(As published in newsletter, The Messenger July, 2006)

 

 

Dear Friends,

 

Some years ago, Yale theologian H. Richard Niebuhr published The Purpose of the Church and Its Ministry.  In it, he contends that the purpose of the church is to bring about the increase of love of God and love of neighbor. Of course, Jesus said essentially the same, some years earlier, and since Neibuhr was a Christian ethicist, there’s little surprise in his summary of our common purpose.  But it is as helpful reminder.  Our mission is both simple and challenging:  to love God and to love others.

 

At about the same time that Niebuhr published his book, I was in a kindergarten class in a small church in a small town in South Carolina, taught by Miss Emily Clarkson.  I doubt that Miss Emily ever read Niebuhr.  But she read her Bible, and she loved children.  Every Sunday morning Miss Emily taught us, by gracious example, to love God and to love one another. Hers was a simple but profound lesson for me, and its impact lingers in my life these decades later.  

 

As I come to join Jennifer as a pastor to you, I have this occasion to reflect on my own calling, and to ponder my own mission statement.  Shaped by minds like Richard Niebuhr’s and lives like Emily Clarkson’s, I come with a passion for thinking about our call as Christians, and for living that call.  Ours is a sacred task: loving God and loving our neighbors.

 

I look forward to the opportunities of deepening both our understanding of God and our commitment to God:  in worship, in service to others, in study, in prayer, and in our life together as the church.  I cherish the opportunity to come to know you, and to tell you something of my own life’s ebb and flow.  Together, we will seek to embody the love of Christ for our neighbors, whether in Westchester or the storm-damaged Mississippi coast, West Africa or Nicaragua, or places in between.

 

My wife Lynne and I look forward to spending the next few months getting acquainted.  We hope to see you in church, on the street, in the park, in meetings and in informal gatherings.  We look forward to sharing time, sharing bread, sharing laughter. 

 

Thanks for welcoming me as your pastor.  I consider this work not only a job, but sacred trust, and I conceive of our time together as a mutual ministry journey.  Together, we will seek fulfill a common Christian call:  to love God and to love others.