Moderator of the 219th General Assembly (2010) of the PC(USA).

The Morning After

It's Monday morning. I'm at my office at BNA. The sanctuary -- First Presbyterian, Arlington, Va. -- where I worshipped yesterday sits empty today. The organ is silent, the trumpets have packed up and departed. The Easter lilies have gone to good homes. Easter Day is over.

Today the hard work of the Resurrection begins.

When we encounter the risen Jesus today, will we recognize him? Will we be transformed by him? Or will we be so preoccupied, so focused on "business as usual" that we fail to see him? 

Resurrection -- as opposed to Easter -- happens not amidst trumpet and organ. It happens -- or presents the opportunity to happen -- when we least expect it, at the most inopportune moments. On a road to Emmaus. Sitting in a Presbytery meeting. Voting at the General Assembly. Talking, even arguing, with someone who has a totally different vision of where the PC (USA) is going, or ought to be going, than you do.

I can belt out "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today" with the best of them ("best," in this case, meaning loudest, not most on tune). But my guess is that when I encounter the risen Jesus it's not going to be on Easter Day while I'm singing "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today."

I hope, I pray, that I'm ready to meet the risen Jesus today. Today, on Monday, without trumpets, without lilies. Today, when we're back to "business as usual." Today, when I -- when we -- least expect him.

When the risen Jesus comes to me, I hope, I pray, that I will recognize him. I hope, I pray, that I will be transformed. I hope, I pray, that I can embrace the power and the glory of the Resurrection -- even without the trumpets.

Today, Monday, I hope to be walking on the road to Emmaus. And tomorrow. And the next day. Are you walking with me?

News You Can Use

I think it was a local television station in the DC area that billed its work as "news you can use."

It seems to me we need that right now in the PC (USA).

There's a lot going on. Presbyteries are voting on crucial issues in the life of the church. Many conversations are happening across the church about how we as a denomination can effectively do ministry -- the "Next Church," the Fellowship, the work being done by denominational task forces such as the Middle Governing Body Commission and the Nature of the Church for the 21st Century.

It is my hope that these conversations can encompass all of us across the whole spectrum that makes up the PC (USA). But to be part of that conversation means that we all have to know what's going on. And that's where "news you can use" comes in.

I am by no means the most techno-savvy person, but I do follow several web sites that I think offer useful news about what's happening across the denomination: Presbyweb (www.churchandworld.com/PCUSA/ ); the #pcusa Daily (http://paper.li/tag/pcusa ); and the GA Junkie ((http://blog.gajunkie.com/ ).

Our denominational resource, the Presbyterian News Service, also provides important information and stories.

I confess to a certain bias in favor of our only independent news source that has journalists out reporting Presbyterian news: the Presbyterian Outlook (www.pres-outlook.com) . As someone who has been employed for my entire career by an independent publishing organization -- BNA, Inc., which has more accredited correspondents covering Capitol Hill than any other news organization -- I love the Outlook and its neutral, unbiased coverage of developments across the PC (USA). If you don't already subscribe, please think about doing so.

At the same time, I appreciate, and follow, web sites and bloggers, in addition to those noted above, and I even, if somewhat sporadically and hamhandedly, try to follow Twitter feeds (and an alert to those who have signed up to "follow" me on Twitter: prepare to be bored).

Most importantly, each of us, through whatever reliable sources, needs to get the "news we can use" to understand what is happening across the church. Because the reality is that we can't discern God's will for us in a vacuum. We need to know what other Presbyterians are saying and doing, what they are hoping for and praying for.

What sources do you find most helpful in keeping up with what's happening?