Dear Caldwell,
Last Sunday before worship, our keyboardist extraordinaire Manley Roberts tickled the ivories with the old classic, “Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy” from the musical Porgy and Bess. It’s a lullibye, a reassurance that the child is safe in the presence of the parent. My prayer for you, amid these hot and often uncertain summer days, is that you feel the same assurance from our Divine Parent.
As we travel from Sunday to Sunday this week, we might focus on all the ways we are connected in faith. Our effort to “live deca-logically” is about God’s intent for us to be a covenant community, one where our interdependence is our lifeblood. With that in mind, I wanted to share two links as follow-ups to that series of sermons.
The first here is a link to one of our denominational confessions, the Heidelberg Confession (scroll to page 60 in the book, using page numbers at bottom of pages). Even though it is 500 years old, its section on the Ten Commandments stands the test of time and may be a resource to you in your devotion time. A second link here, is to the new report on poverty that I quoted from in Sunday’s sermon, a startling look at the deepening grip of poverty here, especially in non-white neighborhoods. We had a good follow-up discussion of the sermon series Sunday night. If you are moved to take action, there are a number of our existing ministry partnerships that focus on improving the lives of our most marginalized neighbors. Contact me or Missions and Justice Chair Lisa Raymaker for ideas.
Another way we live in connection is through our life in denomination. This Sunday, Business and Operations Manager Sally Herlong, also a seminary student, will preach and include a report on her experience as a commissioner to the PC(USA) national General Assembly last month. She will bring news of a range of ways we Presbyterians are at work nationally and internationally as God renews and reawakens our denomination. Her texts are Luke 12:13-21 and Colossians 3:1-11.
Don’t forget, if you are interested, that a new community book group and study convenes tomorrow night in The Third Place 6-8 p.m. to read and discuss a book about race and incarceration titled The New Jim Crow.
And, for your prayers, please keep Mike Watson in mind as he will have a procedure on his heart performed Friday morning. We also are praying for Anne Hunter Eidson and her mom, Doris and family, as Doris remains in the hospital in Winston-Salem.
Also, I ask you to keep my God-daughter, Clare Harrison, in prayer. A wonderful young adult and majorette at Troy University, she was burned yesterday while teaching campers about twirling. I am headed to see her and the family tomorrow.
See you Sunday.
In Christ,
John