Garden of Grace

One of my favorite things about the house we are renting is the garden.

Over the late spring and early summer, I have watched with delight as our yard has slowly come to life. There are echinacea and daisies, roses and hollyhocks, and several other flowers that I cannot identify at all. As the flowers have bloomed, the yard has filled with butterflies and bumblebees. A family of neighborhood bunnies has even made a home in the bushes.

I love walking outside in the morning and discovering what has bloomed overnight.

Rachel, who is far more astute about gardening than I am, pointed out something else about our yard. If you pay attention, you can see the visions of several previous renters who have lived in the house before us. Over the years, different people have added different plants to the garden. Some are carefully plotted and arranged. Others have slowly spread beyond wherever they were originally planted, appearing in unexpected corners of the yard.

We inherited a garden that many people have helped create.

I have been thinking about how much that garden reminds me of Grace.

As I continue to settle into my new home here, I am increasingly grateful for all the gardeners who came before me. For generations, faithful people have planted seeds of worship, faith formation, mission, fellowship, and community. They have cultivated ministries, watered new ideas, and nurtured seeds of faith in children, youth, and adults.

Today, we are blessed by the beauty and abundance of what they planted.

Many of the flowers in our yard are perennials. Year after year, they return. They bloom, drop their seeds, and slowly spread into new parts of the garden. Sometimes new flowers appear in places no one planned or expected.

I think the same is true of the church. The ministries and missions of Grace continue to produce seeds of faith and grace. A child learns that they are loved by God. A teenager discovers a place where they belong. A hungry neighbor receives food. A stranger is welcomed. Someone finds comfort in worship. A volunteer discovers a new calling. Seeds are scattered. And by the grace of God, they take root and grow, often in places we may never see.

I am grateful for the garden of grace that I have discovered here at Grace. I am grateful for those who planted before us, for those who have faithfully tended this community through the years, and for the opportunity we now have to work together.

There are still seeds to scatter. There is still soil to cultivate. There is still new life waiting to emerge. And I cannot wait to see what God grows next.

See you in church.

Peace, Grace, and Love,

Pastor Kevin

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Blessed to Be a Blessing

This weekend our nation marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It is an opportunity to gather with family and friends, enjoy parades and fireworks, and give thanks for the many blessings we have received as citizens of this country.

As Christians, gratitude has always been one of our first responses to God’s gifts. We give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy, for those who have sacrificed to preserve them, and for the opportunity to participate in the life of our communities.

One of the enduring ideals at the heart of our nation’s founding is the conviction that every person possesses inherent dignity and inalienable rights. That vision was shaped by many influences, including the writings of John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers, whose understanding of natural rights rested on the belief that our rights come not from governments but from our Creator. The Declaration of Independence echoes that conviction in its affirmation that all people “are created equal” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

The founders also made another remarkable decision. While many were people of faith, they intentionally established a government that would neither establish nor favor one religion over another, protecting the freedom of conscience for people of every faith and for those of none. That commitment to religious liberty has become one of our nation’s greatest gifts.

Of course, our history reminds us that America has not always lived up to these ideals. Slavery, segregation, discrimination, and injustice reveal the painful distance between our aspirations and our actions. Yet our story also includes moments when we have moved closer to the vision set before us: the abolition of slavery, the expansion of voting rights, the Civil Rights Movement, the welcome extended to immigrants and refugees, and countless acts of compassion and service both at home and around the world. At our best, we have continued striving toward the ideals that inspired our founding.

That reminds me of God’s promise to Abraham:
“I will bless you… so that you will be a blessing.”

God’s blessings are never meant to end with us. They are given so that they may overflow into the lives of others.

Perhaps that is a faithful way for Christians to celebrate Independence Day. We give thanks for the blessings of our nation, not because we believe our country is perfect, but because gratitude inspires responsibility. We pray that God will continue to guide our leaders with wisdom, strengthen our commitment to justice, deepen our compassion for our neighbors, and help us become an ever-greater blessing to all peoples and nations.

May God continue to bless our country. And may God, by grace, help our country become a blessing to the world.

See you in church!

Peace, Grace, and Love,
Pastor Kevin

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Gathered in the Spirit: GA227

Next week, commissioners from across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will gather in Milwaukee for the 227th General Assembly, the highest governing body of our denomination. Commissioners, advisory delegates, staff, and observers will come together for worship, discernment, conversation, and decision-making as they seek God’s guidance for the future of the church.

The Presbytery of Southern Kansas will be represented by Teaching Elder Melissa Krabbe of Sterling, Ruling Elder Mary Buchele of Garden City, and Young Adult Advisory Delegate Sophia Randle from our own Grace Presbyterian Church. They have already begun participating in online meetings this week and will travel to Milwaukee this weekend along with our Executive Presbyter, Christina Berry, and our Stated Clerk, Joe Wiseman.

The General Assembly will consider a wide range of issues affecting the life and witness of the church, including the denomination’s structure and mission, environmental stewardship, global mission partnerships, matters of inclusion and justice, a proposed new confession, and many other items of business.

Personally, I am especially excited to watch this year’s co-moderator election. One of the candidates is a former classmate and friend. I am also eager to hear the Assembly’s discussion of the proposed new confession for the PC(USA), a project connected to one of my favorite professors at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary who has served on the special committee that drafted it.

What I love most about General Assembly, however, is not any single item of business. It is the gathering itself.

General Assembly is a celebration of what it means to be Presbyterian. It is an expression of our conviction that the Holy Spirit continues to guide the church when we gather in prayerful discernment. It is a reminder that we belong to something larger than ourselves. Commissioners come from every corner of the church: large congregations and small congregations, rural communities and urban centers, different generations, different backgrounds, different experiences, and different perspectives. Yet together they seek to listen for God’s voice and to lead Christ’s church faithfully into the future.

At its best, General Assembly offers a glimpse of the church as a diverse body united in Christ, trusting that wisdom emerges not from any one person but through prayer, conversation, study, and mutual discernment.

As the Assembly begins, I invite you to pray for Sophia, Melissa, Mary, Christina, Joe, and all who will participate in the 227th General Assembly. Pray that the Spirit’s presence will be felt in their midst. Pray for wisdom, humility, courage, and grace. And pray that this gathering may bear witness to the unity we share in Christ even amid our diversity, as together we seek to follow where God is leading the church.

See you in church.

Peace, Love, and Grace
Pastor Kevin

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Setting Our Sails, Discerning God’s Call

Last Saturday, our Elders and Trustees gathered to reflect on what we have been hearing throughout our listening sessions, congregational survey, and conversations over the past several months. Together, we prayed, listened, and discerned where God may be leading Grace Presbyterian Church in the years ahead.

I’ve shared the image of the church as a sailboat, raising its sails to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit. Our retreat was an opportunity to do just that.
As we reviewed the feedback from the congregation, several themes emerged with remarkable consistency. Members expressed a desire for vibrant worship, deeper faith formation, stronger fellowship, care for children and families, and meaningful opportunities to serve our neighbors. Again and again, people spoke about helping newcomers feel welcome, connecting people to one another, discovering and using spiritual gifts, and strengthening the ministries that already bring life to our congregation.

The retreat also surfaced several opportunities for future exploration. Among them were strengthening community partnerships, helping members identify and use their gifts, building deeper connections with Jacob’s Learning Ladder families, creating more opportunities for fellowship and belonging, developing ministries for older adults, supporting small groups, expanding arts-related programming, and making greater use of our facilities in service to the community. None of these are final plans, but they represent places where we sensed energy, passion, and possibility.

What encouraged me most was the spirit in the room. There was gratitude for what God is already doing through Grace, a willingness to wrestle honestly with challenges, and a shared hope for the future. I left the retreat convinced that God has already placed within this congregation the gifts, talents, and faith needed for the work ahead.

The work of discernment continues. Session, Trustees, staff, and ministry teams will continue to reflect on what we learned and consider faithful next steps. As we do, I invite you to keep praying for Grace Church, for wisdom, courage, and openness to the Spirit’s leading.

The good news is that we do not make this journey alone. The Spirit is still moving, still guiding, and still calling. Our task is to keep raising the sails and trusting where God leads.

See you in church!

Peace, Grace, and Love,
Pastor Kevin

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Raising the Sails

Over the past several weeks, our Elders and Trustees have begun reviewing the feedback you shared through our Listening Sessions and Congregational Survey. As we continue this process of discernment, I’ve been spending time with a book that has been shaping some of my thinking: *Sailboat Church: Helping Your Church Rethink Its Mission and Practice* by Joan Gray, a PC(USA) pastor and former Moderator of the General Assembly.

You may remember the book’s central metaphor from my Pentecost sermon. Gray suggests that many congregations operate like rowboats. They identify a destination, develop a plan, and work hard to row together toward their goals. There is much to admire in that kind of commitment and effort.

But Gray invites churches to imagine something different. A sailboat church raises its sails to catch the wind of the Spirit. Rather than relying primarily on human strength and planning, sailboat churches seek to be guided and empowered by God. They are rooted in prayer, shaped by Scripture, attentive to discernment, and willing to follow where God leads.

What I appreciate most about the book is that Gray moves beyond the metaphor. She encourages congregations to cultivate sailors through prayer, discernment, obedience, trust, and a willingness to surrender some of our need for control. One of my favorite ideas is what she calls *expectant gathering* — approaching worship, Bible study, mission projects, committee meetings, and even Session meetings with the expectation that God is present and active among us.

Imagine how that changes our perspective. Instead of simply gathering to complete a task or conduct business, we gather expecting to encounter God. We come ready to listen, ready to learn, and ready to be surprised by the Spirit’s leading.

Gray describes the church as “a divine, even supernatural, community gathered by God to do God’s work.” Its mission, she writes, is “to partner with the Holy Spirit in what God wants to do for the world.” What an amazing invitation. We are not merely maintaining an institution. We are participating in God’s ongoing work of healing, reconciliation, justice, compassion, and hope.

As I have reflected on your feedback, one observation from the book has particularly resonated with me. Gray notes that in many congregations, 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. In contrast, sailboat churches seek to involve all members in meaningful ministry that both nourishes and challenges them, allowing God’s mission to move forward and bringing glory to God.

As I read those words, I found myself thinking about Grace.

Again and again, in your survey responses and listening sessions, I heard stories of participation, generosity, and shared ownership of ministry. I see it in our worship leaders, teachers, musicians, mission partners, Elders, Deacons, Trustees, volunteers, and countless others who faithfully share their gifts. Grace is a congregation where people show up. You offer your time, talents, and resources in service to God and neighbor.

That spirit of participation is one of Grace’s greatest strengths and one of the reasons I am hopeful about our future.

As we continue discerning where God may be calling us in the years ahead, my prayer is that we will keep raising our sails together — listening for the Spirit’s direction, trusting God’s guidance, and gathering with the expectation that God is still at work among us.

See you in church!

Peace, Grace, and Love,
Pastor Kevin

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