Beauty of Holy Spaces

I am smitten by the beauty of First Presby. Church's sanctuary during both Advent and Christmas. The large Christmas tree, the simple wreath for Advent, the Christmas wreaths and garlands, poinsettias, the fantastic banners by Karen Hanny and Peggy Stocks, along with Christmas greens throughout the rest of the sanctuary, all "worked" in our sanctuary of worship. Thank you to ALL who participated in planning and putting up this marvelous display of craftspersonship, and for ALL those who are taking it down as I write this.

There are many in this world who do not have a place for holy worship like we do. There are Christians who meet under trees for worship in Africa and South America, others who gather in school buildings, prison cafeterias, and others who meet in store front churches. What make all of these places holy sanctuaries are the people who gather in God's name. It all goes back to the words of Jesus, "Wherever two or three gather in my name, Lo, I am there."

Come let us adore him in sanctuaries of rare beauty like ours, under trees, under tin roofs, and in the wide open spaces of Godly splendor!

Peace,

Pastor Brett

St. Stephen Day, King Wenceslas, and Boxing Days: Church Holy Days

As many of the members of First Presbyterian Church-Henderson (FPC-H) are now realizing, I am in awe of the holy days in the life of the Church universal: whether Catholic, Protestant, Greek or Russian Orthodox (Western and Eastern Orthodox Churches). We've celebrated All Saints' Day, Christ the King Sunday, all four Sundays of Advent, and are now in the 12 days of Christmastide, followed by Epiphany and the Sunday of Jesus' baptism.

What's is the importance of these days? They are reminders/markers/sign posts of telling us which way we are headed, and which way we are going: toward God's realm of love, which is also inbreaking.

Today is Boxing Day in England, otherwise known as St. Stephen's Feast Day. This is a day of remembering to be charitable. Employers would give the "help" a gift in boxes that people used on Christmas day, or a parent would give a gift to a child. St. Stephen is remembered as the first Christian martyr, who was stoned by a crowd who were roused by Saul of Tarsus, a.k.a., St. Paul.

Judith Flanders wrote a fascinating column/op-ed in the New York Times today, focusing on Boxing Day and arguing for us to try it in the States:

Instead Boxing Day could return as a day of giving. Not necessarily cash — and not material to make uniforms — but rather one day a year to donate skills or effort, a day for sharing something of value in the larger community. Help someone whose first language isn’t English fill out driver’s license forms. Load an old lady’s iPod with Rogers and Hammerstein. Teach the boy next door to throw overhand, so the other kids stop teasing him.

What we really need to do is put down the punch bowl and pick up on what Punch magazine wrote more than 150 years ago: Don’t just keep “the Christmas of the belly: keep you the Christmas of the heart. Give — give.”

Click here for more.

Peace,

Pastor Brett

Christmastide! Finally! Phew!

Reports from my family in Oregon is that it is down-right cold and chilly. Reports from friends in New Zealand: cooler than usual! Reports from friends in Bethlehem: wet!

Reports from church last night for a series of "Lessons and Carols": beautiful! Following in the tradition of this church, we worshiped last night following a series of lessons, of Scripture verses, that remind us of the downs and ups of the human story: from Genesis and the dislocation of the couple of newbies, Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Sarah being told of the greatness of God's people, born from a once-barren womb, to Micah's and Isaiah's words reminding us of who was born in one of Israel's darkest periods of life: namely, the Christ child. We read stories of Christ's birth, from Luke and Matthew, with shepherds and wise men. I'm always struck by the passage in John 1, in which the entire Gospel is summed up in the first 14 verses.

The church was 3/4th full, which was wonderful. Candles were lit and held high as we sang "Silent Night, Holy Night!" The night was warm. Mist enveloped the ground. The church sanctuary was bedecked in red and green. A new banner hung in the sanctuary designed and constructed by Peggy Stock, and the choir sang beautifully.

For the last four weeks, we were building up to Christmastide. While the world around us understands Christmas as one day, we Christians know better: it is a season of 12 days, ending with Epiphany, or in the South, "Old Christmas."

I look forward to celebrating all days of Christmas with you, dear members of FPC-H!

Merry Christmastide!

Pastor Brett

Beethoven's Birthday!

Urgh!

Yesterday was an important birthday for us to remember: Beethoven's birthday! We all seem to enjoy singing that wonderful hymn "Joyful, joyful we adore thee God of glory, Lord of love..." This hymn, that comes from the choral refrain from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, is a grand hymn to open worship with.

Here's to you, Ludwig!

Peace,

Pastor Brett

Doing Things Decently and in Order...and in the Book of Order

One of the fun parts--and yes, I mean fun--of going through Elder training is re-reading parts of the Book of Confession (Part I) and Book of Order (Part II), which comprises our Constitution as a denomination. These are rather lengthy documents, and I giggle when realizing that the United Kingdom has no Constitution while we Presbyterians keep adding and subtracting and refining our Constitution.

What is key for us as a church is the part of the Director of Worship. There has been much discussion in the church over the changes in the Order of Worship, which Session changed some months ago. We looked at the PCUSA's BOOK OF COMMON WORSHIP, as well as followed the "Service of the Lord's Day" under "Appropriate Actions in our Book of Order, W-3.3000 and W-3.3200. The order of actions, of worship is as follows:
1. Gathering around the Word: call, confession, and assurance;
2. Proclaiming the Word: the reading of Scripture and preaching;
3. Responding to the Word: the offertory, prayers of the people, and Lord's prayer;
4. The Sealing of the Word: the sacraments;
5. Bearing and following the Word into the world: charge and benediction.

When I came to First Presby. Church, we were not following this very traditional Presbyterian way of worship, but were following some other order of worship that was not rooted in the Presbyterian tradition. With some simple shuffling around, we kept all the elements of worship we had before, and added some new ones in the way of responsive readings so that the congregation is more active in worship. Thus worship is less the choir and preacher/pastor performing, but more of the people of God engaged in worship.

Thanks for the opportunity to teach Elders, and re-learn why we do what we do!

Peace,

Pastor Brett

2nd Sunday of Advent: Peace...with John the Baptizer as Guide

Today's worship was memorable in many ways: the "children's sermon" became a family sermon, with two families playing tug of war vs. tug of peace. It is always interesting to see who competitive we can be, and how odd, how strange, how weird building consensus can be, whether in a church, a family, or a neighborhood.

John the Baptizer was the focus of today' sermon. He heralds well the coming of the Christ!

I particularly enjoyed singing a song that "John the Baptizer" would heartily approve: "Go Tell it On the Mountain," with the congregation singing along and clapping to this wondrous African American spiritual!

With two Sundays of Advent "down," our Season of waiting continues. There is a challenge before us to focus on Advent as Christians while so many of groups in the rest of the world around us has already jumped ahead to the Season of Christmas. But the four weeks of waiting
is well worth it when we enter the season of Christmas.

Peace!

Brett

First Sunday of Advent

This was my first Advent celebration at First Presbyterian Church-Henderson, and I must say that it was powerful, even for the pastor. The sanctuary itself is beautiful beyond words: the wreaths, the garlands, the mixture or red and green, purple and white, were eye catching. The music by the choir was beautiful. And the readings by young and old families and couples, explaining the meaningfulness of the season seemed to set the right tone for the Advent season.

Hope that others will be able to join us in the great waiting for the coming of the Christ child.

Peace,

Brett

Dead Sea Scrolls Visit

Thirteen members of First Presbyterian Church of Henderson traveled in our own pilgrimage caravan of cars from Henderson to Raleigh to take in the exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the North Carolina Museum of Science. The exhibit gives us all a rare look not only at the fragments of the Scrolls themselves--fragments from Genesis, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and the rules of the Essenes community--but of the very Essenes community that lived in Qumran on the northern shore of the Dead Sea in Israel. We both considered the recent journeys of the Scrolls since its discovery in the 1940s, but the story of this religious community itself and how it lived and thrived in its Dead Sea area. The exhibit showed how they found water and brought it up to their community, the pottery collection, and the scrolls themselves.

What was important for us to consider not only how the Scrolls were found today, but to ask the question: what is the Bible, the historic and sacred texts to not only Christians but Jews as well? Is there "the Bible" that is real, and everything else is a variation of a theme? How doe we understand the creation of this sacred texts from the oral tradition from which it was born?

We all left amazed and wondering!

Peace,

Pastor Brett

SOME and Dabney Dr. Restaurant!

We are a church that likes to eat, whether we are serving up the food or enjoying it at a nearby restaurant! On Sunday, the youth of the church served some of the people in the area who are not able to able to provide food on their own tables. The number of those coming to SOME has risen to around 45 people this past Sunday. Economic times are hard throughout this land, let alone Henderson and Vance County. We are providing a much needed resource in our community.

Likewise, a good time was had by all at Dabney Dr. Restaurant on Sunday after worship. Kathy and I were able to share with those who gathered together many of the exciting projects going on around the church, including updating websites and newsletters, Thursday's new "Shout Out" to those who use computers, in which we inform the congregation of all that is going on in our church in the upcoming days. These lunch times with the pastor and staff will continue throughout the rest of my tenure at the church, so come and join us.

In reading the past blogs and newsletter, I find myself writing a great deal about food. This is O.K.! After all, we see Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding feast, we see a few loaves of bread and some fish become enough to feed 5,000 men, and an equal number of women and children, Jesus was made known to the two disciples running to Emmaus when he simply broke bread with his friends, and we have Passover and the Last Supper as a reminder of the presence of the Christ in our lives today, and the life to come!

Eat up! Christ is with us!

Peace,

Pastor Brett

Lunch with Pastor Brett!

A good time was had by all who came to Dabney Dr. Restaurant after worship to talk with me. A good time was had by all as we sat around the Dabney Dr. Restaurant chatting with each other about our lives and the life of the Church.

I look forward to more good times like this with the Church!

Peace, Brett

Session, Stewardship, and Supper on Sunday!

A full weekend was had by many of us this past weekend at Church. On Sat., the Session members of FPC-H met from 10-2:30, discussing the past, the present, and the future of the Church. We met in the Henderson library board room, and from our vantage point we saw the Church in the near distance, giving us a great perspective to look outside the church but nearby, having a little perspective that we wouldn't have were we meeting in the Church building itself. The retreat gave us space and time to reflect upon our collective past, consider the present joys and struggles, and consider carefully where we are being led by God.

On Sunday, worship was made memorable because of the celebration of All Saints' Day and those who have already departed from us yet still are present as part of that cloud of unknowing witness.

Right after worship, we feasted on food cooked by Fred Lemmond as our Stewardship Kick-off Luncheon called us all together to enjoy good food and great company. Our new t-shirts ($10!) and window decals give us new ways to evangelize in the community, along with our nifty new book marks.

Then on Sunday night, the youth group sponsored a Fall Festival, with plenty of games, food, and fun for people of all ages!

It is Monday morning...phew! Hope everyone has a great day and week!

And don't forget to vote tomorrow, Nov. 4th!

Peace,

Pastor Brett

A Church on the Move

I opened up our November 2008 calendar of activities and felt "Whew! There's a lot going on here!" Trying to keep track of when all our fellowship meals are happening on Wednesdays, following the ESL activities that also happen on Wednesdays, along with choir practice, not to mention the fellowship meals after worship from time to time, near the Women's Circles and the Men's gatherings, not to mention Sunday school, youth group outings to the NC State Fair, and worship...we are a busy, active church!

And the root of this busyness?

Well, we Christians know that in fellowship activities we often discover Jesus! After all, as Scripture says "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name," said Jesus.

But the Benedictines have a wonderful phrase "ora et labora," which means "prayer and work," and the balancing act between the two.

Jesus doesn't want us to only or always to be busy. Jesus wants us to also take time to "smell the roses" though they are waning, behold the beauty of an autumn day as the leaves change, the air grows cooler, and the day light grows shorter. This is all of God's good creation. It is here we witness the Artist God at work and play.

Enjoy a breath of fresh cool air on Jesus!

Peace, Brett

Church's Potluck: Yum!

When I was in Israel last week I was surprised to find no mention of Jesus ever attending a synagogue pot-luck affair. Maybe they came about in the early Church! But even after investigating that possibility, I found no evidence of the early Church holding church-wide potlucks.

On wikipedia.com, it states that the derivation of the term comes from (of all places) Native American gatherings called "pot latches," which means "food given away to guests," which also can mean "whatever food one is lucky enough to find in the pot."

Regardless, the food and the conviviality of the Church potluck yesterday was something to treasure. To see so many tables filled with plates filled with delicious food, listening to the ongoing conversation revealed how God's Spirit is moving among us as God's people. After all, is this not food that came from the Creator, with a little creativity of God's creatures?

Bon appetite!

Peace,

Pastor Brett