Hey Caldwell Family!
This is Will DeLaney on the keys this week. As many of you know, I am a rising senior at Presbyterian College (Sco’ Hose!) where I am finishing my degree in Christian Education. I served as a Gambrell Social Justice Intern last summer and I am a member of Caldwell!
The words John spoke Sunday are still sitting with me today. As he preached from Galatians 3:23-29, he reminded us that Christ welcomes each of us in our full complexity and uniqueness. For many of us, we go from week to week being a part of a world that is divisive, polarizing, and exclusionary. Every day the world tries to conform us into cookie cutter identities that our culture prescribes.
However, as John reminded us, we are all one in Christ and that we have a passport that is already stamped for a community where our diversity can shine, and we are cherished for who we are as the children of God. John spoke of us here at Caldwell as builders of this community, the Kingdom of God, here on Earth. I’m writing to ask your help in continuing that conversation – through my Summer Research.
I have been afforded an amazing opportunity as a Summer Fellow in the Presbyterian College Summer Research Program. My research is examining the value and obstacles presented by intersectionality in the Charlotte Presbytery. I am interested in what it means to be church in our full complexity as the children of God. As announced Sunday, my research now turns to Caldwell, and I am humbling seeking your help.
First, I am conducting a completely anonymous congregation-wide, written survey that will provide quantitative data to the impact of Caldwell on each of you and the community.
Can you please take 5 to 10 minutes for that? The link is:
https://presby.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bKMphqde4tz34WN
There will also be paper copies available to you in the church office during the week and at the back of the sanctuary every Sunday.
Secondly, I am conducting 20-minute one-on-one interviews with as many of you as I can over the next three weeks. Your stories will shed light on the value and obstacles presented by being a part of a congregation where multiple kinds of diversity and identities intersect. I’d love to sit down with you and get your thoughts about Caldwell as diverse and intersectional church.
I will be at Caldwell each of the next three Sundays. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out to me at wcdelaney@presby.edu or at worship on Sundays. Thank you for taking time to help with my research, as each of your voices and perspectives are valuable to my study.
Grace and Peace,
Will DeLaney