rev. Dr. Franklyn C. Pottorff

blessing of the animalsIt was far too quiet. And by the time I noticed, the sacrilegious deed was already finished. I had purchased the loaf of bread that I would break the following morning during worship in my small congregation in Kentucky. When I left it unattended in the center of our dining room table, our dog, Sophie, jumped up and took a massive bite out of the yet-to-be-consecrated body of Christ our Lord. Jesus wept.

 

Celebrating Twenty-five Years of Mission

The Rev. Rebecca Kirkpatrick

An essential part of our congregation’s identity is its foundation in mission. From the beginning, members of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church were especially committed to sending and supporting mission workers around the world to teach and heal and share the Gospel. But it in the 1960s, the church significantly expanded its mission paradigm and considered what it would mean to give and work in mission in underserved areas of Philadelphia.

Third Grade Bibles

The Rev. Rachel Pedersen

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

The Joy of Being Christ’s Church

The Rev. Dr. Agnes W. Norfleet

From the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times; from the Christian Century to the Presbyterian Outlook; from journalists, seminary presidents, political pundits and countless internet newsfeeds in between, there is a lot of conversation in the public sphere about the state of church and the declining numbers of adherents to Christian faith and practice. 

Expressing God’s Deep Care

The Rev. Dr. Kirby Lawrence Hill

Little Bee is a novel written by Chris Cleve. The title character is a young Nigerian woman who encounters murderous oppression in her native land and steals away to England, seeking refugee status. The missionaries who had established the church in her small Nigerian village had left. Little Bee describes it this way: “In our village our only Bible had all its pages missing after the forty-sixth verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of Matthew, so that the end of our religion, as far as any of us knew, was My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? We understood that this was the end of the story.” Imagine having a Bible that ends that way, without resurrection hope and other assurances of God’s ongoing presence with us!

Evening Worship

The Rev. Rachel Pedersen

Practice is a funny word. Sometimes we use it to describe preparation — we practice in anticipation of something, we go to practice before a big game. But practice also can mean the “actual application or use of an idea, belief or method.” It is how we live out what we believe. As Christians we have a number of “practices,” the practical things we do that mark our Christian life. These practices grow with us.

BMPC Youth Camp @ Massanetta Springs!

The Rev. Leigh DeVries

From August 6-11, 20 teenagers and six phenomenal adult leaders headed to Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center for a week of fellowship, fun, and faith!