Loose Ties

All the scattered/new position puzzle pieces continue to fall in place. The phonemail is working, my e-mail activation has taken place, and I learned where to get the "good stuff" in the coffee category. Thanks to Elvin and Jim for their help, these are important issues.

Outside of the coffee, two new stories have helped keep my mind awake. They will both be prepared for Seek Magazine's online supplement of their quarterly publication. Seek is the official Brethren in Christ publication and, I should mention, that I am working very closely with them, while here primarily to uncover the BICF's untold stories (sounds a little sci-fi).

The first project requires my contact with a pastor directly affected by the Missional Church Initiative begun in May 2005. The initiative focuses on encouraging established churches and pastors by providing an outside perspective and objective opinion on congregational needs. This program was created to balance BIC's continued focus on church planting.

The second tells the tale of one Canadian mission team's experience in aiding a community on the Gulf Coast region. Good stuff.

Over the winter I purchased a book of poems entitled The Common Wealth. From the battlefields, abandoned factories, deeply religious communities to the smallest detail in Camp Hill this nourishing collection leaves no stone in Pa unwritten. Julia Kasdorf, an English professor who once taught with Messiah (now Penn State), is one of the many gifted writers found within the book's walls. Reading these carfully crafted poems caused me to reflect on my own origins in this state.

Already aware of the Brethren in Christ origin in Lancaster County, I never truly processed how grounded in the Pennsylvania soil the denomination was. Not to mention its relative, 'newness.'

"Early Brethren in Christ were often called "River Brethren" because of their common location up and down the Susquehanna River. "

As a Pennsylvania resident, I find this powerful. Not that BIC beliefs are less relevant, important, or exciting, to those outside of the Keystone state. Rather, it simply serves as a personal metaphor for illuminating the intimacy which the Brethren in Christ strive for. The BIC church seems rooted in the land, the same way members of the congregation are often rooted in their community-believing that intimacy is better served through smaller, close-knit congregations. I agree.