Guest commentary by Richard Austin Thompson Fred Rogers was the hallmark of a good neighbor. With 2018 marking the 50thanniversary of the launching of the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood TV series, there has been revived interest in Fred Rogers himself. From the making of films about him – the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and the forthcoming biopic with Tom Hanks portraying him, not to speak of the recent PBS special about him – to the post office issuing a stamp featuring him, there has been nothing else like this renewed attention to his life and work since his death in 2003. As it happens, we are being reminded of him in the year of the “separation of families.” His gentle, loving, always respectful relationship to children is suddenly perceived in stark contrast to the government’s heart-breaking policy of taking children from their parents and placing them in anonymous institutional settings without any guarantee of their being reunited with their mothers or … [Read more...]
My mom and me: Theological comfort and the suicide crisis
Guest commentary by Chip Hardwick The news earlier this summer came almost too quickly to digest. Upscale handbag designer Kate Spade, fresh off the 2017 list of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” reportedly took her life on Tuesday, June 5. Only three days later on June 8, celebrity chef and former bon vivant Anthony Bourdain was found dead in his hotel room in France after apparently choosing to end his life. As the news ricocheted around, similar reactions emerged. Spade’s handbags have a “lighthearted, all-American style,” which made it hard to imagine her taking her life. Tributes to Bourdain included statements such as, “If I could choose anyone’s life, I would be him.” No one seemed capable of wrapping their mind around why these seemingly well-put-together public figures would die by suicide. My mind didn’t spend any time exploring these celebrities’ motivations; it was far too busy revisiting 1997. That fall my stepmother, the only mom I had known … [Read more...]
Spinning old symbols …
You can’t attend any General Assembly without noticing the vast array of bowties worn by Presbyterian men. But today about 200 Presbyterians, women and men, are wearing hot pink bowties, as a statement of support for the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements. Since the hashtag #MeToo broke last October, Sara Dingman, executive of the Synod of Lincoln Trails, has been hosting #MeToo and #ChurchToo dialogues, workshops and retreats for women and men in the synod she serves. Every woman, everywoman, has a #MeToo story to share. Time’s up for the church to remain silent. Dingman offered to bring 50 hot pink bowties to St. Louis for mid council colleagues to wear, to show their solidarity for women who have been harassed and abused in and beyond the church. News spread and she ended up ordering as many as she could find on Amazon and Ebay — about 200. “I only wish I could have found three times as many.” Why pink? Millions of people rallied at women’s marches in … [Read more...]
Confessions of a GA exhibitor
Guest blog from General Assembly The great Presbyterian reunion that is General Assembly is an opportunity not only to catch up with your favorite Presbyterians, but also to see all the amazing ministry we are doing throughout the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The exhibit hall is ground zero for meet-ups between old friends and an eye-opening look at all the ways God is working through us to build the kin-dom. With plenary, committee meetings and scheduled meals, exhibitors are used to the ebb and flow of traffic. And in the low times we make the most of exploring the various booths to find the best swag, build personal and professional connections and explore a deeper knowledge of all the ways the PC(USA) is witnessing to and changing the world. I have attended General Assembly as a YAD (so long ago, there was only one ‘A’), a volunteer and twice as an exhibitor. The hours can be long, but there is nothing like being among a large group of people excited about the ministry … [Read more...]
Humans of GA: Kilt edition
It’s not every day that the moderators for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) lead the General Assembly in a five-minute salsa break. And it’s not every day that you see a Scotsman in a kilt in St. Louis, Missouri. But, seeing both at the same time? That’s unheard of. “Oh, nooo! What are they doing?” John Brewster is a General Assembly veteran (this 223rdGeneral Assembly is the sixth he’s attended) and an unofficial ambassador from the Church of Scotland. “In Scotland you bow before the moderator before going into the room, and again before going out. So, seeing this is just … .” He was lingering just outside the assembly hall, watching the indecorous salsa dancing unfold on a television livestreaming the assembly. Brewster is a pastor at Greenhills Parish Church in East Kilbride, Scotland, a few miles south of Glasgow. He has gentle eyes, and a gentle brogue and air of contentment that seems like a Victorian ideal. “I wear my kilt so everybody sees me, everybody sees me, and I … [Read more...]
A GA junkie follows along from home
It all started when I was in seminary with the 219th General Assembly (held in Minneapolis in 2010). I knew I wanted to attend GA, but because I only had one semester left before graduation (as opposed to a full academic year), I wasn’t eligible to be a Theological Student Advisory Delegate (TSAD). But there was another option. I signed up to be a student worker and so ended up behind the scenes. (Have you ever noticed those tired-looking people running around in blue smocks? That was me.) And I loved every minute of those 10 days that I spent setting up and taking down and passing out paper and trying to help people with all their technical issues (yikes!) and running hastily-scrawled amendments from the plenary floor backstage so they could be put up on the screen for all to read. For me, that was it. I was hooked. I was officially a GA junkie. Every GA since then, I’ve spent the entire week following every moment possible from afar. I read through the overtures beforehand … [Read more...]
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