8/19/2024

But repetition alone is not sufficient for faith. If our Christian life remains only repetition of information and data, it is not a life of faith. Even scripture, if it remains as mere information that remains outside of us, it will have no influence on our lives. John Calvin wrote, “For the Word of God is not received by faith if it flits about in the top of the brain, but when it takes root in the depth of the heart.” (Institutes, 3.2.36)

8/15/2024

Who should serve on your church’s stewardship – or generosity – team?

If you are the chair of this committee, I would suggest a sit-down meeting with your pastor to discuss who your pastor believes would be a good fit, and who has good follow-through with volunteer work. If you’ve got someone ideal in mind, put out those invitations now, especially if you have a fall stewardship drive, so that you can begin meeting and making plans.

8/15/2024

I was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up there as well. As a child raised in the Northwest, I loved the tall Douglas Fir trees, the deep green of the forests, and even the rain. (Yep, can you believe that?)

However, it was the crown jewel of Oregon (and Washington) that I deeply enjoyed the most: the Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge is the part of the Columbia River that meanders through 3,000 to 4,000-foot high mountains on either side. It splits the states of Oregon and Washington and is the borderline between the two states during its 100-mile trek.

7/22/2024

As a Ministry Relations Officer serving the east region, one of my favorite topics to speak on is the effective utilization of the narrative budget. I enjoy this subject mostly because a narrative budget is an excellent way to transform the traditional line item budget into a graphic, pictorial representation of resources at work in the areas of mission and ministry.

7/19/2024

Each morning I walk three miles, a mile and a half to the local Heine Brothers Coffee and then a mile and a half back home. The path curls out of the neighborhood onto Moser Road, where it crosses Chenoweth Run.

Some mornings the creek is only a trickle, the rippling water reflecting the sunlight, the flow barely audible above cars passing by. Other mornings the run is swollen with rain, dark, fast and angry. A bit further, the route leads into the woods. The sidewalk ends. Spiders cross the path. There are deer.

7/19/2024

Sharing tends to be transactional – by assumption if not definition, the other party shares something back. Giving, though, is generosity, a gift – an equally important lesson for children and young people to learn, says Rev. Ellie Johns-Kelley, a ministry relations officer at the Presbyterian Foundation covering the Allegheny and Chesapeake region (most of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and part of Ohio). working in the Southwestern Pennsylvania-West Virginia area.

6/14/2024

Planning a stewardship campaign, or any fundraising event, typically focuses on the big-givers, the easy-picking fruit, the people with money who are comfortable with the concept of sharing their treasures.

But in these days of spiking food prices, retirees watching their savings as the markets rise and fall, and younger families wrestling with raising a family, much less paying for college or trade school … what about them?

6/13/2024

“Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”

Presbyterians need to get serious about joy — yes, joy.

Our faith tradition does many things well. We are scholarly students of the Bible and theological tradition. Our worship is rich and thoughtful in its construction. While imperfect, our way of organizing the church’s governance is a gift to the world.

6/12/2024

In Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary, the majority of the gospel passages come from Mark, particularly during this season after Pentecost. It is helpful to remember the context of the gospel of Mark as we read these stories. Most scholars believe that Mark was the first gospel that was written, and it dates to 30-40 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was likely written by an author living in an early Christian community in Rome, and that community would have been experiencing some persecution, and would also have been hearing about the exploits of the Roman army subduing the Jewish rebellions in the Holy Land. Mark was likely writing within and to a gentile Christian community, so we don’t find things like a birth narrative, genealogies, or as many explicit connections to the Old Testament as we find in Matthew.

5/20/2024

The Gospel lections for June 2024 are from the Gospel according to Mark. In the characteristic form of the book of Mark, Jesus Christ traveled from place to place, an itinerant preacher/healer who breathlessly encountered young and old, healthy and ill, rich and poor, the lawgivers and the law rebels. The book’s account is a rapid-fire succession of one scene after another. The overall sense is of the Savior on the move, empowered and led by the Holy Spirit, on a mission to disclose the presence and power of the kingdom of God. But it was a disclosure in its nascent stage, the fullness of which awaited the resurrection.

5/17/2024

I love the outdoors in any season, but in spring and early summer, with the wildflowers blooming and the mosquitos and other bugs not yet out in full force, I find myself out in the woods more than other times of the year. Whether I’m on a day hike, canoeing a river, or on a multi-day backpacking trip, I enjoy being largely unplugged from technology and taking time to soak in the natural beauty of God’s creation.

5/16/2024

When I got married in the mid-1990s, writing thank-you notes was the next step after coming home from our honeymoon. I got the requisite cards with our initials on the front in frilly script, grabbed a pen, and stared at them.

I wasn’t quite sure what to write. At that time, I was a newspaper reporter. I was afraid all of my notes would say something like: Breaking news! Salad spinner received by local couple.