Dear Caldwell,
We have much to celebrate and pray about this week in our life together in Christ along with several ways to bear witness to God’s call to love and justice.
Remembering A Real Saint
On Saturday at 2 p.m., Caldwell hosts a memorial service for former member and giant in our city and presbytery, Mary Carol Michie. Many who attended Seigle Ave. Presbyterian, in some ways Caldwell’s predecessor, know of how she served as mother and mentor to a generation of under-privileged kids in the adjoining public housing community. We Presbyterians don’t name “saints” per se – but she is received in the heavens with a special embrace by that “communion of saints” Gail preached about Sunday.
The presence of so many beloved members here – Wilma Petty, Tatyanna Montgommery, Ruby Jones, Leroy Stinson, Richard Campbell, Herb McKinney, Troy Bowles and others traces to how Mary Carol in particular fed, nurtured and loved kids from Piedmont Courts. She inspired the discipleship of many others at Caldwell who knew her here or at Seigle Avenue. Her husband, George, is an equally remarkable servant-leader who helped with the resurrection of Caldwell just before it closed. The Michies had lived in Black Mountain for the last several years.
Jesus says these words in John’s Gospel about people like the Michies who serve serve others at the margins of society:
“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Lord will honor them.”
A request: Because of construction-related space limitations, the church is incurring unusual, unbudgeted expenses of about $2,400 to be able to host a large reception for the community who loved Mary Carol on the front lawn, including a tent and ground cover over the mud. If you would like to honor Mary Carol by helping provide this hospitality to those who she loved her, please send an email to Rick in the Business Office at rrogers@caldwellpresby.org .
Youth in Service
Another celebration and call to pray is next week’s youth mission trip. We have a great group of teens (saints in the making?) as well as some beloved youth “alumni” ready to go to the coast to study and advance environmental stewardship. The young disciples will learn about what justice looks in agriculture and agri-business as well as how we care for our beach areas amid climate change.
Due to COVID, it’s been a while since our last trip and our youth group has several new members/families. This trip is annually a wonderful gift to me personally as I get time to know these amazing kids on a deeper level. We ask for your prayers as we travel, practice COVID-safe protocols and build community. Watch for a report during and after the trip – and special thanks to Youth Minister Justin Martin for squeezing all of these arrangements into his busy life these days along with the other adults who are going.
Bearing Witness in Washington
Another way we bear witness is in the public square. We are seeing an assault on basic voting rights that amounts to what’s being called Jim Crow 2.0. Other entrenched conflicts, like that between Israel and Palestine, call for our engagement as a denomination and otherwise. (You may have read that Ben and Jerry’s has just pulled its business from Israeli-occupied areas of Palestine.)
Sunday night, we have a chance to hear about how our denomination asserts our faith perspective on these and many other matters in the halls of Congress through its Office of Public Witness in Washington DC. Kristen Roehrig, a former Caldwell intern who will start law school in the falls, has spent her summer interning in the OPW. She is a bright, committed and faithful sibling in our faith and will share what she has learned and answer our questions, Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Click here to join. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82751089148
If you want to read more in advance of this gathering here are an article about the PCUSA’s recent activism on Israel/Palestine, one on voting rights, and a link to the OPW Facebook page.
Understanding How Religion Does Harm
Finally, I will begin a two-part sermon series Sunday that takes a clear and direct look at how we can deepen our empathy and understanding of those who yearn for a relationship with the Divine but have been hurt by organized religion. The dwindling numbers of Americans who are active in churches traces directly to the damage some religious leaders and churches have done to honest seekers.
We turn to the stories of how Jesus encountered two very different people – one a Pharisee and one an outcast to learn more about our call to expand inclusive justice and to welcome ALL, even those who are ready to give up on their faith. You can read John 3 and 4 to prepare, if you like.
Surely our life in Christ is abundant in so many ways. Thanks be to God.
In Christ,
John