Every so often you receive a gift that is unexpected and unexpectedly good. One of those gifts arrived the other day in the form of an email from a friend. In fact, his friendship is the gift. The email was a reminder of the gift.

Stuart and I see each other once a year, the second week of June, for five days of studying Reformed theology. We email or call a few times in between one June and the next, and that is about it. Except that a week of study and a few emails are hardly the measure of a friendship that is such a gift. Stuart wrote:

Hey Bill:

I just got back from (my trip). There was much time on the road to think about life. I’m very grateful for my friends, and you are high on the list.

I’m not great at staying in touch, and will endeavor to do better. But for today, know I appreciate you.

Stuart Continue reading →

“People don’t want to sit in our pews and sing in our choirs,” the presenter told the gathered group of pastors and church leaders. For the past few years I’ve heard similar sentiments stated over and over again. We are told that the much-coveted-by-the-church Millennial Generation is made up of young women and men who want action. They want to serve. They crave meaning in their lives. We were reminded that, after all, they have grown up in a world of mandatory volunteer service as a condition of graduation or participation. They want to make a difference, and sitting in the pew or singing in the choir just won’t do it.

The short-lived Emergent Church movement made disdain for pews and choirs one of its trademarks, its advocates preferring coffee shop conversations when they were not out weeding one of their ubiquitous community gardens or expressing themselves in finger paint or pottery. “The church has left the building,” a popular program proclaims as church members forgo worship on the Lord’s Day for picking up trash on an adopted stretch of a local highway. Continue reading →

Our Mission Committee met this past Monday evening and voted to send $5,000 to GAiN (Global Aid International) for their work with Syrian refugees still in Syria and neighboring Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and Lebanon. Committee members had done research into the Syrian refugee crisis and possible LPC responses. Support of GAiN’s work was selected for a variety of reasons including:

• The work is in the Middle East. While the European refugee crisis has garnered much of the world’s attention in recent weeks, we know that the majority, and the most vulnerable of the refugees – women, children, the elderly – remain in Syria or refugee camps in neighboring countries.
• The work meets real needs. Through our giving and the giving of many others, GAiN provides food, clothes, medical supplies, blankets, shoes, wheelchairs, mattresses, tarps, and even toys for kids. The aid is offered to all refugees without regard to religion, ethnicity, or nationality.
• The work is with and through indigenous churches and Christian organizations. GAiN comes along side our brother and sister Christians in the Middle East to enable their work.
• The work is done in the name of Christ. Because GAiN’s work is done by and through Syrian, Lebanese, Turkish, and Iraqi Christians, the gospel is shared naturally, clearly, and sensitively as aid is given.

Continue reading →

It’s still nearly eight weeks until the fourth Thursday in November and our national observance of Thanksgiving Day (and, as it has come to be, Black Friday Eve). Maybe a little early, I have been thinking about giving thanks.

Last week Becky and I received news that a good friend had died. Joe Hill was nearly 92 at the time of his death, which came unexpectedly. Joe had been visitation pastor at our church in Beaver, PA. More than that, he was a good friend and in significant ways the pastor to our family during our ten years in Beaver. Joe was a scholar, having taught Greek and New Testament at Geneva College and then, after his retirement, a pastor, serving as an interim pastor and in other roles at Presbyterian churches throughout the Beaver Valley. But above all else, Joe was a Christian. Continue reading →

We don’t mean to offend the Pope, but Becky and I are heading out of town this weekend.  We’ll be in Auburn, Alabama, where we will meet our daughter and son-in-law and stay with his wonderful parents. And we’ll attend Saturday’s Auburn-Mississippi State football game. We are looking forward to a good time. Continue reading →