In this E-pistle:

A Reminder from Lois Anderson
Deep Truth

A Reminder from Lois Anderson 

We will take time to remember Lois Anderson and pray for Bill during Sunday’s service.  By now, all of us have heard the story.  The Post-Gazette carried a particularly effective piece in this morning’s paper (click here)   Earlier I asked some of you who knew Bill and Lois well to share some of your thoughts.  I received this from Audrey Sheline and offer it to you in only slightly edited form (names changed to protect the innocent!).  Thanks, Audrey. 

One of my memories of Lois and Bill concerns their presence in Beaver along about 1949.  A young man from the church was dating Lois and had made clear to his male friends that he was going to propose to her, so hands off!  Then Bill Anderson came into our lives as Assistant Pastor to Dr. Nesbitt.  Oh, my, what a breath of fresh air he was.  He was miles ahead of us in his Christian growth and he knew he had a future in Christian service.  So he wasted no time in getting acquainted with Lois Crawford!  She recognized a commonality with this person and it seemed no time 'til they were engaged, married, and off to the mission field.

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Holiness and Justice: It’s been my privilege to serve on the Presbytery’s Denominational Concerns Task Force, and I am looking forward to the forum on Tuesday.  Most of the time at the forum will be given over to listening to the people of the presbytery, but we will begin by giving a report on some our work to date and sharing provisional drafts or some of what we will bring to the presbytery in March.  We’re wrestling with issues ranging from property ownership and per capita payments to ordination standards.

One of the pieces we will present is a set of Faith Essentials that we will recommend to the presbytery for use in examining ministers and candidates for membership in the presbytery.  Last year’s General Assembly made it clear that each presbytery has the responsibility and privilege of examining candidates and must determine whether candidates meet the ordination standards of the church.

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I am finding this term’s ABC classes to be an incredible joy with nearly 65 Park people participating as we probe the depths of the incomparable Christ.  I have also been challenged personally with the fact that I am too often content with a very shallow Jesus.  John Stott in his wonderful book The Incomparable Christ uncovers again the Christian tendency to view Jesus through lenses of our own making.  We too often see a Jesus we want to see:  a liberal Jesus or a conservative Jesus; a mystical Jesus or a revolutionary Jesus; a nice-guy Jesus or an angry Jesus; a too-human Jesus or a too-divine Jesus; a capitalist Jesus or a Marxist Jesus; a therapist Jesus or paradigm of human virtue Jesus; a Jesus who is too much servant and not enough King or a Jesus who is too much King and not enough servant.

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On Sunday we will ordain and install into church office our new classes of elders and deacons.  This is a remarkable moment in the life of the church.  Men and women we know, those who sing in the choir with us or sit next to us in Bible Study, who travel to Brazil or teach Sunday School with us, will take on the role of "leaders who serve and servants who lead" in the life of our church.  The ordination questions (those asked of the new officers and those asked of the congregation) will be printed in Sunday's bulletin.  Each question is vitally important. 

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In this E-pistle

Before the Throne of God Above

A breakout year

The devil is in the details

Simply Christian – another take

One of the hymns that has become a favorite of many Park people is Before the Throne of God Above, an old Irish hymn recently rediscovered and set to a marvelous new tune with a Celtic feel to it. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea. A great high Priest whose Name is Love Who ever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven on His hands, My name is written on His heart. I know that while in Heaven He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart. Click here to listen The image used in the hymn is from Hebrews 7 and it is powerful. Our prayers are not sent into the cosmic ether or to some indifferent divinity, but to one who knows and calls us by name. What are your prayer concerns? We may pray for peace in Iraq and in our homes and for the victims of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and our friend’s impending surgery with equal confidence. “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you,” Peter writes (1 Peter 5:7)

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