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A view from a pandemic sabbatical

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After 28 years of ministry (including 20 in my current context), I asked for and received permission from the session to take sabbatical during the summer of 2020.  My wife and I planned a trip to Scotland that included a retreat to Iona, playing a round of golf at St. Andrews and visiting my ancestral homeland.  But COVID-19 changed all of that.  Instead, I spent my two months at home in South Carolina. Taking sabbatical during the first summer of this pandemic allowed me to do a lot of research and listening.  I listened to podcasts, watched webinars, read books and talked to colleagues about next steps in ministry.  I attended worship outside at several churches and watched others online. I discovered that my colleagues are, for the most part, tired and frustrated due to the challenges from the pandemic and the desire to confront racial injustice.  One pastor said he has “decision overload,” while all pastors I talked to shared their stress of listening to the opposing … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19 • sabbatical

not/me

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I. Two by two they walked       from the ends of the earth strung together like beads destined for the same necklace. Male and Female,       twoness of one. Inseparable.       Di            vided. The journey long, the destination uncertain, the only map       traced in the gaps between them at those fleeting points of union that stubbornly defy their uncompromisable disunion. Like me.  But not like me. Carrying the burdens and the blessing       of nations,       of ancestors,       of self, of a newness not mine. The Promise       false promises; but hope. Always Hope. II. Adaptation. Naturalization. Acculturo-indoctrination. When hatred of the other       becomes hatred of my Other, Then,       I am successfully assimilated. Twoness tentatively mended. Agnostic of my                              Self. Why have you forsaken me? You, who know this pain of an ever-tilting … [Read more...]

Tagged With: poetry

Our college’s calling goes beyond the classroom

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COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests have clarified that the calling of my small Presbyterian Church-related college goes beyond the classroom. I wish the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who founded the college I serve could have chosen a location that would, at the very least, have been the future home of a Panera Bread. But they were called to a higher purpose than my favorite fast-casual food. Education, to our founders, was a service to society, particularly a liberal arts education that developed mature, critical thinkers who could synthesize knowledge to solve complex problems. Every fall, I get the chance to stand up during our first-year student orientation and explain what it means for our college to be church-related. It’s a tough gig. How do you make Presbyterian history interesting to 200 sweaty students right after lunch? I try to tap into their desire to be a part of something greater than themselves — our tradition of moral courage, servant leadership, faith in … [Read more...]

Tagged With: college/YA • COVID19

What is essential? A commissioner’s thoughts on the 224th General Assembly

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Guest commentary by Brad Clayton I am truly grateful that I had the opportunity to serve as a commissioner to the 224th General Assembly this summer.  In the years to come, I think some Presbyterians will see this GA as one that made history, while others will see this meeting as a missed opportunity to be a prophetic voice in the war against racism and bigotry.  I observed participants with two different attitudes:  One group looked at these online meetings and thought there was only so much we are able to do.  Others looked at this time in history and thought there is so much that we must do, no matter what obstacles we face. I began the meeting with the first attitude, thinking that there was only so much that we could do given this assembly’s limitations.  Our assembly was abbreviated considerably.  The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) determined that the assembly would consider only critical business, and many worked hard to put together a docket of … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA224

The Communion of Saints

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Never been quite sure just what it meant, precisely what I was affirming my belief in, as I entered the Credal home stretch and headed, breathless, for the life everlasting. Then came Corona’s necessary distancing, and I sat computer-side – oatcake, fruit juice, votive candle – seeking my solitary way through The Lord’s Supper, a virtual (virtuous?) liturgy led by my friendly pastor on the screen. In a way it seemed quite personal, intimate, almost one-on-one. No elders bearing elements, no distracting neighbors in the pews, no need to fuss with masks, gloves and sanitizer. But where to find the Church, to know and feel that certain common touch, that actual live and life-giving Communion? Unless that is precisely what they meant, those four old enigmatic words, “The Communion of Saints.” Unless, across the centuries – those cruel seasons of isolation, imprisonment and worse – those inspired divines were all along insisting that whenever we take this loaf and … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19 • poetry • sacraments

Transformative and redemptive ministry? A YAAD’s perspective on the 224th General Assembly

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Guest commentary by Christopher Morgan On the early evening of June 27, co-moderator Gregory Bentley gave the closing benediction and walked off, screen left. A calling to “transformative and redemptive ministry” ended the 224th General Assembly. As I closed my laptop and stretched my back, however, my temples pounded, my muscles ached and my eyes pulsated. I wasn’t feeling particularly transformative or redemptive. I served as a Young Adult Advisory Delegate (YAAD) to this summer’s General Assembly, so while I do not speak for all YAADs, I thought it would be important to document one young person’s experience at our denomination’s most important business gathering. I want to begin by expressing my abundant gratitude for our four YAAD advisors whose work wrangling over 100 YAADs for two weeks must have left them even more exhausted than I was. They were unequivocally marvelous. After co-moderator Elona Street-Stewart skillfully finished moderating the business on the … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA224

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