With one eye on the Super Bowl last Sunday, we addressed and stuffed our Valentine cards and letters to friends and family across the country, beyond our shores, and from across the years.

This annual ritual includes sending a card and letter to childhood friends and adults who guided us in those years, travelling companions, college and graduate school classmates, former neighbors and colleagues, mother, aunts and uncles, sisters, brothers and cousins, scout leaders, and a few about whom I  have to pause and think, "Where did we first meet?" There are a few addresses for which I pause and remember someone who has died, and a few far along in years for whom I am grateful will still smile at getting a Valentine in the mail. Every year, I think, “Let's not bother this year,” but then the cards and letters come in at Christmas, and it's such a delight to catch up. Children have grown, jobs have changed, people have moved, some have stayed in the same place, new hobbies and pursuits are mentioned and joys and sorrows shared. Sending cards and letters in this email, Facebook age may be a bit old-fashioned, but a treasured tradition that reminds me of all the saints of my life, and how blessed I am by them.
  
The recent lectionary passage was 1 Corinthians 13:1-13:

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.  But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.  For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face.  Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.  And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

What a time to celebrate God's great gift of love to us, and ours to each other.

Happy Valentine's Day!

On a cold afternoon in the fall I arrived in Philadelphia several hours before a dinner meeting. Clutching an umbrella way too small against a rain driving way too hard, I braved my way up the Ben Franklin Parkway to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Climbing up those stairs made famous by Rocky, I was soon enough inside, dry and with spirits brightened by the magnificent collection of art. The Impressionist paintings are so familiar that I had to remind myself these are the real ones, the originals, not the postcard and print versions. The very Pennsylvania collection of early American furniture reminded me I was in Philadelphia, not Paris. Winding my way back through gallery after gallery at a fairly brisk pace, I suddenly stopped in my tracks before an arresting picture of young Mary. The angel Gabriel is portrayed in a column of light, before Mary sitting on a bed with rumpled covers. Mary is attentive, bewildered and yet so believably about to say “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

We have Henry Ossawa Tanner, (1859-1937), son of an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister, to thank for this beautiful portrayal of the Annunciation. In this season of Advent, we hear the story over and over again in words, songs and pictures. The story is so familiar and yet so real. It is a story of events that happened long ago and far away, and a story of Christ coming into our lives where we are today. Come, Lord Jesus! 

What a privilege it was to join last week with such a distinguished roster of speakers to address the topic, “Faithful Mission in a New Age,” at the Presbyterian Heritage Center in Montreat, N.C.  The lively lecture series was sponsored by Columbia Theological Seminary, Montreat Conference Center, the Presbyterian Heritage Center, and the Adult Summer Club Program at Montreat.
                 
Being at Montreat, there was of course a lot of energy and interest around the subject of mission, as the Presbyterian retreat center has long been a home and gathering place for active and retired PC(USA) mission workers, many of whom were commissioned there during Montreat’s more than 100-year history.  In fact, in a recent story by the Presbyterian News Service, the conference center’s new president, the Rev. Pete Peery, recalled that his uncle, a missionary in China, was commissioned there.

The session I led last Wednesday followed the first two days’ speakers, Darrell Guder, academic dean of Princeton Theological Seminary and Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA).  On Thursday and Friday, James Cogswell, who served as a missionary to Japan and as director for various international mission programs of the PCUS and for the National Council of Churches, and Erskine Clarke, professor emeritus of American religious history at Columbia seminary, were the featured presenters.  Their lecture titles, subjects and experiences made the weeklong series a veritable feast.

In my own highly interactive session, “Patterns of Global Mission – Past, Present, and Future,” we spoke of eras, or modes of mission – the centralized mode in which international mission was done primarily by the General Assembly and the more recent independent mode in which congregations, presbyteries, groups and individuals are engaging directly with international partners, para-church organizations and their own initiatives. Each mode has advantages and disadvantages. We are seeing now in the church a move to a more interdependent mode, of which the Dallas mission consultation’s Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission was a significant expression. Our World Mission organization is responding by helping to Equip the Church for Mission with a new Mission Crossroads interactive website, the encouragement of mission networks, and more.

Participants in the Montreat session dreamed with me of how a Time Magazine cover story about Presbyterian world mission might be titled in the year 2015.  “Mission Possible” was one response!  May it be so with God’s help!

Although it has been some time since I last visited Charlotte, N.C., I’m clear on one thing.  Based on the encounters I enjoyed earlier this week, I certainly intend to return!

My N.C. travels actually began on Monday in the small, Piedmont town of Stoneville, where I had an opportunity to take part in a retreat attended by all of the executive presbyters representing the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic and synod executive, David McKee.  It was an informal and relaxing time of worship and community, during which time I was invited to lead a conversation on the considerable challenges that we are all facing as well as to celebrate the Good News of Christ’s church. The St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, although secluded, was warm and welcoming, the perfect setting for a lively dialogue among these dedicated partners in ministry on how we can best support and resource each other as we work though the financial, programmatic, organizational, and polity challenges that affect each – and all – of us.  As I travel and regularly invite conversation on what the church most needs from the national offices, I continue to be encouraged by the new models for collaboration and mutually supportive ministry that consistently emerge.

From Stoneville, Sam Roberson, General Presbyter/Stated Clerk for Charlotte Presbytery drove me on Tuesday to the “Queen City,” where I was introduced to Charlotte’s vitality and hospitality.  On Wednesday, my day began with a gathering of about 15 pastors and elders held at the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, which set a Good News tone with the bustling activity of its very active pre-school program.  Good Shepherd’s pastor, the Rev. Dr. Robert Austell, is also Charlotte Presbytery’s current moderator.  I was grateful for the perspectives shared by this faithful group.

At the lunch hour, I sat down to an excellent meal hosted by Charlotte Presbytery with all of its remarkably gifted staff members. In addition to addressing together a wealth of topics and issues, we celebrated the presbytery’s recent 20th anniversary commemoration held at Johnson C. Smith University Chapel on February 14, 2009.  This is a presbytery deeply engaged in the work of compassion, peace, justice, leadership development, new church development, church transformation, Latino ministries, and so much more.

In the afternoon, I was hosted at Myers Park Presbyterian Church by Steve Eason, pastor/head of staff, where another gathering of 15 or so pastors shared their impressions of the General Assembly Council while lifting up some excellent recommendations as to how the GAC could become an even better catalyst in connecting people across Christ’s church.

Leaving for the airport, I gave thanks to God for such vital witnesses to the reality that the church is alive!

At yesterday's meeting of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, my colleague, the Rev. Marcia Clark Myers, director of the PC(USA) Office of Vocation, provided an outstanding overview of the challenges and realities of leadership development in the PC(USA) of today and tomorrow.  Her presentation, which can be viewed on line, has already opened up a lively dialogue on Twitter and among bloggers.  I hope that you will read about where we are as a denomination and join the conversation.

Our church in Chicago has wonderful young adults who serve as youth leaders, and in many cases become friends of us in the parent generation. One came to mind last night, with whom we have a running joke. As she heads off with her friends, or our teens, we often joke that we are heading home to drink Ovaltine and watch the History Channel, neither of which we do, but you get the image. Last night we sat down to watch a DVD and the machine jammed. “Do you have a DVD that you know works? We’ll see if it’s the machine or the DVD,” asked my problem solving husband. I pulled out one that Joe Small of our Office of Theology & Worship has recently given me and the first few minutes of which I had watched: John Calvin: His Life and Legacy*. It did indeed work and there we sat for the next hour fascinated by this beautifully produced documentary, listening to a dozen or so pastors and scholars, several of whom are friends or familiar faces, talking about Calvin’s life and words and work. Visually interesting, many of the parts were filmed in Geneva, Switzerland.  What a remarkable and wonderful tradition Calvin set for us, and as this story reminds us, how meaningful it is for us today. I commend it to you, for private viewing, or church school study. Sit with the drink of your choice and enjoy it! I plan to watch it again, as I'm sure I'll notice things I missed on my first time through.

*John Calvin: His Life and Legacy comes with a study guide and Power Point supplement, the case says.

I have a special interest in Valentine’s Day, as might come as no surprise. A few months over twenty-five years ago, I married my first true love and along with a wonderful man came a delightful name. As we left our wedding reception in Pasadena, California in July 1983, the guests threw not rice but those little candy conversation hearts, a treat orchestrated by a friend and work colleague there who now all these years, and for each of us many cities later, lives less than a half mile from me in Louisville, Kentucky. Such is the power of friendship that she and her family, including one of my favorite people, her mother Margaret, took me in and hosted me for five months when I first moved here, and have been generous, loving and frequent companions now that we live close together.

As for our family, we play up the Valentine theme, sending Valentines rather than Christmas cards, complete with the family letter like those we receive from many friends at Christmas time. Many years we have a party, or sometimes two.  On the day before Valentine’s Day this year, we had heart shaped cookies in the cafeteria at the Presbyterian Center. I love to see colleagues greeting one another, relaxing and laughing as we all take a short break and enjoy each other’s company. Valentine’s Day is a great excuse for special words and gestures of friendship and love. Happy Valentine’s Day – or as we often quip in our family – let every day be Valentine’s Day.

Last Friday, I had just flown in from Atlanta where we had a wonderful and inspiring series of meetings with Ed Albright, executive presbyter and stated clerk for the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, his presbytery staff colleagues, pastors of established churches and emerging ones, the Korean Community Church - see the church's Website for a photo of our visit, and a recent Presbyterian News Service feature for a related story - Calvin Center camp, and the former and future Moderator. Tired though I was, I joined 13 new mission workers who have just completed their 3 weeks of orientation and preparation before being sent out around the world. Tired as they must have been after so much information and experience, they were energized and so, too, was I. I must say, we do prepare our mission workers well. They commented about that, too. 
  
They had begun in Toronto with the Canadian Churches’ Forum for an ecumenical component.  With mission workers from several Canadian denominations, they reflected on Biblical, historical and contemporary perspectives on mission, cross-cultural skills, interfaith relations, regional and global issues, and much more—all within an interactive learning process that included visits to various cultural and faith groups within the multicultural setting of Toronto.

Then they came to Louisville for another week, learning about our Presbyterian mission and missiology, policies and the resources that support them. One described having several dozen people in the room, all members of the GAC staff, who support our World Mission work and workers.  "It was like the Verizon commercial,” she said. “There I was and I could wave my arm and say with confidence, 'these are my people.' I feel so well supported." This spirited woman from Blackhawk Presbytery, Brenda Harcourt, who had been in mission service a number of years before, has been newly assigned to do lay and clergy training with the Evangelism department of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa.
 
In our many interactions together and in hearing the nature of the many assignments that our mission workers were about to undertake, I now see them more clearly as those critical connectors who engage us U.S. Presbyterians with our work in the wider world.  Through their work and witness, we expand our support of our partners as well as make the engagement of those in the United States for more effective and meaningful mission, connecting as we do with longstanding relationships, cultural understanding and ongoing presence as we walk alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. It had been a long week, but thanks to such Spirit-filled encounters, I left with renewed energy.