Rebecca Gresham-Kesner, Author at The Presbyterian Outlook

The manifold tools and skills of Pastor Barbie

October 23, 2019 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

When I was a young girl, I absolutely loved playing with my Barbie dolls. I loved dressing them and playing out different scenes and stories. I had this amazing Barbie house/office that was two-sided: blue office on one side complete with an amazing desktop computer, and a pink house on the other side with a comfy bed and tiny accessories. To top it off, it folded up and held all its pieces so it was super easy to take to Grammy’s house. To my 6-year-old self, this was amazing. Barbie had it all, even a car. As I grew up, Barbie took on a lot of vocations and interests. My doll worked in an office, but eventually she became a vet, an astronaut, a world traveler, a parent. She rode horses, had roller blades, kept up with technology, she even wore pants. She lived in different places all over the world. The last Barbie I bought was in the late 1990s — a Generation Girl Barbie who was a filmmaker complete with video camera and accessories. I still have her in her box. Before I did … [Read more...]

Tagged With: women in ministry

Smaller congregations are great places for kids to grow up!

October 2, 2019 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

Everywhere I have lived, I’ve heard similar sentiments about where people want to bring their kids to church. Nearly every parent I talk to says it’s all about the programing. Is there Sunday school? Youth group? Will someone take my kid on a mission trip? These are valid questions about some good options. In each town where I’ve served, the churches who offer these options tend to be the places where all the kids and families go. I can’t say I blame parents – it makes sense to go where friends are – but church and faith formation are about so much more than programs and events. I don’t want to fault churches with large, well-run programs who are doing the work of God in the world, (I am grateful for the ways they are using their gifts)! I am so glad parents are making the effort to get their kids there. I am impressed with the dedication of the volunteers it takes to execute excellent programing. However, there is a part of me that wants to scream, “Hey, give us a … [Read more...]

Tagged With: small church

Getting the hang of continuing education

August 28, 2019 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

Each year as I plan my continuing education, I look for diverse opportunities to learn and grow as a pastor. I have spent time at national events, on seminary campuses and in remote camps. I love to learn, so it is tempting to pack two weeks full of content that will stretch me. I learned early on that this is not always the best use of my time. I am an introvert — so as much as I love structured events, they wear me out quickly. I try to take a couple days each year to go on a retreat to reenergize and renew my own faith. I have done loosely structured pastor’s retreats, silent retreats and low-key larger events. I struggled those first few years to internally justify a weekend spent in silence, or some time midweek to be fed. However, experience has now shown me that these are some of the most valuable uses of my time. I need to take time to reset, to be fed, to reconnect with God, whose people I am called to serve. I cannot lead well if my tank is running on empty. Ministry is … [Read more...]

Church leaders and alcohol consumption

August 20, 2019 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

This week we asked our bloggers to consider their experience of alcohol and church. Here are their reflections. Beer is not my favorite beverage. Generally I do not reveal such divisive information on such a broad platform. However, I want to share a story and you’ll need that gem of information in order to appreciate it. My husband, on the other hand, enjoys craft beer (he has been known to grab a make-your-own six pack in order to try as many different flavors as he can). My first call was in an area where alcohol consumption by Christians can be a bit of a hot-button issue. When we first moved into the manse, we had the hardest time getting the recycling truck to pick up our recycling. We kept leaving it in the alley with the trash — not knowing we had to set it out in front for the recycling truck. Several weeks and phone calls later, we had the recycling set out the night before it was due to be picked up. We had piles of boxes from moving and a bin full of plastic, cans … [Read more...]

Tagged With: alcohol

Transition and grief

June 6, 2019 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

We are living in a time of constant transition in the church. I see this at the denominational level and the local level. For better or worse, we are having to reimagine what it means to be the church. Yet even Calvin nodded to a church that would be forever reforming. There is something about church that is forever in motion: always growing, stretching, changing. It was never meant to be stationary. All this sounds lovely doesn’t it? However, when we are living in this fluidity, there are huge challenges. Growing pains are real and we are so often forced to face these challenges without our consent. We rarely say, “OK — let’s move the church into this challenging time so we can bear new fruit.” Transition comes at us most often with an element of surprise. Surprise! You need all new plumbing. Surprise! Your long-time pastor is retiring. Surprise! You must make steeper budget cuts than you anticipated. On rare occasions, we are prepared for these surprises or we … [Read more...]

Tagged With: transitional ministry

A dream for the church: Let go and serve

May 21, 2019 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

We asked our bloggers to share their biggest dreams for the church. Here's what they imagine. Dreaming big has always come easily to me. As I think about my big dreams for the church, two come to mind. The first is to let go of the past. In so many ways our grasping at the past holds us back from living into the future. We remember how great it was fondly, but forget those times were imperfect. We lose sight of how amazing it is going to be when we let go, and really let God lead us into the future. Now, I don’t mean just throwing away our past. We can honor it and celebrate the good times! More often than not, our relationship with the past is trying to get back to it. We cannot go back to our past, to the glory days when more people came to church. I believe there is a future where more people will be in worship, but it will look entirely different than it did when attendance peaked for us as a denomination or individual congregations. It is good to be deeply rooted, but if we … [Read more...]

Tagged With: church dreams