Pastor's Life - The role of "things"

The role of "things" in our lives by Rev. Shannon White I had a very interesting weekend recently. I went to Dallas, Texas, and met up with my three sisters to clean out the house of my second cousin, who died earlier this year at the age of 77. She was a wonderful, faithful, PC(USA) woman who has always been kind to us, but who had no other close living relatives. My older sister is the executor of her estate. Last Fall, I went to visit her at her assisted living community. We had a raucous time playing bingo with a few of her rowdy friends. Our table embarrassingly won 5 of the 7 games played that day. We laughed hysterically. It was a good time. Her health declined considerably soon thereafter. This visit was no laughing matter. This wonderful woman was a bit of a hoarder (15 calculators, hundreds and hundreds of greeting cards and 5 blenders, as examples). We loaded 2 dumpsters in less than two days and gathered items for donation. We uncovered parts of her personality which were quite endearing, as well as multiple levels of family dysfunction and broken relationships. It was all very, very human. As I worked, I tried hard to withhold judgement, to see her and understand her better. I fell in love with her and appreciated her even more, in all her humanity — even in 92 degree temps!

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Rev. Shannon White is the pastor at White Plains Presbyterian Church in White Plains, NY. She and her spouse, Virgil Roberson, live in Branford, CT. Her daughter, Peyton, is recently back from service in Namibia Africa through the Peace Corps.

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Use the Sermon on the Mount to bless your local stewardship drive From Sunday School, we learned that “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven … and the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Today, we can take that approach to stewardship, because blessings follow those who give to help their church. A Small Tennessee Church Makes a Big Impact in its Community How can such small churches be meaningful? For one presenter at Stewardship Kaleidoscope, Rev. Dr. Katrina Sharp’s church, the first step was to acknowledge that it was not the same church that it once was. This was not a value judgment, but acceptance of reality. With that honesty, the church could begin to imagine new ways to minister within the community.

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