PBPC Announcements

PBPC Family, I pray your Christmas was a time of rest, refreshment, and an opportunity to celebrate God's nearness to us in Christ. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Grace and Peace, Pastor Calvin Service of Thanksgiving Click here to join Zoom Lectionary Readings for December 31 Year End Giving If you'd like to make a year end gift to Park Boulevard Presbyterian Church, please do so by December 31. Annual Meeting - January 28 Our Annual Meeting will be held January 28 immediately following the service. More info to come. PBPC PRAYER LIST CLICK HERE TO GIVE TO PBPC

PBPC Family, In preparing for this final week of Advent and meditating on Mary's "Yes!" to God, I came across THESE icons by Anne Emmons, called Birth Triptych. Traditionally, icons are images of biblical figures, Christian saints, or of God. They have been used as prayer aids, windows to look through to behold God's beauty. Anne Emmons created the Birth Triptych as a way to meditate on God's presence in Mary's womb as her body clothed God's Son with flesh. Each painting represents a different gestational phase, beautifully depicting the natural manner in which God became human. This Advent, we have spent a lot of time reflecting on songs - those sung by Zechariah, Simeon, and Mary as well as Advent hymns. Many of these songs do a wonderful job communicating and expressing the wonder of Christ's coming to us, his incarnation here on earth. These icons, at least for me, have amplified and deepened my experience of these hymns and songs. To artistically...

PBPC Family, On Sunday, we explored Simeon's Song and the dynamic interplay between God's promises, our posture of waiting, God's fulfillment, and our response of praise. Rather than a linear progression, we live in all realities at once.  This truth was further cemented for me after the service (though I wish it was before - this would have been a good sermon illustration). I know many of us breathed a collective sigh of relief last Sunday when my call as permanent pastor at PBPC was approved. We are no longer waiting for a permanent pastor. God has brought us together and we rejoiced in that.  But this has initiated a new season of waiting - instead of waiting for a pastor, we are waiting to see what God will do with us. There are big questions for us on the horizon - can we find a new tenant? How will we survive as a little church in a big building? Will we see our membership increase or decrease? How will we love our neighbors and be a blessing to our community? What is...

PBPC Family, Here is a blessing written by Jan Richardson from her book Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons.  It is based on John 1:7 - "He came as a witness to testify to the light," which is a reference to John, the child born to Zechariah and Elizabeth. Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light Blessed are you who bear the light in unbearable times, who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable, who bear witness to its persistence when everything seems in shadow and grief. Blessed are you in whom the light lives, in whom the brightness blazes -  your heart a chapel, an altar where in the deepest night can be seen the fire that shines forth in you in unaccountable faith, in stubborn hope, in love that illumines every broken thing it finds. Park Boulevard Presbyterian Church - you are a people who bear witness to the light. This blessing is for you this Advent season. In all that you do and say, may God's light shine in and through you. Grace and Peace, Pas...

PBPC Family, A few years back, Kenzie and I purchased Faithful Families for Advent and Christmas  by Traci Smith. It's filled with 100 ways to help parents and families cultivate sacred space during Advent and Christmas. As is true with most books I buy, I finally cracked it open a few days ago and wish I had done so sooner. In reading through some of her ideas, I realized how easy it is to be carried through the next few weeks. The calendar quickly fills up with work, social events, and last minute shopping trips. Before I know it, it's January and I feel like I've just sprinted through the Advent and Christmas season with little space for reflection and rest. I imagine I'm not the only one who feels this way. One suggestion from the book that I shared during our sermon discussion on Sunday is to make a "NOT To-Do List." This time of the year is filled with so many expectations - generally more than we can fulfill. We cannot do it all. Instead of powering thr...

PBPC Family, Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season, the church's new year. This is a sacred and holy season, one where we imagine ourselves in darkness, waiting and longing for Christ to come. Over the years, I've been asked a number of times why we have a season called Advent and when did it become a part of the church's worship. Tish Harrison Warren, in her book Advent  provides a succinct and concise history. She writes, "The first time we see Christmas dated to December 25 is the year 336 in an almanac called the Chronograph , though it must have been widely celebrated on that day before then since it is mentioned as common knowledge. In these early mentions of Christmas, there is no evidence that it is preceded by a period of fasting and preparation like Advent. Easter was the first major feat of the church. In preparation for it, Christians began to practice Lent by the second century at the latest. So as a parallel to Lent-Easter, Advent began to be wi...

PBPC Family, I am pleased to announce that, after much prayer, conversation, and discernment, the Mutual Discernment Team (Rory Brown, Chris Adams, Bryan Heath, and Paula Eisenberg) and I have agreed on transitioning me from a Designated Pastor to the indefinite permanent pastor at Park Boulevard Presbyterian Church! I have loved being and doing church with you all these past (almost) 2 years and I am excited to see what God has in store for us as we continue our partnership. As a church, you have been a blessing to me and I hope I have been to you as well. Earlier this month, the Mutual Discernment Team and I finished our meetings and agreed God was inviting us to continue in ministry together. We passed our recommendation onto Session who met with COM (Committee on Ministry), who gave their blessing. Session approved calling me as the permanent pastor last night and subsequently called a Congregational Meeting for December 3. This Congregational Meeting on December 3 (immediately fol...