Rebecca Gresham-Kesner, Author at The Presbyterian Outlook

A love letter to the Presbyterian Church

February 14, 2019 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

This month, we invited our bloggers to write a "love letter" to the church. Here are their letters. Dear church, I love you because you have empowered me to lead. You did not squelch my voice when I finally spoke up and said I felt called to ministry. You helped me answer the call to serve your people, even when I was frustratingly stubborn. You have opened a world of opportunities I would have never known outside your beloved community. I am grateful that this has been my experience because I know it has not been the experience of some of my sisters (and brothers). I pray that soon we will empower all the voices of our people and learn to really hear them. I love you church because even amidst your human imperfection you are trying to love all the people of God. For many it seems like that loves starts in our polity when we make official statements on the full inclusion of all people or when we walk the streets of St. Louis to bring about bail reform. Yet, I know your … [Read more...]

Tagged With: love letter to the church

Disagreement vs. conflict

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

We asked our bloggers to share what they have learned about managing conflict in ministry. Here are their reflections. In current times, it seems that the smallest of disagreements can lead to huge divisions in our lives, in our families and in our churches. I have been blessed in that I haven’t had to work through any major conflicts in my ministry thus far. I have had to lead through minor conflicts in a variety of contexts, which are challenges in themselves. I’ve noticed that conflict is always tied up with two powerful emotions: fear and hurt. Fear and hurt can lead us to a profound sense of sadness, which in turn can manifest itself as anger. When we are angry, we are much more likely to engage in behaviors that turn from disagreement to conflict. Emotions can make even the most rational, loving, level-headed person say something hurtful. I hope that we rarely (if ever) choose our words with the intention of hurting another human being. Yet all of us unintentionally … [Read more...]

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My hope for the PC(USA) in 2019

January 7, 2019 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

Given the chance, I jump at the opportunity to tell people why I love the Presbyterian Church. I can go on and on about polity, theology, critical Bible study and so much more. During a recent family gathering, I found myself explaining some of the major theological differences between Protestants and Catholics. For as much as I love the way our process works with shared leadership in our committees, time for everyone to share their voice and formal votes to agree upon things, it sometimes holds us back from really doing the work of Jesus in the world. We can (dare I say it?) be so decent and in order we forget what following Jesus is all about. In 2019 my hope for the church is that we would learn to love more fully without getting caught up in our own process. While it rightfully takes years of process to change our constitution, it should not take us a series of meetings to respond to people in crisis. Yet even loving people seems to have been hijacked by politics in our … [Read more...]

Tagged With: New year

Advent: Waiting on peace

December 10, 2018 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

Each Advent we light candles of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. We wait, and we pray until the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus arrives and with fanfare, we welcome a baby who is the Savior. If we are really attuned, we know we wait not just to celebrate Jesus’ birth but also the day of the Second Coming. The day when perhaps finally we can forever have hope, peace, joy and love. This Advent, I find myself waiting on and praying especially for peace. It seems that we now only imagine peace to come about when we all finally agree with each other. When the one of us who has shouted the loudest and longest wears the others down, we will finallyhave peace. The world would be so peace-filled if everyone could just see that I am right and start agreeing with me! Yet the peace we are called to and the peace we wait on isn’t so much about agreeing with one another as it is living into the kin-dom of God. It is the sort of peace that comes when we set aside our differences, find our … [Read more...]

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I’ve been thinking about bivocational ministry… and handing over my piccolo

October 2, 2018 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

This week we asked our bloggers what younger pastors are thinking about and what they think the rising generation of Presbyterian leaders sees different than previous generations. Here are their answers. When asked what younger leaders are thinking about, one phrase comes to mind immediately: bivocational ministry. As a recently ordained pastor, I know it is on my mind and is often a topic I discuss with other young pastors. There is no way seminary could ever prepare a person for all the things that come to our attention or get added to our do lists. I am positive most pastors have a story about a plumbing problem and very few have taken a class on plumbing repair. As I have transitioned from seminary to ministry out in the world, I have come to understand that seminary prepared me to serve two churches. The first is the church that existed in the booming days of church life with full budgets, countless volunteers and thriving committees doing all sorts of ministry. The second … [Read more...]

Tagged With: bivocational ministry • What are younger leaders thinking about?

3 unexpected skills a pastor needs

September 25, 2018 by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner Leave a Comment

This month we asked our bloggers about how they view the role of pastor, how they understand their pastoral identity, or to share what a pastor really does all week. Here’s how they responded. The women of the church were bustling about the kitchen and fellowship hall as they prepared a meal to be shared after a funeral. The tables had beautiful lace table coverings on them. The china they lovingly hand wash had been set on the tables. The smell of food being cooked filled the hall. Buffet-style tables were set up. They were ready to attend the funeral and serve the family. The funeral director gathered the family into the same area so that we could gather to pray before the service started. The church was filling up with people, many who had driven a long way and needed the restroom. I buzzed around nervously, making sure everything was in place. Knowing it was time to pray, I zipped around a corner into the fellowship hall and I was startled by what I saw, something so … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Role of pastor

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