June'26 Words from the Pastor

 Often when we are in a period of transition, it can feel as though no significant progress is being made. And yet, progress is still made. This is the case here at First Presbyterian Church. For months, a number of you have met faithfully to do the work of the interim process. You have met over a meal at the monthly Dinner & Discernment and carried the momentum gathered there into small groups to further refine what was done in the larger group. There is new momentum and people are working together with renewed energy.

How we communicate has been a focus. Committees have begun revising their portion of the Manual of Operations which was last updated 10 years ago. Communication between committees has improved. A new prayer request system has been implemented and working well. 

Our new Committee on Ministry (COM) representative, Cathy Foerster, attended April’s Session meeting detailing the steps that would be required to be approved by the Presbytery to form a PNC. Many gathered were surprised to learn that a congregational Self-Study would be required. 

At May’s Session meeting I presented a Self-Study outline to Session members for consideration. While the list of areas to be covered is significant – the good news is that a considerable percentage of the information has been gathered through the monthly Dinner & Discernment and Small Group meetings. With that said – there remains work to be done. June’s Session meeting will be spent designing the framework for how the remaining information will be gathered and how the Self-Study will be written. 

So – what can you expect as we continue to move forward? In the coming weeks – you can expect another update outlining the Session approved process for gathering the remaining data for the Self-Study. Leadership’s focus – with the support of the pastor – will be to collect and compile the necessary data. Following each Dinner & Discernment an elder will present in worship a summary of the evening’s activities/progress. 

 This process works best when we all participate. There will be additional opportunities to participate as we move through the summer months. It’s not too late to contribute to the sustainable future of this congregation.

Blessings, Pastor Lynda

May'26 Words from the Pastor

I want to take a moment to review some of what has been accomplished through the monthly Dinner & Discernment and Small Group meetings. We first began by looking at the church’s history so that we might better understand how we have come to need a pastor. At the same time participants were introduced to Change theory and Family Systems theory and how groups respond to change and the obstacles to growth that can occur. 

As we moved into the Fall – small groups engaged in Listening Circles so that we might better understand the full range of feelings experienced by the congregation as the decision was made by Pastor Cara to leave. As a result, for some, healing has begun. 

Throughout this time, we have looked at our values – both individually and as a church. We took an inventory of our personal giftings and how they might be used to help the church grow. At the same time, we identified what the church does well and should be celebrated as well as areas in need of some attention. 

Committees have begun evaluating what they do and how they do it in preparation for updating the church’s Manual of Operations. Communication between committees has increased – with tasks being reassigned based on a more complete understanding of how committees and the church work. A committee workshop day is in the planning. The new Prayer Chain app is a wonderful example of growth that came from this process. 

Cathy Foerster – our COM liaison – spoke at the April Session meeting. She explained in detail the current process for forming a PNC. Many were unaware that a Self-Study has become a requirement. While this was a surprise for many – I want to assure you that the work that has been/continues to be done during Dinner & Discernment and Small Groups has been designed to prepare the congregation to complete the Self-Study. 

While the Self-Study might feel like another box that needs to be or another hurdle to be overcome – the Self-Study has been designed to involve the entire congregation in the process of preparing for and forming a PNC. Ms. Foerster reminded us that more participation means that 

1. the pastor you call will be the best possible fit for the needs of the congregation and
2. takes some of the burden for preparing the MDP off the PNC members.

This process works best when more of the community participates.

It is not too late to begin participating in a Small Group or Dinner & Discernment.

Your voice matters!
Blessings, Pastor Lynda

April'26 Words from the Pastor

As we approach Resurrection Sunday – a question posed by Rev. Colin Pritchard during the Elder training has lingered. He asked: “What would you be willing to give up so that the next generation of Christ followers felt welcomed?” I know that's not a comfortable question. And I'm not asking it to unsettle you, however, because I believe it is – at its heart – a resurrection question. It is the kind of question that God seems to ask communities of faith at particular moments in their life together. And I think this might be one of those moments. Some of you have been part of this congregation for decades. You remember the full pews – Sunday school classrooms full of active children – programs that felt like they would go on forever. You love this church. You have poured your lives into it. And yet – something feels different now – quieter. The world outside these walls has changed. And the question before us is not whether things have changed – but rather – how we will respond.

The Text Speaks

Paul writes to the church in Rome – a community that also knew tension – that also felt the pull between old ways and new calling – and he says this. Listen carefully. "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2). Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say: protect what you have built. He does not say: keep things exactly as they are. He does not say: your comfort is your calling. But rather – he says: be transformed. Be renewed. Offer yourselves – not your preferences – not your programs – not your past – but yourselves, as living sacrifices.

That word Paul uses – transformed — in the Greek is metamorphoo. You recognize part of that word. Metamorphosis. It is the language of deep, structural change. The kind of change that does not just adjust the surface but reshapes the whole. Paul is not asking the church in Rome to simply tweak things around the edges. He is asking them to be renewed from the inside out. To stop being shaped by the pressures and familiar patterns around them, and to start being shaped by something far greater.

Resurrection Is Not Resuscitation

Resurrection is not the same as resuscitation. Resuscitation brings back what was. It returns you to the condition you were in before. And it is temporary. Resuscitation buys time. Resurrection isn’t about returning to the way things were – but rather – is about becoming something new. Something the old form could never have contained.

When Jesus rose from the dead, he was recognizable, and yet different. The same – and yet gloriously and fundamentally transformed. The disciples had to learn to see him with new eyes. So, when we talk about new life for this congregation, we’re not talking about recreating a decade from the past. We are not talking about filling the sanctuary with the same faces or the same programs and the same rhythms we remember fondly. While those things were good – they are not the destination. We are talking about something the Spirit wants to bring forth that we may not yet have imagined. Purpose – not preference – is the catalyst for this transformation.

The Dying Church That Chose Purpose

Congregations decline. That is a painful truth that can’t be dressed up. Across this country, churches are facing this reality. And when faced with this reality – they tend to make one of two choices.

Some choose to preserve – using their remaining energy protecting the institution as it is — keeping the programs running – the traditions intact – the doors open just long enough to say they kept things going. And slowly, quietly, those communities fade. But others – and this is what inspires me — others choose purpose. They ask the harder questions. They ask: “What does this community actually need from us? What has God placed us here – in this place – at this time, to do? What are we willing to let go of, so that something new can live?”

And those communities — even when they are small – even when they are aging – even when the budget is stretched and the building needs attention – those communities discover that God is not finished with them. That is not a promise of packed pews next Sunday. It is – however – a promise of faithfulness. It is the difference between managing a slow decline and actively participating in resurrection. The question for this congregation is not whether we have a future. I believe we do. The question is whether we are willing to let God shape what that future looks like – even when it looks different from what we have known and loved.

As you prepare to celebrate the risen Christ – I want you to consider that you are not simply a congregation trying to manage the end of an era. You are bearers of the image of God, called to be the full embodiment of God's light and love in the world – right here – right now – in this particular place. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in this community – and that Spirit does not call us backward. That Spirit calls us forward — into transformation – into renewal – into purpose. Paul says: do not be conformed – but rather – be transformed. Be renewed.

So, the question remains – “What are you willing to let go of, so that something new can live?” I am not asking you to abandon what you love. I am asking you to trust that what you love — this community, this calling, this gospel — is far bigger than any one form it has ever taken. Remember in whose image you were created. Remember to whom you belong. And remember what you are called to do. May God give us the courage to offer ourselves – not as monuments to what was – but as living sacrifices to what is yet to come. Amen.

Blessings, Pastor Lynda

March'26 Words from the Pastor

 The season of Lent has begun – commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting and praying in the wilderness. Traditionally considered a time to foster spiritual renewal, self-discipline, and closeness to God. Throughout the scriptures, the wilderness represents a place of preparation, a place of waiting for God's next move, a place of learning to trust in God's mercy.

Within scripture 40 is a significant number – appearing numerous times.

• Forty: the days and nights that Noah and his family endured the deluge on board the ark, after which God made a covenant never again to destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 7:4,12; 8:6; 9:8-17).
• Forty: the days and nights Moses fasted on Mount Sinai as he inscribed the words of God's covenant for the Israelites (Exodus 24:18; 34:27-28; Deuteronomy 9:9).
• Forty: the days and nights Elijah fasted in the desert before receiving a new commission from God (1 Kings 19:8).
• Forty: the years the Israelites wandered the wilderness in preparation for their arrival in the Promised Land (Exodus 16:35; Deuteronomy 2:7).
• Forty: the days of the season of Lent as Christians participate in Jesus' ministry and follow his way toward the cross.

Temptation of Christ

The first Sunday of Lent – Matthew describes how Jesus is led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It is no accident that Jesus winds up in the wilderness after his baptism. He is not lost, and he is not being punished for something he has done wrong. Rather – He has been led by the Holy Spirit for a purpose – to be tempted or tested by the devil. His interaction with the Tempter acts as an assessment of his readiness for the mission entrusted to him. 

What if we saw the wilderness as a classroom and the temptations as our teacher? What if temptations are necessary for us to remember in whose image we are created and to whom we belong?

When we consider the temptation of Christ – most of would agree that he was tempted 3 times. Once to turn stones into bread. Once to test God by jumping off a building and once to accept all the worldly things the Tempter offers. But is it possible there is a 4th temptation – one that is the foundation of the other 3?

Episcopal Priest Mike Marsh writes;

"What if the fourth temptation is a universal temptation that runs through and underlies the other three? And what if it's the temptation that you and I are always struggling with? What if all the other temptations are just variations on this fourth one?"

He goes on to suggest that temptations aren't really between ourselves and someone or something else. Our temptations are almost always a struggle between us and ourselves. The fourth temptation is the temptation to betray ourselves. In some ways it's the first temptation. I betray myself before I betray you or give in to any other temptation. This is what Jesus is facing in the wilderness.

Our responses to the temptations of life – tell us something about ourselves. They offer information about who we believe ourselves to be. They reveal where we place our trust – how we see the world – and our way of being towards others. As we face of our temptations – we learn where we are empty and what it is we truly hunger for. We acknowledge the wounds we carry and see the ways in which we act out of our woundedness – rather than from love. We discover our blind spots – and feel our soul's longing. With each temptation we learn a little more about ourselves.

Jesus knew in whose image he was created – to whom he belonged – and to what he was called to do. With each temptation he remembered this truth – never betraying himself nor God. As you move through Lent – what spiritual practices might you engage in that help you remember – help you to not betray yourself or God? What are your temptations teaching you about yourself? And what will you do with that information? Let this season be one of remembering that you "are the light of the world."

Blessings, Pastor Lynda

Lent began this year on Wednesday, February 18th.

February'26 Words from the Pastor

We are living in troubling and unprecedented times. As we watch the news and scroll social media, many feel overwhelmed and heartbroken. You're frustrated – angry – grieving – filled with despair – feeling hopeless under the weight of it all. How do I know? Because I too, feel the same way. 

Like you, I wake up on an almost daily basis to a country I no longer recognize. Like you – my heart hurts at what I am seeing. Like you – I am unable to reconcile my faith with the ever-increasing violence – cruelty – and complete disregard for the sanctity of life. I – like Jesus – weep. (Luke 19:41-44) With so many claiming this to be a Christian nation – where is the love? 

If you – like me – feel this way – be heartened. Because of our faith – we can't turn a blind eye. We are called to more. So what do we do? 

First – be gentle with yourselves and each other. Rest. Read the gospels. Pray and meditate. Lament.  And when you are ready – take action. Actions don't have to be large like those who traveled to Minneapolis in subfreezing temperatures to protest and bear witness. No. They can be smaller actions educating yourself about the issues and then reach out and supporting someone in your community who is being directly affected by policies aimed at causing them harm. Participate in the Lenten Devotional – delving into how Jesus responded to a tyrannical empire and how we might use His example to take action. 

Take note of what issues most upset you and find groups/organizations that are doing that work and inquire how you might help support their efforts. Or simply sign a petition. 

On Friday, January 23rd, just one day before the murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the PC(USA) made the following statement – issuing a call to action with a link: 

In response to the alarming militarization of I.C.E. and the repeated violations of civil rights, we urge you to contact your Administration and Congressional representatives to demand oversight and accountability.
Join our Action Alert today.
PC(USA) social witness policy statements affirm the core principles of the U.S. democracy that every person has the right to live with dignity, speak freely, protest peacefully, and receive due process. we are called to act justly and protect all people. Micah 6:8 reminds us: "To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God."
More here:
https://www.votervoice.net/PCUSA/Campaigns/133070/Respond

You must not lose heart. Allow your faith to guide you and – like Jesus – love relentlessly.

Pastor Lynda