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