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Summer 2002
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in faith! Since I last wrote in November 2001, many
wonderful experiences have come and gone, both personal and work-related.
The 214th General Assembly. A celebration of my parents' 40th
wedding anniversary. And for me and Rebecca, our first anniversary,
which we celebrated at St. Meinrad’s Archabbey, a Benedictine
monastery in southern Indiana.
Another milestone that has come and gone is my third anniversary
of living in Louisville, the River City. ‘Tis amazing, I
believe, for except a wonderfully loving partner with family nearby,
I never expected to spend three years in Kentucky. My time in
Louisville has been blessed, truly blessed. Still, one might argue
that I feel lost, displaced. For home is New York, Brooklyn, or
Brewster. Home is Burkina Faso or Congo/Zaire.
Or perhaps, home is where one feels lost in wonder, love, and
praise.
Do you recongnize that phrase? Lost in wonder, love and praise.
The hymn: Love Divine, All Love’s Excelling. Yes? It’s
#376 in the current Presbyterian Hymnal. Take a moment to let
the tune fill your soul. Fa-so-fa-so-la-ti-da-so-fa-so. And join
me in two scenes from the first half of my year 2002.
Churches Uniting in Christ
It was Saturday, January 19. St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral
in Memphis, Tennessee. We gathered to celebrate the closing Eucharist
of the Consultation on Church Union (COCU). This organization
was, and strove to be for forty years, a movement in the mainstream
of U.S. Protestant churches to unify our Christian witness.
Worship at St. Mary’s was our farewell to COCU, its “service
of dissolution,” its funeral. Like any funeral, an air of
solemnity filled the cathedral. It was, indeed, an impressive
cathedral. Especially as a Presbyterian, I was awestruck. The
high vaulted ceiling, the glorious wooden benches, the thick stone
pillars. Imagine St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, almost.
The processional was magnificent, a vast array of banners followed
by chorists, pastoral leaders like our Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick,
all surrounded by resonant organ, majestic trumpets, and sweet
incense. The recessional held this same tone of magnificence.
Banners. Chorists. Pastors. Resonant organ. Majestic trumpets.
Sweet incense. All set to the hymn, “Love Divine, All Love’s
Excelling.”
Those final words brought tears to my eyes. Lost in wonder, love,
and praise, there I was. Mourning COCU’s death, I was lost
in wonder at forty years of hard work, unfinished work. Rejoicing
in the imminent inception of Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC),
I was lost in love, God’s love in the reconciling promises
of Jesus Christ. Savoring the entire scene—trumpets, incense,
and the lingering taste of bread and wine—I was lost in praise,
praise to the one God who creates, redeems, and sustains us all.
Working Consultation on Partnership
Advance to March 6. Take yourself across the Pacific Ocean. Arrive
in Seoul, Korea, for a Working Consultation on Partnership. This
gathering was co-hosted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the
Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, and the Presbyterian
Church of Korea. Three other partner churches participated: the
United Church of Christ in Japan, the United Church of Christ
in the Philippines, and the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan.
From these five countries, we were surrounded by God’s divine
and excellent love, a love that reminded us who—and whose—we
are. As the term “partner” implies, we were co-heirs
to God’s grace, sitting at the same table. We were foster
children, Japanese and Korean alike, American, Taiwanese and Filipino,
equally awaiting the sacred adoption promised through Christ Jesus.
I felt especially “lost and at home” as we formulated
a “Points of Consensus” document. I was the recorder,
first with five drafters, then with the entire group. It was marvelous,
wonderful. Many voices raised, many experiences shared, many perspectives
intertwined. (Please contact me for copies of this paper.)
I was lost in wonder at God’s ability to bring harmonious
unity out of such diversity. I was lost in love, our Christian
love for each other as we collectively defined several elements
of partnership, such as “mutual empowerment through self-emptying
and self-sacrifice.” And I was lost in praise, collective
praise, as we periodically sang what became our theme song the
Rev. Susan Chuang from Taiwan taught us. It goes, simply, repeated
twice: We are in partnership, partnership, partnership through
Christ in a changing world.
Change and constancy
Perhaps there is wisdom in the saying: the more things change,
the more they stay the same? Perhaps we do feel more at home when
we are more deeply lost—lost in wonder, love and praise?
As you feel “lost and at home,” supporting me now in
my sixth year of mission service with the PC(USA), please know
that I continue to cherish your prayers. I would cherish your
financial support as well. If your heart is so moved, please send
a check payable to PC(USA) for support of International Mission
Personnel to ECO #048024. Individuals should send ECO (Extra Commitment
Opportunity) contributions to: Central Receiving Service, Section
300, Louisville, KY, 40289. Please include this ECO# on the memo
line of the check. Please also include it in your cover letter
and send a copy of the cover letter to Marian McClure, Director,
Worldwide Ministries Division, 100 Witherspoon St. Louisville,
KY 40202-1396. Yes, the zip codes are different.
Holding fast to Christ’s promise in Matthew 28:20, I am,
by God’s grace,
Yours in Christ,
Peter
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