September 11, 2023
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
~ Lamentations 3:21-23 NRSV
I hadn’t thought about how it would feel to be part of the 275th anniversary celebration. The lead-up to Sunday was filled with planning, logistics, and writing the bulletin and sermon. What hit me from the best view in the house – the pulpit – was the gift of simply being present and alive at this moment. Not many pastors, not many parishioners will ever have the opportunity to participate in a 275th church anniversary. I was aware of big arc of history, from German-speaking immigrants making their way from Germany to Pennsylvania, then south to the wilderness of the Shenandoah Valley. In first thirty years as a congregation, they encountered the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.
St. Paul’s was fractured in the years leading up the Civil War over the issue of slavery. The congregation, the church building and the Shenandoah Valley were in shambles by the end of the war. Our sanctuary is a part of the new church building begun shortly after the Civil War. The congregation has survived two World Wars, two pandemics, recessions and depressions and a whirlwind of technological changes. It is only by the steadfast love of the Lord that never stops, mercies without end every single day that we are here today.
Everything from the music, the skit by the children, the guest participants, and the luncheon went off without a hitch. Our members did an amazing job of working together to pull it off with creativity and grace. And I, only through God’s providence, got to be here, got to remind myself and the congregation that it is God’s doing, with participation imperfect people like me. It was a humbling experience to be present and see God’s hand in it all.
This “jock” who hoped at one point in time to do graduate work in exercise physiology at Penn State and help coach field hockey, had the best view, the one from the pulpit, all these years later.
Deeply grateful. ~ Anne
Wayfinding 