Weekly Word

Last Sunday, a group of BPC members met to discuss our congregation and its many gifts. This was part of the Mission Study process that we have embarked upon as a way of assessing the current and future ministry of Bedford Presbyterian Church.

And the question was asked, “In the last few years, what moment stands out as being an example of our congregation at its best?” We went around the table, talking about a lot of things, but a few of these things were (in no particular order)….

There is a growing movement among “Generation Z” – people born between 1997 and 2012 – toward “analog” experiences. I am part of Generation X – the generation that was born into an analog world but saw the rise of the digital world. Unlike someone from Gen Z, I am not a “digital native.” …

God, who stretched the spangled heavens infinite in time and place,
flung the suns in burning radiance through the silent fields of space,
we, your children in your likeness, share inventive powers with you.
Great Creator, still creating, show us what we yet may do.

We have ventured worlds undreamed of since the childhood of our race;
known the ecstasy of winging through untraveled realms of space;
probed the secrets of the atom, yielding unimagined power,
facing us with life’s destruction or our most triumphant hour.

As each far horizon beckons, may it challenge us anew,
children of creative purpose, serving others, honoring you.
May our dreams prove rich with promise, each endeavor well begun.
Great Creator, give us guidance till our goals and yours are one.

– Catherine Cameron, 1967 – Glory to God Hymnal – Hymn # 24

This hymn was written by a woman named Catherine Cameron in 1967, but as I have watched news reports of the Artemis II space mission, I have been mindful of these words….

“I got me flowers to strew thy way;
I got me boughs off many a tree:
But thou wast up by break of day,
And brought’st thy sweets along with thee.

The Sunne arising in the East.
Though he give light, and th’East perfume;
If they should offer to contest
With thy arising, they presume.

Can there be any day but this,
Though many sunnes to shine endeavour?
We count three hundred, but we misse:
There is but one, and that one ever.” – George Herbert (1593-1633)

This coming Sunday – Palm Sunday – we will be welcoming new members into the life of our church. In so many ways, by so many paths, the Holy Spirit has lead each of these people to our church and they feel a sense of home and welcome here that is very deep and meaningful. I cannot remember the last time we had this many people join our church at one time, but it was most definitely before the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, some sad news. . .

I first met Ralph Dieter on the first Sunday that I came to Bedford Presbyterian Church. When he found out that I had been involved in Scouts as a youth, he knew that we had a lot we could talk about. Ralph loved to talk. He was the longest-serving adult leader in BPC’s Troop 414, going back decades. He was here most Thursday nights for Scout meetings and was here every Sunday for church, sitting next to his wife, Alberta. Ralph and Alberta – who met at a church function in Erie, Pennsylvania – were married for 70 years!

This past week, a friend of mine from seminary named Matt posted online that he was at a conference. At this conference, Matt heard a quote by a friend of his named Mark. So, Matt promptly took to Facebook to say, “I’m in a workshop at the . . . conference and [someone] just quoted Mark. . . So, you know, I want my money back.”

As some of you know, I have been away for two Sundays - on vacation with my family. I’m pleased to say that I was able to visit two different...