Pine Island Pastor Musings

When the church elders learned that I was concluding my work for the Presbytery of Lake Michigan last summer and that I might be interested in serving the Pine Island Church, we talked.  The Session contracted with me to serve as temporary pastor of the Pine Island Church in a part time capacity.  What a joy it has been for me to regularly lead worship and engage in parish life again.  What a year it has been as our government spirals further and further into crisis!  What an encouragement it was to read and discuss with the men's fellowship Walter Brueggemann's book "Interrupt the Silence, God's Command to Speak Out."   What a comfort it has been to commiserate and speak out together.  What fun we had adding some special readings and drama to our Advent worship and shared Christmas Eve with the members of North Presbyterian Church.  We shared some leadership with North Presbyterian a time or two, exploring a new pattern of church leadership.  We ...

Addressing the Congregation As we drove home from dinner with our Cameroon families Tuesday night, our last evening together I said to Jaff, "You are my swan song."  Then I asked Eileen to explain the idiomatic expression, as I was driving.  She explained swan song as a last meaningful project before I retire from active ministry.  What a joy it has been for me to coordinate, host and escort our new friend, Jaff Bamenjo from Cameroon these past few days.  Jaff is one of twelve international guests visiting in churches across our denominatio this September through the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program of the P.C.(U.S.A.) Jaff has a wonderful way with people and quickly formed a deep bond with all who met him.  Last week I posted his photo and itinerary schedule.  Unlike that photo, the Jaff we met and came to love is charming, engaging loving, sensitive and kind.  The planned program went smoothly without a hitch for which I praise God.  The p...

International Peacemaker Schedule Jaff Napoleon Bamenjo Presbytery of Lake Michigan     &    Pine Island Presbyterian Church September 13-18, 2019 Lodging Host:   John & Eileen Best, 8599 Hathaway Rd., Kalamazoo    Friday: September 13, 1:59 p.m.   Arrive at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek Airport (AZO)               Greeted at the airport by John Best, host coordinator.                  Brief tour of the Pine Island Church and garden project on way to host’s home.                Late afternoon and evening free for rest and errands.                         Dinner hosts: John and Eileen Best, 8599 Hathaway Rd., Kalamazoo, MI Saturday, September 14 - 9...

I've spent my Wednesday mornings this summer working at Pine Island Church's Hope Garden at our Q Avenue property in Texas Township.  Gardening requires a constant vigilance as bugs, critters, fungus, weeds all want a piece of our real estate were cultivating.  I missed most of the planting.  But I've done my share of weeding.  Nickie, our first garden intern and I put a lot of sweat equity into weeding the corn patch back in July.  When I returned from vacation to learn that in spite of our deer fence, the raccoons had found, ate or destroyed all the corn, I was disheartened, but not devastated.  This reminds me of Travis in the story of Old Yeller, who slept in the corn patch at night to keep watch for the coons when the ears of corn were maturing and evidently must appealing to coons.  His frontier family depended on that corn crop for their survival.  I'll be just fine, but today as our work crew finished cutting up and composting the trampled...