Sermon Illustrations

CELEBRATION - Centennial Year (or any church anniversary)

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We Sing In Celebration

We sing in celebration
And ring the bell in praise;
A hundred years* of service
The Church has blessed our days.
The Pioneers with vision
And strong abiding Faith
With help from God Almighty
Have built our worship place.

 

With joy we sing our praises
Of Saints who’ve gone before
Who lived in dedication
To Jesus Christ our Lord.
They asked in supplication
God’s will be done through them.
For all God’s servant people
We sing our joyful hymn.

 

To you, oh God, we’re thankful
For all that you have done
The grace that you have given
Through Jesus Christ, your Son.
Your loving care surrounds us;
You feed us with your Word.
In Christ we are new beings;
We serve Jesus our Lord.

 

We sing in celebration
And ring the bell in praise;
We now look to the future;
We’ll serve through all our days.
Your people share a vision
Of love and hope and peace.
With faith in God Almighty
Our praise will never cease.

 

*or substitute the number of years being celebrated here

 

Written by Ward Lampkin, member, First Church, Medford, Ore., in honor of the centennial of that church. (Lancashire: 7.6.7.6.0; sung to the tune of “The Day of Resurrection”)
MONDAY MORNING, p. 18, OCTOBER 7, 1985

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CHASING GHOSTS - Halloween

By PATRICIA BUDD KEPLER, Editor-at-Large

 

As I write this, it is October, the orange-and-black month of pumpkins and witches and, in my part of the country, the turning of leaves, beautiful autumn days and the awareness of the coming of winter. By the time you read this, Halloween may have come and gone, but today it is on my mind. When I was a child, Hallowe’en was one of my favorite holidays. There was something wonderful about dressing up in a costume and daring to mix in the world as someone I was never going to be —- on the outside, anyway. 

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I could be a gypsy, wild and mysterious; I could be a football player, tough, fearless and protected by all that gear (which I could hardly walk in); I could be a drum majorette, strutting my stuff; or I could be a flower; or a fairy; or a witch; or—.

 

On that one day, I didn’t need to be “Goody Two-Shoes,’’ feminine, or limited to my own talents. Hallowe’en was a time to be what one wanted, to imitate what one feared, or even to take on the characteristics of what one abhorred. It was a time for chasing dreams and fears. It was even a time for toying with death, skeletons in the window instead of the closet; a time of defying the fates, witches riding on brooms instead of sweeping with them; a time of exorcising ghosts, getting them on the outside instead of harboring them in haunted souls.

 

Hallowe’en was once the celebration of the Celtic New Year. They used the occasion to usher out of town the ghosts of the dead. They made offerings to the gods so that the short days and long nights would not turn into an absence of light or warmth be swallowed into the coldness of winter. It was a time when priests went trick or treating to keep themselves alive and give the treats  to those who had none.

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Those seem like good things to do on the eve of a new year. Everyone needs to purge some ghosts from their lives, to lay up some store for the new year and to share their treats with those who have none. Everyone needs to beseech their God for light and warmth. And as Christians, we can celebrate without the sacrifices the pagan people and the early He brews believed Divinity required. 

 

We need a time for facing down fear, for calling forth demons, for taking on death, for letting our shadowy side out. It is interesting that Reformation Sunday is always the Sunday next to Hallowe’en, These activities are essential to reformation, the process of  making things new. In Christ, we are baptized into new life. We are responsible for knowing ourselves and expressing rather than repressing our humanity.  

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There is something healthy about a fanciful holiday that allows us to cavort with the hidden demons in life, to call them forth, to exorcise them. These demons have power only as long as they are trapped in the recesses of our minds and relationships. As we name them, Christ can sweep them out of our psyches and systems and fill us with his mind. 

 

A hallowed night in which we can playfully address the angry and repressed spirits in ourselves can be freeing. Accepting even our pagan side and anestry is important for true self-love. Accepting our God’s connectedness to the ancient gods of long ago can lead us to understand the depth and breadth of the God about whom we sing, "O God, the Rock of Ages/ who ever more hast been.” 

 

Christianity emerged out of the faith of the Jews and Gentiles. It was a marriage of Hebrew and pagan religions. Those Gentile forebears who became Christians did not all get circumcised, though they made some radical changes when they became  Christians. There must have been something worthy in them, some glimmer of the One God, some response ability, something to offer. 

 

We can no more return to their early gods than to their early society. There is no danger for us to acknowledge their
contribution to our lives. Along with the time-bound and primitive notion of divinity they had, there must have been some connection to the God of Ages.

 

Hallowe’en is a pagan festival. It is the eve of a Roman Catholic celebration of the saints. And it is remarkably close to the
Reformation. It is still one of my favorite holidays. It reminds me of my roots.  

 

-In the Presbyterian Outlook

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CHIC

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A BIT OF CHIC
By PAUL A. CORCORAN

 

A friend of mine who is the chaplain at one of those exclusive prep schools says that he knows he has his work cut out for him when the students start asking to be baptized in Perrier water. I know how he feels. I once had a family join the church and then ask if they could have their communion bread toasted.

WELL, WHY NOT? A touch of class is good for anybody. You know, the bread that Jesus used wasn’t just little cubes of Grandpa Stroehman’s Enriched White. And the wine? Well, let’s put it this way: When he supplied the wine for the wedding party at Cana, the guests thought that the host had brought out his best private stock. Christian Brothers Sauvignon, I imagine. It certainly wasn’t
Mogen David Ceremonial. Jesus didn’t mind a few nice touches here and there.

 

Gloom is for Satan, and serves him right. So, I don’t mind people making requests for something special. It’s fine that they want to drag the church out of Dullsville. For too long we have had the notion that drabness is next to godliness and blessed are the bored, for they shall inherit the earth. If they do, they can keep it. God and I will be off to somewhere more interesting. 

 

So, “good,” if some of my fellow clergy have taken to wearing shirts or blouses of mint green or royal blue or even Protestant pink with their clerical collars. No problem. The collar is still there to show their holiness and to keep them safe from muggers and traffic tickets; meanwhile, they make life a bit more colorful for us all. And what’s wrong with preaching in an Arnold Palmer blazer? A person can be humble and stylish at the same time, you know.

 

Dressing up religion isn’t a bad idea. A little touch of this, a little bit of that — shows you know how to do it right. If the Lord loves a cheerful giver, he certainly appreciates one with a little hit of chic. He who made the caviar and gave mankind wool worsted and put the Rolls next to the Royce surely doesn’t mind when people act like going to church is one of the classier things to do.

 

VARIETY is the spice of life, and I really don’t think the Lord takes away points when we try to put a little of it into the church. In  fact, I think it is rather theological. “Behold the birds of the air ...” and “Behold the lilies of the field. . ..” Behold the snowflake (no two
alike). God invented variety. As one of my black friends put it, “Paul, if the Lord had wanted the world to be dismal, he would have made everybody un-colored like you.”

 

So, lately, I have been looking around for ways to add a touch of class to our church. We could put an atrium in the lobby — or a salad bar. How about gold cushions on the pews? Air conditioning with scented air? Box seats for VIPs and double-tithers? Red carpet all the way out the front walk? People would notice.

 

All nice, but I think the answer is much easier. All we have to do to add some class to our church is to get you to come around more often, because you’re some of the classiest people I know. 

 

JULY 16 23 30, 1984 edition of the Presbyterian Outlook

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CHILD MOLESTATION SEMINAR

with 1st & 2nd Grades

by Carol Stone, Renton, WA

 

Talked about kinds of touching.

Tickling is okay, 'til you want them to stop. 
How do you feel?

Some touching is wrong -

 

  Story:  Susie talking to neighbor - he told her she had a spider on her chest and brushed her chest. She looked down and saw there was no spider. She was tricked. What to do? 
She felt that he was tricking her and told him in a big voice, "I don't want to talk to you anymore" and went inside and told her mother.
Her mother said, "It's good you told me and I'll talk to him and tell him never to do that again." It's not fair to be tricked.

 

Rules:
1) It's your body - to let others touch or not. Don't let others trick you.
2) If you get that uh-oh feeling, if you feel that something's wrong - it is. You get that bad feeling in your stomach, 
listen to it.

   Story:  Her favorite uncle drove Anne to get ice-cream. He put his hand on her thigh, and then between her legs and said,
"If you tell no one I'll get you the biggest ice-cream you want."
How did she feel? What should she do?
She felt bad because it was her favorite uncle. She should say, "Take your hand off of me and take me home." Then told her parents when she got home. 
3) It's better to tell - and keep telling until someone helps. There should be no secrets with adults about these things. Tell your parents - they'll help.
   Story:  Kids were told not to go into the park alone, but one time they did, and teenagers offered $5 to pull down pants.
How do you feel about that? Do you think they did or didn't tell their parents when they got home?

They did tell, and their parents were glad they did!
4)It's not your fault! (It's their problem.)

 

 

MAKE CHILDREN GO TO CHURCH?

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Shall I Make My Children Go To Church?

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“Yes,” is the answer with no further discussion about the matter. Are you startled? Why? How do you answer Junior when he comes to breakfast on Monday morning and announces to you that he isn’t going to school anymore? You know! Junior goes! How do you  answer him when he comes in very besmudged and says, ‘I'm not going to take a bath.” Junior bathes, doesn’t he? Why all this timidity, then, in the realm of his spiritual guidance and growth? Are you going to wait and let him decide what church he will go to when he is old enough? Quit kidding! 
You didn’t wait until he was old enough to decide whether or not he wishes to remain dirty or be clean. Do you wait until he is old enough to decide if he wants to take medicine when he is sick? What will you say when Junior announces he does not like to go to
church? That’s easy to answer. Just be consistent. Tell him, “Junior, in our family we all go to church, and that includes you!” Your firmness and example will furnish a bridge over which youthful rebellion travels into rich and satisfying experiences in personal religious living.

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— J. Edgar Hoover

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CHOOSING 

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CHOOSING TAKES COURAGE

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T.A. Kantonen once quoted someone as saying, “You cannot ooze into the kingdom of God; you choose in.” My later studies in philosophical and theological existentialism confirmed the centrality of choice for human freedom and responsibility. But Kantonen also reminded me of the words of Jesus: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). My choices are best understood within the context of my having first been chosen. That I have been chosen gives me not only greater responsibility but also greater freedom.

 

I have used my freedom to present the pastor as a person who has very human problems. ... I have personally experienced all these concerns, and some of them still give me trouble. I know what it is like to feel trapped when I have been overwhelmed with work or beset by unreasonable demands and expectations, and to struggle to make sense of some personal loss while trying to function as a pastor to others in their grief, and to be locked into conflict with a parishioner or a parish. At those times the last thing I thought I had was much choice.

 

. . . Implicit in all that I say is my belief that the pastor’s most powerful proclamation is made through his or her choices. But choosing takes courage. That courage comes from remembering that God has chosen us in Christ Jesus. Because we are chosen, we dare take the risks involved in choosing.

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Gary L. Harbaugh, Pastor as Person, Augsburg (1985), p. 7.
Quoted on cover page of the Presbyterian Outlook, April 29, 1985

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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION MATTERS

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Christian education matters much more than we expected. Of all the areas of congregational life we examined, involvement in an effective Christian education program has the strongest tie to a person’s growth in faith and to loyalty to one’s congregation and denomination. While other congregational factors also matter, nothing matters more than effective Christian education. And this is as true for adults as it is for adolescents (p. 2).

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Peter L. Benson and Carolyn H. Eklin, Effective Christian Education: A National Study of Protestant Congregations.
in the Presbyterian Outlook, 4/30/1990

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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION STUDY

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‘Effective Christian Education: A National Study of Protestant Congregations’

The Power of Christian Education
By Peter L. Benson

 

Christian education has been, and continues to be, an important dimension of congregational life. There is mounting concern, however, that education in our churches has fallen on hard times. As we enter the 1990s, it’s important to evaluate the health and vitality of Christian education. How important is Christian education? What are the features of effective Christian education programs? And how well are congregations doing Christian education?

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To answer these questions, six major Protestant denominations joined the Lilly Endowment in launching a national three-
and-a-half year study of Christian education. The project, begun in 1987 under the direction of Search Institute, is driven not
only by The questions posed above, but also by the hypothesis that revitalized Christian education programming at the
local level is a necessary step in helping the mainline denominations regain lost ground.

 

Evaluating the power, potential and health of congregationally based Christian education programs requires defining and
measuring certain criteria against which Christian education programs could be assessed. A key decision was made to look
at the role of Christian education in helping adults and adolescents develop a vibrant, life-changing faith. Of additional interest, though secondary, was pinpointing the role of education in promoting participants’ loyalty to their congregation and denomination.

 

DEVELOPING MEASURES

 

Defining this evaluation strategy was the easy part. Much trickier was developing a way to measure the depth and vitality of faith so that we could assess the degree to which Christian education helps people grow in faith.

 

With the counsel of denominational executives, seminary scholars, ministers, and hundreds of adults and adolescents, we sought to identify some of the key factors of faith maturity — a faith which is marked by both a deep, personal relationship to a loving God and a consistent devotion to translating this love into serving others through acts of social service and the pursuit of social justice.

 

Thirty-eight indicators of this kind of faith maturity were posited and then measured in this study of nationally representative samples of people in the PC(US A) and the five other denominations.

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We do not claim that we have developed the only way to assess the degree to which people give evidence of faith maturity. Over time, it’s expected that the conceptualization and measurement of this important construct will be strengthened.

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There is initial evidence, however, that the scale developed to measure faith maturity has potential. For example, we find that people scoring high on the faith maturity scale are those who actively seek spiritual growth; have moved beyond conventional acquiescence to religious beliefs to adopt a searching and questioning approach to faith; are active in prayer and study; reject traditional social norms about race and gender; embrace positive social change; and devote considerable time and energy to helping others.

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In essence, people high in faith maturity integrate the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the faith.

 

FINDINGS

 

Using this new measure of faith, the national study of 11,122 people — including 1,923 in the PC(USA) — suggests that Christian education matters, and matters a great deal. Five findings are particularly important:

•    In examining the religious biographies of adolescents (13-18), the two most distinctive characteristics of youth with high faith maturity are a high degree of family religiousness and frequent involvement in Christian education.

•    In examining the religious biographies of adults, one of the two lifetime experiences most associated with higher faith maturity is the amount of exposure to Christian education: the greater the lifetime exposure, the greater the faith maturity.

•    The congregations in which people grow the most in faith maturity tend to have these characteristics: a climate of warmth and hospitality; a “thinking” climate in which dialogue, debate and discussion are encouraged; dynamic and moving worship services; a service orientation in which involving members in efforts to help others is encouraged; and effective Christian education programs.

Though each of these factors appears to matter for promoting greater faith maturity, the one that is most associated with growth is the degree of effectiveness in Christian education.

•    Effective Christian education is as important for the faith development of adults as it is for youth.

•    The greater the effectiveness in Christian education, the greater one’s loyalty to the congregation and the denomination.

 

One major finding, then, is about the power of effective Christian education. For each of the age periods studied (13-15, 16-18, adults), involvement in effective Christian education programs appears to have a profound relationship to faith and loyalty. The study also seeks to identify the nature of educational effectiveness, documenting the specific teacher, pastor, process, content and administrative dimensions of education which are linked to growth in faith and loyalty.

 

On the one hand, then, the study points to the strong potential of Christian education to shape faith and loyalty, and it names many of the ingredients needed for effectiveness. On the other hand, it documents two common dilemmas facing most congregations in all denominations: low involvement rates in Christian education, especially by high school students and adults, and an absence of many of the effectiveness factors in the adolescent and adult programs.

 

Less than one-half of PC(USA) teen-agers are active in Christian education and less than one-third of adults. These rates
are similar to those found in other denominations. And of the program factors identified as effective for promoting faith, the typical PC(USA) congregation has less than one-half of the factors in place — a rate also quite like that found in other mainline denominations.

 

Because Christian education has the potential — as much or more than any other congregational influence — to deepen faith and loyalty, its revitalization must move to center stage. Building strong Christian education programs for all ages could well be the most important challenge facing congregations in the 1990s.

 

This study and its findings, augmented by other research, can help point the way toward successful reform.      

 

April 30, 1990 THE PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK
Peter L. Benson is the president of Search Institute, Minneapolis, Minn., and principal investigator on the Effective Christian
Education project. He is an adjunct professor at the College of St. Thomas and the Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota.

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CHRISTMAS CRECHE POEM

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The Christmas Creche

 

Frozen in a moment of time,
Mary reaches out her hand in blessing,
Gently to caress the Mystery,
She most of all ponders in her heart. 

 

Beside the crib,
The oxen offer their silent homage,
As in the cold night air, his breath—their breath,
Mingle in the mist like Eden.

 

Nearby the light of a shepherd's lantern,
Casts cruciform shadows across the manger,
As if already hands were reaching out of the darkness,
For this child they can clutch, but never grasp.

 

Dare the shepherds tell what they have heard and seen?
Dare they risk the ridicule of others,
By stammering into words,
That which words cannot speak?

 

Who is this angel-sung child,
Asleep in his mother's arms,
So fragile and so helpless?
So at our mercy... for now.

 

Frozen in a moment of time,
Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the oxen,
Stand in silent wonder,
In the eye of the hurricane of grace.

 

Allen C. McSween, Jr., Pastor, Bowling Green, Ky., church in the Presbyterian Outlook, December 17-24-31,1990
NUMBER 43 issue

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CHRISTMAS PRAYER

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A Prayer at Christmas

 

Here we are Lord...
   Offering an hour of our lives to you again, hopeful that our other
   hours may be made more useful and meaningful.
To be honest, Lord, we offer this hour as a symbol—
   a symbol that our entire life is lived out in your presence. So be it.
Again today we’re mainly saying, “Happy Birthday, Jesus, we’re
   glad you came.”
   We often get carried away with sentiment and get lost in nostalgia
   about his birth, but we want it to mean something deeper and
   more permanent.
We know he grew up and became an adult. We know he did your
   will with a radical obedience; and we know he died an unjust,
   horrible death at the hands of people just like us.
We know, God, we know . . . That’s why we want to celebrate
   his birth again.
We can welcome a child into our lives, but we can’t always
   welcome an adult . . . who is good enough to be honest with
   us, and loving enough to be gentle with us, and forgiving enough
   to forget our betrayals of him.
So forgive us our sentimental journeys and nostalgia about your Son,
   O God, and use them to reach into the depths of our lives where
   we have ulcers and migraine headaches . . . where we have sex urges
   and urges to kill . . . where we get overwhelmed by masses of people
   and meetings and paperwork . . . and making a living.
Reach us again this Christmas, we pray, for we need another shot
   of hope and courage.
   We need another sighting of a star signaling your reality in the
   world.
   We need another vision of angelic joy and enthusiasm; and
   another touch of your soft, warm love.
That’s why we’re here, Lord:
   giving ourselves to you.
   Give ourselves back to us, we pray, with the imprint of your
   love, your joy, and your peace. Amen.

 

—Frank D. Medsker, Honorably Retired, Sutherland, Neb., in MONDAY MORNING December 3, 1990

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CHRISTMAS SPIRIT (FREE SAMPLE)

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I'll acknowledge the commercialism of Christmas and the lack of any real love behind many of the gifts, but I still think that the Christmas Spirit is a sort of "free sample" of what life lived in real relationship with Christ can be.

 

Think of the smiling model in the supermarket, handing out little cubes of meat on toothpicks. Why does she do it, or rather, why does the company that pays her do it? Obvious. They hope you'll like the taste and buy the whole sausage.

 

And if the feelings and traditions of Christmas in America and the Western World are an interesting historical phenomenon, cobbled together down through the years from religion and secular society and who knows what, I have no qualms about using that interesting phenomena and I believe that God uses it, uses the Christmas Spirit as a sort of free sample in the hope that some of us might just want to buy the whole sausage. Amen.

 

Pastor Jack Kurtz, Bush Hill Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, VA 12/21/1986 in the sermon, "Free Sample" (based on Luke 2:1-20)

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CHRISTMAS STORY

 

"JEROME - THE RELUCTANT SANTA"
An original Christmas Story by The Rev. Ross S. McClintock, Christmas 1984

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His mother said he was "a little overweight". The man at the clothing store called him "husky". But the kids at school called him "fats".

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Jerome "Fats" Cuthberson was 12 years old, going on 13 and puberty. He stood six feet tall, weighed 210 pounds and he was in the sixth grade. To say he was big for his age was to understate the problem. Jerome was not into sports. He had poor coordination. His size and weight gave him no advantage on the playing field. His size 12 shoes, more often than not, tripped him as he tried to run. When he sat in his seat in class, it groaned in protest; for much of Jerome seemed to hang over or
stick out. Since the first grade he had always been in the back row of the class picture. Sometimes he felt like he was in the back row of everything. In the school plays he had portrayed a mountain, a giant red wood, and the largest potato ever grown.

 

When Miss Cipra, the sixth grade, teacher, announced that she was going to assign the parts for the school Christmas pageant the next day, some of the kids speculated, "I  wonder what Jerome will be this year? Maybe the entire town of Bethlehem." Another one remarked, "too bad the wise men didn’t come on elephants, Jerome would have been a natural for that part." These cruel remarks were considered very hilarious by his classmates, but they struck Jerome like sharp stones. (That afternoon when he got home from school, Jerome had a double Velvets cheese sandwich on white bread with lots of mayonnaise as a solace for the hurt he felt.

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He dreaded the next day when the parts would be announced. He was sure he would get some dumb part that put him in back of the stage as usual. You can imagine, then, his surprise when he arrived at school the next day to be greeted by the blond, Slavic-beaut Miss Cipra, who smiled and said, "Jerome, I have a starring role for you in this year’s pageant?’ A starring role! Jerome had never been a star. Not in anything. He could hardly contain himself as he eased himself into his seat, its creaking did not embarrass him this morning.

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First there was math. Jerome was fairly smart with school work and was not a problem for him. But today, math seemed endless, English interminable. The announcement of the cast for the play would be just before lunch. Jerome wanted the class to hear his
good news, to recognize his worth. He was going to have the title role! That’s what Miss Cipra had said. He was not completely sure what that meant, but it sure sounded good.

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Finally geography was over. The clock said ten minutes to twelve, and they ate at noon. Miss Cipra called the class to order, got out a sheet of paper, and said, "here are the part assignments for our annual Christmas pageant." Everyone grew very quiet.
Jerome wiggled with anticipation. She said, "I will read the members of the chorus first." There were a lot of groans as she listed those who would be singing in this anonymous crowd that backed up the rest of the cast. Then she read the names of the
supporting players: The Snow Queen, Mary Noble; The four good elves, Joe Crump, Ray Rupert, Tom Latta and Jerry Potaski. The four evil elves were read, (those who got these parts smiled knowing that evil is always easier to represent than goodness? There
was also the North Wind and the Snow Flake. Everyone made the most of the fact that Helen Camp, who received this part, was "flakey" already. Then finally Miss Cipra looked at Jerome. She smiled when she said, "and starring in our pageant will be 
Jerome Cuthberson as Santa Claus. This is the title role, for our pageant is called, ‘Santa’s Christmas.’ 

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Santa Claus! The words hung in the air. They tattled around in Jerome’s head.  The laughter started slowly but it built. Jerome was going to be Santa Claus. "Old fats has found his part!” "You won’t need any pillows, will you, Jerome?" "Ho! Ho!  Santa, do you want to hear what I want for Christmas?"    "Hey, star, you are going to  look good in a red suit."

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These were the jeers that followed Jerome to lunch and out on the playground and onto the bus home. And they continued for what seemed to him an eternity. Rehearsals were torture. For you see, Jerome’s voice had not yet changed and he had
to sing such lyrics as, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Here we go . . ," in a boy soprano voice. Imagine what a six foot, 210 pound, boy soprano must have sounded like singing "Ho! Ho! Ho! Here we go . . ." accompanied by the good and evil elves on sand blocks. 

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Jerome, after a particularly difficult practice, went home determined that he was not going to be Santa! No way!! To his mother he poured out his feelings about the red suit, the beard, about being fat and big, and being laughed at. By the time Jerome was finished., tears glistened in his eyes. His mother was surprised at the depth of his feelings. She assumed that being the lead in the pageant had been something Jerome was proud of.

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She reached out and took her son’s hand and said, "Jerome, it is just too late to quit now. Have you ever thought about the character you are playing? You know Santa was a Christian Saint who gave gifts of love to others. This included gifts to poor young
girls who had no money for a dowery so they could get married. Over the centuries Santa has come to be the giving, loving and joyful spirit of Christmas. That’s what you are Jerome, when you put on that suit and beard. You remind people of Jesus and his love  that God loved us so much He sent His Son to be with us." Jerome dried his tears. His mind grasped what his mother said, but not his heart.

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Jerome was still hoping for a miraculous deliverance on the night of the pageant, from having to sing, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Here we go . . " He put on the bright red suit. His mother started to attach his beard with spirit gum, being glued into the beard caused him a
little attack of claustrophobia. His mother said that was better than having it fall in the middle of the show. Jerome almost panicked when his mother approached him carrying her rouge and lipstick. He shouted, "I can’t be seen in public wearing lipstick and rouge." She painted him up anyway. He kept mumbling, "Lipstick! Rouge! They’re going to kill me, " as he rode along toward the school slumped down in the front seat of the car.

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His mother kept looking at her watch. The argument about the makeup had made them late. If they hurried they would just get to the school on time. Jerome’s father was doming to the school from his office. Then, suddenly, the traffic on the by-pass screeched to a brake-smoking stop. Some car squealed their tires trying to stop and not hit each other. What had happened??? Jerome sat up, looked behind and in front. The traffic had come to a snarled stop. They might miss the pageant!! This was Jerome’s first
thought. He lifted up his eyes to heaven in thanks. Then a police cruiser with flashing lights passed them on the brim of the road. There must have been an accident, They sat there in a hopeless traffic jam with Jerome growing happier by the minute.

 

Jerome’s mother, always a woman of action, looked at her son and said, "Jerome, you are going to have to get out and walk! The school is not more than a quarter of a mile away. You can’t miss the pageant!" Jerome had not in his wildest imagination dreamed
of this course of action. He was not one to mess with; Divine deliverance! Besides, suburban kids don’t walk places! His mother was serious! His mother was persuasive! His mother was forceful! She evoked the wraths of his father waiting at the school!

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Ever so reluctantly a red-suited Santa, 210 pounds, six feet tall got out of the car and began to walk ever so slowly toward his school. People waived at him as he passed their cars and others tooted their horns. This did not help Jerome’s mood. He was sure they were all laughing at him. 

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His route took him past the accident. Fortunately, it did not seem to be a serious one. A van was over on its side, blocking the road. A skinny guy in jeans was being treated for a nosebleed by the ambulance crew. But there seemed to be some confusion inside
the van. He could hear a man’s voice saying, ’’Please sweetheart, come on out!” as the policeman backed out of the back door of the van. He shook his head in frustration and said, "She just won’t come out!!’’ Then the officer’s eyes fell on Jerome standing
there in his Santa suit. "Hey, Santa,” he called, "come here a minute. Maybe you can help." 

​

Jerome froze! He did not move! A policeman had never talked to him before and certainly never ordered him to "come here." The officer called again saying, "Look buddy, we don’t have a lot of time to waste." Jerome moved forward reluctantly. Then the officer saw that, though he was big and bearded, he was young. He quickly explained the problem. There was a little girl in the van. She was frightened. She did not know the driver very well. His bleeding had frightened her even more. She was hiding behind a built-in
cabinet in the van. She would not come out. The officer could not reach her. If she did not come out they would have to cut her out. That would take time. They did not want to move the van with the child in it. "Maybe she will come out for Santa Claus," the officer said with a smile. Jerome was going to protest, "I’m not Santa. I don’t even want to be Santa. My voice hasn’t even changed yet." But the officer was pushing him inside the van and saying, "Little girl, look who’s here to see you."

​

A tossled head peered over the edge of the twisted cupboard. "Are you really Santa?" a little voice asked. Jerome heard himself answering, "Yes, I’m Santa."

"Are you one of those who has a cushion stuffed in his pants?" asked the little girl.
Jerome blushed, red, red as the rouge spots on his cheeks, when he answered, "No, this is all me." 

"Do you love me," asked the little girl. Now Jerome found himself answering with new conviction, "Yes, Santa loves you." But he realized that he, Jerome, also suddenly cared about this little girl and her safety.

​

He crawled closer to her. She suddenly reached out and pulled his beard. The glue held Jerome hollered, "Ouch!" "You really are Santa Claus," said the little girl. Jerome said, "Sure I am. Remember Santa is the spirit of love. He comes to tell people about the love of God." And all the while Jerome was squeezing closer to the little girl. He reached out his hand. The little girl put her hand in his for just a minute and then pulled it back. "Hey, do you want to hear a song?" asked Jerome. And there in that overturned van, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Here we go . .’’ sounded beautiful.

​

The girl, Charleen was her name, came out. Jerome carried her outside, just as the newspaper and TV cameras popped. Jerome made the 11:00 news and the front page of the paper. He was a hero!

​

He found the red suit and beard were symbols of Christmas. But he also found it did not make any difference how big you are or how much you weighed, if you love somebody-you are somebody.

​

Did he make the pageant?? He sure did! He got a ride up to the door in a police cruiser with lights flashing and the sirens going full blast. After an entrance like that, singing "Ho! Ho! Ho! Here we go . ." was a piece of cake!

​

The Rev. Ross S. McClintock is Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Lancaster, PA

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CHURCH ATTENDANCE​

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Theologian William Placher used to say that trying to be a Chrisitan all by yourself is like trying to sit on your own lap. It can't be done. You need other people to lean on, learn from, argue with. Being a Christian put you in an enormous circle that is almost 2,000 years old and stretches across place, culture, language and traditions.

​

Amy Plantinga Pauw, in The Presbyterian Outlook, October 2025 issue

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CHURCH - BUILDING

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What Kind of Church Are We Building?
By Andrea Pfaff

​

A story I heard years ago continues to haunt me: a traveler passed three workers who had spent many years on a particular
construction project. “What are you doing?” the traveler asked the first. “I’m laying bricks,” the first replied. “What are
you doing?” the second was asked. “I’m building a room,” the second responded. And to the third the same question was
put: “What are you doing?” The third worker smiled: “I’m creating a church.” The Evangelism and Church Development Ministry Unit is in many ways doing all three of those construction workers: we lay bricks; we build rooms; we create a church.

 

What kind of church are we seeking to create? First, we envision a church that is neither reluctant nor afraid to proclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That means individual Presbyterians who reflect together and study Scripture to discern what God has done and is doing. It means sharing our faith journeys with others and inviting them to come and see the Christ. It means joining together in congregations that witness to the present reign of God in all we say and do among ourselves and with the communities of people around us.

 

We envision a church that embodies love and justice in its life together and in its living in the world. That means individual Presbyterians dealing honestly with each other, setting aside prejudices, overcoming society’s barriers, resolving conflicts, learning to live with differences of opinion. It means congregations flinging wide the doors of our churches and inviting others to come in and belong, not on our terms but only on God’s terms. It means claiming God’s world in love and refusing to go along with habits and systems and policies that harm and destroy any of God’s creation.

 

We envision a church that’s full of dedicated people who follow Jesus in listening to people, eating with sinners, healing, forgiving and serving. That means individual Presbyterians visiting their friends and neighbors and listening to their joys and concerns. It means congregations  responding in prayer and action to the pain and trauma of our communities and providing opportunities to celebrate healing. It means members seeking to grow in their faith in Christ and in their faithfulness to Christ, reluctant nor afraid to grow. That means individual Presbyterians who reject any tendencies to view the church as then private club and who welcome newcomers into decisions about mission. It means congregations of all sizes identifying their unique gifts for ministry in their particular community. It means presbyteries committed to developing new churches in places where Christian witness is absent
and to redeveloping existing churches to witness in a changing context. It means welcoming newly immigrated peoples and
learning to worship in many languages. It means banishing the myth that faithfulness and membership growth are incompatible.
It means joyfully sharing the good news of the sovereign love of God and inviting people to respond . . . and leaving the
response to God.

 

We envision a church that sees itself as one part of a worldwide community of Christians. That means individual Presbyterians who are as committed to developing churches in Africa and Asia as in Arizona and Alabama and vice versa. It means  congregations in this country willing to learn about evangelism from congregations in Korea and presbyteries in our church willing to learn about rural church development from churches in Jamaica.

 

The Evangelism and Church Development Ministry Unit is working in many ways to create such a church, but we are not doing anything without the partnership of synods and presbyteries and particular congregations in cities and suburbs, in towns and crossroads. Together we are working to create a church.

​

 

CHURCH BUILDING - ROOMS

Like the second worker, we also are building rooms. Other articles in this issue of The Outlook describe some of the particular “rooms” we are building. We build “rooms” to encourage and train Presbyterians to become more faithful and enthustic evangelists. We train presbyteries to develop long-range strategies for church development and to set specific five-year goals. We work  internationally with partner churches to develop strategies and support for church development and evangelism. We build “rooms” to address the particular issues of church development among rural people, urban people and racial ethnic people. We build “rooms” to help presbyteries and synods develop and support mission plans for particular ministries in specific congregations and
areas of need. 

 

LAYING BRICKS

The Evangelism and Church Development Ministry Unit is also into bricklaying — the careful and detailed work that undergirds the building of “rooms” and the creation of a church. Print and media resources,’ models for ministry, demographic data, staff  consultative services, trends analysis and leadership development are some of the “bricks” we use to build the “rooms” and to create a church.

 

We are excited about these challenges and are always open to opportunities to teach and learn and build together. 

 

Andrea Pfaff is director, Evangelism and Church Development Ministry Unit, Louisville, Ky
September 2,1991 THE PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK

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CHURCH - SUPPORT

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"Why I Don't Support the Church"
Emery J. Cummins, Member Stewardship Committee, Point Loma Community Church, San Diego, Calif.

​

SEVERAL of our church members addressed the theme, “Why I support my church,” in the past several weeks. I was moved by the simple eloquence of their personal statements affirming their faith and belief in the ministry of our church. I want to continue in their footsteps by reversing the statement for purposes of emphasis. I will address the theme, “Why I don’t support the church.”

 

I don’t support the church because I believe that moral and ethical education is best left to the schools. In their formative years, children are best served by teachers with credentials who are competent to teach them the requisite moral values of our society. Further, with such excellent TV programs as “Sesame Street,” “Mr. Rogers,” and “Miami Vice,” they are learning all they need to know about moral and ethical behavior. In addition, we always have had adequate models for our youth to emulate in the ranks of professional athletes, who represent the epitome of high standards of sportsmanship and personal conduct.

​

I don’t support my church because I trust our elected officials to establish and maintain the proper standards of conduct. The House of Representatives, for example, has a code of conduct that exemplifies the highest standards expected of anyone. Our presidents and governors and judges consistently have set a personal standard of exemplary behavior that we can proudly hold up to our youth and on which we can base our lives.

​

I don’t support my church because all the professions have ethical standards that are more than adequate to cover issues
arising in human relationships. The American Bar Association, for example, has a set of standards to which all attorneys
adhere, and I fully trust their integrity in all matters relating to the practice of law. Similarly, the A.M.A. assures me that physicians are governed by the highest ethical standards, and there is no need for church people to stick their noses into matters about which they have no knowledge.

​

I don’t support my church because the police and the courts do all that is necessary to insure justice and fairness in our community and society. When church people start meddling and giving advice about matters that don’t concern them, 
I get angry. Why can’t they leave these things to the city council, or the mayor, or the police department?

​

I don’t support my church because the agencies of our government do all that is necessary to assist people in Third World
countries. Our foreign aid is generous. We already send food and money to these countries. We certainly don’t need agen- cies from the church meddling in the affairs of places like Ethiopia and Nicaragua.

​

I don’t support my church because I think families are well served by professional marriage counselors and public school personnel. We don’t need any more programs designed to promote family unity than already exist. Churches just muck up things. Young couples don’t have time for church anyway. 

​

I don’t support my church because it is always getting involved in controversy. Whether it has to do with migrant workers’ rights, undocumented workers, support for the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, opposition to the government in El Salvador, arms limitations talks, Vietnam, or South Africa, the church has no business trying to influence our government in these matters. We have elected officials who are competent to deal with these things.Let’s leave government to the politicians, education to the educators, justice to the courts, law enforcement to the police, and entertainment to Hollywood and the television industry. Who needs church, any-
way?

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MONDAY MORNING, pages 14-15

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CHURCH ATTENDANCE

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Mainline Evangelism: A Proposal
     By Stephen McCutchan

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In a 1989 Presbyterian Panel report, the sampling was asked to respond to the statement: “The individual can find religious truth without any help from a church.” Twenty-four percent of the elders and 30 percent of members polled either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement. A total of 51 percent of the members either agreed or were uncertain about the statement.

​

If a majority of the Presbyterians are at least uncertain as to whether you need the church in your search for religious truth,
what is to hold them when either time commitments or disagreements challenge their participation in the church? Particularly for mainline churches, which are losing a majority of their members to the secular world, it is important that we be able to articulate what is important about belonging to the community of faith.

 

Our ability to do this has important implications for evangelism. In June l990 a Gallup Poll reported that 74 percent of Americans sav they have made a commitment to Jesus Christ. Ninety-five percent of that group said they had been bom again. Yet other polls suggest that only 28 percent of Americans believe it is important to belong to a church.

 

In what ways do we believe that it is necessary for Christians to belong to the church? Can a person accept Jesus Christ
as Savior and at the same time reject the body of Christ? If, as the above Gallup Poll suggests and ample other literature
confirms, there is a vast body of believers in our society who do not consider belonging to the church as a necessary part
of living out that faith, then those fields ripe for harvest depend upon our ability to express what is saving about the church.

 

In many ways, for Presbyterians who have always been better at sanctification than conversion, this plays to our strength. While we may joke about predestination, there is something in the Presbyterian soul which does believe that salvation comes from God and not by our efforts. We have always believed, however, that the sanctification or the maturing of that faith which has been given to us is the task of the church.

​

Fortunately, it is also an opportunity which far more of our lay people are comfortable with than the task of bringing non-believers to belief.

 

Stephen McCutchan is pastor, Highland Church, Winston-Salem, N.C.
September 2,1991 THE PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK

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CLERGY MERIT PRAISE

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By Gove Hoover, Publisher, Rockford Morning Star 

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One of the first things people do when you come to Rockford is to invite you to church. Some get too zealous in their approach, but they mean well. Folks Here take great pride in their churches. One of the reasons is pretty basic. Rockford has many, good clergymen.They meet well. They think well. However, they have plenty of problems. Plain old human problems.

 

Truth is, most clergymen are really worthy of heaven. They must be. We make life very difficult for them. 

 

Few men of the cloth live in a fancy residence equipped with swimming pool, patio and charcoal grill. If a clergyman drives a fairly new car, something other than a five-year-old hand-me-down, someone always, wonders aloud about where the preacher’s getting the money. If he’s active in community affairs, there’s wonder if he’s spending enough time with members of his congregation. His house may be enough to take him in out of the elements, but the roof isn’t always ..good enough to keep the elements away from him. We expect too much.

 

The clergyman can spend his time with the sick and the feeble, the teen-agers and the aged. He can talk to a man who’s beating his wife or jousting with old John Barleycorn. A wayward wife gets equal attention. And we expect him to get rapscallions of all ages out of all sorts of trouble. He officiates, at weddings. Welcoming babies into the world is official business. So are the words at the grave. It’s expected. We want him to lift the burden of guilt from our souls. We’ll even take  a little fire and brimstone - long as it is not too lengthy - as part and parcel of the sermon for the day. 

 

Harry Golden once commented on these things in his North Carolina Israelite. "Since the beginning of history," he wrote, we have found the best sermon, indeed, the most welcome sermon, is a warning to the congregation to mend its ways, and a threat of the dire consequences to come. The reasons for this is obvious. Few people really feel that they are worthy of heaven, and so, when they are scolded and warned and threatened, it takes a terrible weight off their minds. And when they leave the church or temple it gives them the feeling of having done penance, and the exhilaration of expiation." Golden said it well. Frankly, although there are some antiquated approaches still existing on the part of clergymen, many today are way ahead of their congregations. They are astute students of human nature. 

 

One of the most effective messages I know of came from a pastor in a small church struggling for survival in an Eastern city. The good man took notice from the pulpit that the collection plate was a little light. The exact words may be lost in transmission, but what he said was this: There is a price of about $6.75 for your fifth of scotch or bourbon... You have been giving God the change. It is time we stopped tipping the Lord. The next Sunday a flourish of wallets arid-a fluttering of the folding green was proof that God was no longer considered a waiter for serving peoples souls.

​

A benevolent Creator must have smiled at the pastor's words, for even the Lord knows a clergyman must mix a sense of humor with the seriousness of his mission - even if the congregation does not. So shake hands with that man of God at the door of the church. He is quite a guy.

 

-Submitted by Nancy Otte

 

 

COMMUNION (Common) - Poem

 

Communion
1 Corinthians 11:23-26

 

This table now is simply spread
With little loaves of common bread.
Not pumpernickel, corn or rye
To spark the taste or please the eye.
Just bread — it’s sold in any store.
I’ve had it many times before.

 

I am accustomed, when a guest,
To being rather more impressed.
I might expect a gracious host
To brown the bread and make some toast,
Or see his table was arrayed
With butter, jam and marmalade.
Danish pastries filled with jam,
Some scrambled eggs with lots of ham.
This would impress me more. Instead,
The Lord shares common, daily bread.

 

I'll eat this bread; but I will find
Its taste won’t linger in my mind.
This bread is easy to dismiss.
I’ve had ten thousand bites like this.
This bread, I think, in many ways
Reminds me of my common days.

 

Some days are vivid in design,
Resembling an exotic wine,
Days of joy and days of sorrow.
(One may well arrive tomorrow.)

 

But nearly all the days I’ve led
Are more like this plain, common bread;
Like, say, last 19th of September.
(A day I simply can’t remember.)
It’s gone, slipped from my memory
Just as this bread is bound to be.

 

At this table I shall praise
The God who gives me common days.
And I shall live these days with pride,
Knowing God moves by my side.
For at this table God has said:
“I share with you this daily bread,”
And by this Word we all are fed.

 

Unknown

Presbyterian Outlook, 11/18/1985

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COMMUNION (World)

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Quoted in the Presbyterian Outlook, cover page
September 30, 1985

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A POWERFUL REALITY

In this sacrament, the Church has claimed that we are in fellowship with Christ in a manner which, mysterious though it is,
enables believers to experience the presence of the Lord and know communion with him. That is fundamental. But the traditional notion of communion with respect to this sacrament has another thrust. It is a broad notion of unity which all Christians have with all other Christians, living and dead. This sacrament unites all of the church, not just those gathered at one table, but throughout the world. We therefore are united together through Christ, and have communion with one another. It is a powerful reality indeed, and it is a gift — a gift which we fail often to appreciate or acknowledge or act upon. We spend most of our time trying to create fellowship, or communion, with one another and with other Christians. We divide ourselves into different denominations, over 250 in number, and we spend years working for church union.

​

This sacrament proclaims that as Christians already we are one, no matter how much we want it otherwise and keep insisting on it otherwise. For Christ cannot be divided; Christ is one. Christ through this sacrament makes us one, for we are all members of Christ’s one body, and wherever different groups of the church gather and partake of the sacrament — in North America, in Central America, in China, in the Soviet Union, in Africa, etc. — the unity of all Christians is manifest. We who participate [on World Communion Sunday] call ourselves by different names, and we disagree on so many theological points, even on the meaning and role of this sacrament itself; but in spite of all our differences we are one, and our communion and union with one another is deep and real/even at those times when we wish it were not so.

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—ROBERT M. SHELTON, in Reformed Liturgy and Music, Winter 1985.

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COMMUNION

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Thoughts On Enjoying Communion
by Marie Hubbel

 

Today
We kept communion
At my church.

 

I enjoyed it.
Is that heresy?

 

The robed pastors prayed.
Grave elders
Carried out the holy trays
To solemn people
All wrapped in solemn looks.

 

Were they feeling guilty?
So was I.
But the Table
Called to me, “Forgiven,
In the blood of Christ!”
And I was freed to sing.

 

Were they hungry?
So was I—
For love and meaning,
Peace and hope.
The Table offered these to me,
And so I ate most heartily.

 

I smiled,
And could have laughed aloud,
(but we are Presbyterians).

 

If this be heresy,
Then let’s enjoy the feast,
And hear the angels singing,
“Those sinners made it Home!”

 

Marie Hubbel, Honorably Retired, Chico, Calif.
MONDAY MORNING, page 3, 12/16/85

 

 

COMMUNICATION (Masks)

​

Please Hear What I’m Not Saying
Poem by Charles C. Finn

​

Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
For I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
Masks that I'm afraid to take off
And none of them is me.

 

Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,
but don't be fooled,
for God's sake don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure,
that all is sunny and unruffled with me,
within as well as without,
that confidence is my name and coolness my game,
that the water's calm and I'm in command
and that I need no one,
but don't believe me.

 

My surface may be smooth but
my surface is my mask,
ever-varying and ever-concealing.
Beneath lies no complacence.
Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.
But I hide this. I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.
That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,
a nonchalant sophisticated facade,
to help me pretend,
to shield me from the glance that knows.

 

But such a glance is precisely my salvation,
my only hope, and I know it.
That is, if it is followed by acceptance,
If it is followed by love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself
from my own self-built prison walls
from the barriers that I so painstakingly erect.
It's the only thing that will assure me of what I can't assure myself,
that I'm really worth something.
But I don't tell you this. I don't dare to. I'm afraid to.

 

I'm afraid you'll think less of me,
that you'll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.
I'm afraid that deep-down I'm nothing
and that you will see this and reject me.

 

So I play my game, my desperate, pretending game
With a facade of assurance without
And a trembling child within.
So begins the glittering but empty parade of Masks,
And my life becomes a front.
I tell you everything that's really nothing,
and nothing of what's everything,
of what's crying within me.
So when I'm going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I'm saying.
Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying,
what I'd like to be able to say,
what for survival I need to say,
but what I can't say.

 

I don't like hiding.
I don't like playing superficial phony games.
I want to stop playing them.
I want to be genuine and spontaneous and me
but you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand
even when that's the last thing I seem to want.
Only you can wipe away from my eyes
the blank stare of the breathing dead.
Only you can call me into aliveness.
Each time you're kind, and gentle, and encouraging,
each time you try to understand because you really care,
my heart begins to grow wings — very small wings,
but wings!

 

With your power to touch me into feeling
you can breathe life into me.
I want you to know that.
I want you to know how important you are to me,
how you can be a creator-an honest-to-God creator —
of the person that is me
if you choose to.
You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,
you alone can remove my mask,
you alone can release me from the shadow-world of panic,
from my lonely prison, if you choose to.
Please choose to.

 

Do not pass me by.
It will not be easy for you.
A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.
The nearer you approach me the blinder I may strike back.
It's irrational, but despite what the books may say about man
often I am irrational.
I fight against the very thing I cry out for.
But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls
and in this lies my hope.
Please try to beat down those walls
with firm hands but with gentle hands
for a child is very sensitive.

 

Who am I, you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well.
For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet.

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