Dear Church Family,
I just got back from a truly wonderful program, Presbyterian Credo. This was my second and last week there, as they do two one-week programs a year apart for those pastors in their first five years of ordained ministry. Thinking about it yesterday over dinner with my husband I was torn on my evaluation of the program… torn over shades of greatness, that is. Was the spiritual growth and nurture I experienced in those two weeks equal to the growth I had in two years of seminary? Or three years of seminary? In any case, it was fantastic, and my heart is full to overflowing.
I spent a week in the mountains of North Carolina — deep enough into the country that we had no cell phone reception all week. They made up for the lack of cell phone reception, however, with simpler delights: a lake and a boathouse, hiking trails, games and late night sing-alongs.
The faculty were incredible. Four of them were ordained as Teaching Elders like me and the other pastors, and three of them were ordained as Ruling Elders like many of you. Between the seven of them they had an incredible breadth of experience that they brought to serve us generously. They had earned many degrees and doctorates; they had authored hymns we sing regularly in the Presbyterian hymnal; they had served for years as financial planner, as pastor, as therapist and coach, as a church’s Parish Nurse, as pastor, as seminary chaplain, as Stated Clerk, as Executive Presbyter, and in the office of the General Assembly. They were parents and grandparents and mentors and therapists, and one surprised us on the last day pulling out a trombone in worship. A card game we played late one night came up with the silly sentence “there just aren’t enough good hymns written about Men’s Fitness magazine,” and the faculty obliged by writing one for us, and sang it in four-part harmony. All seven of the faculty members gave lectures, participated in panels, and offered one-on-one consultations in their areas of expertise. And each one of them preached a sermon.
My favorite of the seven sermons, the one that ended up written on my heart, was not given by one of those with a D.Min, or M.Div, or even a Rev. attached to their name. In fact I found out later that she was terribly nervous preaching to such a crowd of pastors. Freda is a professional church administrator and her role on the faculty was that of logistics coordinator. But what a sermon she preached, and what a beautiful table she set. Where the communion table would be, she set a table for tea, and she preached about discernment. She poured the hot water over the tea leaves, and said “the longer it sits, the stronger it gets.” She gave each of us a bag of tea and sent us out for two hours of solo, silent discernment time, reminding us over and over: steep yourself in God’s love. Don’t cut it short.
The whole experience at Credo was so great that I want to share all of it with every one of you. But the faculty cautioned us to avoid the over-sharing kind of “dump truck syndrome,” and instead share one thing at a time. So here’s my one thing for now: steep yourself in God’s love, and don’t cut it short. The longer you sit, the stronger you get. To me this means attending to gratitude and joy. The longer I focus on gratitude, the more grateful I get. The longer I focus on joy, the deeper and stronger my joy will be.
I’m grateful to be coming home to Montclair, to my family, to a garden turning over for fall, and to a congregation that makes me feel so deeply grateful. I’ve only peeked into my overloaded email but I can tell from the subject lines that while I was gone, you were hard at work doing the mission of the church. I thank you for all your spiritual strength, your depth and breadth of experience, and the joy you bring to our community. I’m pouring another cup of tea (here at Peet’s in the village) and I’m going to sit awhile with that gratitude.
Every Blessing,
Talitha