I hope that each of you had an opportunity to participate in Rally Day last month. It was an exciting day in the life of our congregation—Journey Worship resumed with Gerald Savage as our new Journey Music Director; after a several-year hiatus due to Covid, breakfast was served; Church School classes were well attended; and both worship services were spirit-filled! The following Sunday, at the “new” Church Life Extravaganza, members took to the streets, came together as a church and community for food, fun, fellowship, and to share ministry information. It seems that church, as we knew it pre-Covid, had returned! You might say that everything old was new again. And yet, I suspect that as church life returns to some semblance of normal, things may not ever be exactly the same.
Traditionally, October is Mission Month at ELPC. A time to lift up the work of the Mission Board and mission committees, highlighting the ministries our congregation supports in worship and after-worship offerings. Much like the designations of African American, Indigenous Peoples, Asian American Pacific Islander, Latinx heritage months in the secular world, the designation of Mission Month is anemic at best, because the contributions of BiPOC and our mission ministries transcend and extend well beyond 30 days or less of acknowledgement. Every month is mission month in the life of a worshiping community. As followers of Christ, our call is to be in relationship and to daily walk with, support, and love neighbors as we love ourselves.
ELPC members who serve on the Mission Board, mission committees, Board of Deacons, Faith Formation Board, other committees, and Presbyterian Women—as well as ELPC members who volunteer and staff who facilitate and serve local communities—are living out and walking in our Christian call. And our dedicated and committed service ensures that those whom Jesus called “the least of these” are clothed, nurtured, fed, accepted, have just shelter, and are shown love through the ministries of The Chapel Market; club one sixteen; Hope Academy; Open Hand Ministries; East Liberty Development, Inc.; Garfield Community Farm; East End Cooperative Ministry; the East Liberty Family Support Center; Kingsley Center Association; 412 Food Rescue; refugee settlement; Casa San José; and many other organizations too numerous to name. And there is room for growth and even more room and opportunities for more members to serve.
As a Presbyterian Church (USA) Matthew 25 Congregation, we are committed to dismantling structural racism, eradicating systemic poverty, and building a vital or relevant congregation. These are heavy tasks and responsibilities that cannot be accomplished by just a few people. Fully living into our call and commitments is the responsibility and work of Session, every church board, committee, ministry team, task force, and quite frankly, every individual ELPC member. We ALL have a part to play.
In this season of returning to more traditional ways of being the church, let’s not return to doing things the way we always have. “New normal” is oxymoronic and is not the order of the day! Let’s shake things up, decern new and transformative ways to be the church, and dare with Holy boldness to be abnormal in newness.
—Pastor Patrice