Mission Yearbook: Mister Rogers homage helps wrap up a week of listening and learning

Image

The Rev. Dr. Matt Sauer donned his red sweater one last time Friday during the 2025 edition of Synod School (photo by Kim Coulter)

As he did all week long at Synod School, the Rev. Dr. Matt Sauer shared his inner Fred Rogers on the final day, donning a red sweater to honor the wisdom and caring heart of a Presbyterian pastor influential to the millions of Americans who grew up watching “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Sauer, pastor of Manitowoc Cooperative Ministry in Wisconsin, shared a clip of Rogers singing “It’s You I Like” to Joan Rivers on “The Tonight Show,” which Rivers found moving.

“In this space I get to be more real than anywhere else,” Sauer told his fellow Synod Schoolers. “It’s a gift you give me every year.” Sauer closed with a clip of Rogers singing his “Goodnight God.”

Led by Synod School Dean Lisa Tarbell, those assembled got to honor one of their own. John Tonje, who grew up attending Synod School, was drafted last month by the Utah Jazz after a stellar basketball career at Wisconsin. Tarbell recorded herself congratulating Tonje and then being cheered by those who filled Schaller Chapel.

Tarbell had another significant announcement: next year’s convocation speaker will be Dr. William Yoo, Associate Professor of American Religious and Cultural History at Columbia Theological Seminary and the author of two recent well-regarded books published by Westminster John Knox Press: “Reckoning with History” and “What Kind of Christianity.” The 72nd Synod School is scheduled for July 26–31, 2026, at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Also on the last day of this year’s school, the Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana, Synod School’s convocation speaker, sported a tie-dyed T-shirt given to her by a youth group in Jacksonville, Illinois. “She’s one of us now,” the youth said.

Turning to the day’s topic, authenticity, McKibben Dana reported that a Synod School musician shared with her the guidelines for a community band he plays in back home, including:

• Tell one another, “You sound great!”
• Figure stuff out and play wrong notes occasionally.
• If a song is feeling too difficult, pick up some percussion.

“In this gathering, I don’t want perfection,” the musician told McKibben Dana. “I want humanity.”

She played a clip of an interview with the novelist, poet and professor Ocean Vuong, who said students — especially students in the U.S. — “are more and more self-conscious of trying.”

“They would say, I want to be a poet, I want to be a good writer, but it’s a bit of a cringe. This cringe culture is, ‘I don’t want to be perceived as trying and having an effortful attempt at my dreams.’ As a teacher, that’s a horrifying sort of report from the field,” Vuong said. “I think they are scared of judgment. They perform cynicism because cynicism can be misread, as it often is, as intelligence. You are disaffected. You’re too cool. You’ve seen it all. And so, they pull back.”

“But in fact, they are deeply hungry for sincere, earnest effort,” Vuong said. “Sincerity is something we deeply hunger for, particularly young people, but we are embarrassed when sincerity is in the room.”

The teacher has the authority to set the tone, Vuong said. “If you set the tone for your students and you welcome them — that you won’t judge them, that [they] can be sincere and honest without being condemned or ridiculed for it, that they can try their best and it won’t be cringy to do so — then you truly liberate them toward their best selves.”

McKibben Dana wondered how we “get past this idea that being myself is somehow cringy and that it’s better to be intelligent and removed.”

Years ago, she took a parenting workshop during which young parents were asked to imagine their children at 21 or 25. What are the qualities parents would like their grown children to have? Answers included service to the world, meaningful work, a community that cares for them, a sense of joy and work-life balance.

“Great!” the instructor said. “That’s your list. That’s how you build the self you send into the world as they grow into maturity.”

McKibben Dana displayed a photo of a bumper sticker proclaiming “Non-judgment day is here.”

“Let us go out into the world,” she said. “Let us be encouraged.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Shelly Lewis, Administrative Manager, Finance & Accounting Controllers Office, Administrative Services Group
Tony Lewis, Operations & Accounting Associate, Operations, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation        

Let us pray:

Merciful Lord, forgive us for not listening for not hearing the voices of the oppressed and suffering. May your love guide us in joining our brothers and sisters for transformation, bringing glory and humor to you. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘Love your neighbor’ like Mister Rogers did

Presbyterians celebrate the life lessons of a beloved children’s television pioneer, the Rev. Fred Rogers

June 11, 2023

On March 20, Derrada Rubell-Asbell, director of Music Ministries at Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church in Dallas, posted a photo of himself on the famous set of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” (Contributed photo)

“Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person,” the Rev. Fred Rogers, known to millions as Mister Rogers, once mused while reminding his audience as he often did that there are many ways to say “I love you,” from greeting someone to feeding a hungry neighbor or cleaning up common spaces.

When he died in 2003, Rogers, a pioneer in public television and a Presbyterian minister, left behind 33 years of televised and published content that encouraged children to listen their heart and express care for those around them. In addition to the beloved series, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which ran from 1968–2001, Rogers left resources for spiritual formation and peacemaking with children developed in partnership with the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

The Rev. Patrick David Heery of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn, New York.
(Photo courtesy of Jill Fandrich)

In 2021, the Presbyterian Planning Calendar recognized March 20, Fred Rogers’ birthday, to be a special emphasis day on which to highlight the work of Rogers as a “pioneer in a the world of Christian education and the formation of young children.” For several years, churches have been encouraged to honor Rogers’ legacy and to celebrate “Neighboring Sunday,” in March or anytime that is right to lift up being a good neighbor — which is, of course, any time. The Presbyterian Mission Agency has developed resources for worship, service and retreats to encourage children of all ages and their communities to care about their neighborhoods. The Office of Christian Formation in partnership with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has compiled and updated these resources on the mission agency’s site.

Sue Curtis, a member of First Presbyterian Church of Troy, Ohio, gave out kindness and chocolate at the For All Seasons Gift Shop. (Contributed photo)

Over the past three years and especially in the month of March, Presbyterian congregations across the country shared their stories about how observing this special day has impacted their congregations and its neighbors. Here are some of the ways Presbyterian churches around the country celebrated last month.

After showing the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” earlier in the week, the Rev. Patrick David Heery channeled Mister Rogers at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn, New York, at the beginning of worship.

Jill Reichert, director of Children and Family Ministries of Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Chester, Pennsylvania, “honored Mister Rogers’ ministry of inclusion, acceptance and love” in an intergenerational vespers service she holds once a month.

Other churches put aside their cardigans and felt inspired to do book and clothing drives.

The County Theater was considered by children ages 4-10 to be an essential place at Doylestown Presbyterian Church’s neighborhood build. (Contributed photo)

Faithbridge Presbyterian Church in Frisco, Texas, had people donate books for their preschool to honor Rogers’ commitment to early childhood learning. First Presbyterian Church of Fulton, Missouri celebrated Mr. Rogers Sunday for the first time on Sunday, March 19, the day before what would have been Rogers’ 95th birthday. “I incorporated the liturgical resources that were specially developed, including the hymn, ‘Jesus, Teach Us to be Neighbors,’” said the Rev. Aaron J. White, the church’s pastor. White reported that the worship was so meaningful that it sparked a conversation about expanding the celebration next year to include “a collection of sweaters and socks.”

The Rev. Becca Bateman shared her experience of doing a “neighborhood build” the previous year. Over four Sundays, children from pre-kindergarten to  fourth grade at Doylestown Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania focused on defining what a neighborhood was, identifying who their neighbor was, and brainstorming how to best love them. According to Bateman, the kids drew powerful connections between Mister Rogers, the Golden Rule and the Bible.

A new version of a resource developed by Fred Rogers and Barbara Marsh and updated by Vickie Caro Dieth is now available for download on the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s website. The resource, called Peacemaking in the Family, includes four sessions for intergenerational events and cultivates an appreciation for emotional awareness, relationship boundaries, resilience and celebrations in family systems.

Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Sandra Duverge, Associate, Equity & Mission Impact, Mission Personnel Team, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Tricia Dykers Koenig, Associate Director, Mid Council Relations, Office of the General Assembly

Let us pray

Generous God, we give thanks for the loaves and fishes that we receive from you. We are in awe of how you multiply them before our eyes. Help us to see with your eyes — where we see a little, you see more than enough. We dedicate our offerings to your glory. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - The real ‘Mister Rogers’

This Presbyterian minister is as genuinely nice in person as he is on TV

March 4, 2020

Editor’s note: The film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” has rekindled the nation’s appreciation for Fred Rogers, the best-known Presbyterian clergyperson since John Witherspoon. In 1997, Eva Stimson, then editor of Presbyterians Today, interviewed Rogers.

In 1997, Fred Rogers sat for an interview in the studios of WQED in Pittsburgh for an interview with Eva Stimson, then the editor of Presbyterians Today. Receiving an in-person visit from King Friday XIII are Stimson’s children, Rachel and Luke. (Photo by Jerry Van Marter)

Anyone with kids and a television set knows Fred Rogers. Three generations of children have grown up with “Mister Rogers” — the friendly sweater-and-sneakers-clad grownup who talks frankly about feelings and invites them to be part of his TV “neighborhood.” What is less widely known is that Fred Rogers is a Presbyterian minister, ordained in 1962 by Pittsburgh Presbytery.

Early on a Monday afternoon America’s best-loved neighbor is catching up on stacks of correspondence in his office in downtown Pittsburgh, following a quick trip to Toronto. Just before a scheduled interview he squeezes in time for a carton of yogurt.

Then he appears, smiling and relaxed, to ask, “What do you want to talk about?” For the next hour his comments emerge thoughtfully, deliberately, graciously — just like on TV.

It is not hard to imagine this man giving up his lunch break for eight years to take Bible and theology courses. “It’s fairly unorthodox to go to seminary on your lunch hour,” he says. “Which is what I literally did.”

That was back in the 1950s. Rogers had just begun working for WQED in Pittsburgh, the nation’s first community-supported public television station. He had planned to go to seminary right after college but got sidetracked by a call to work in television. A few years later seminary became a way of undergirding this call — to minister to children and their families through the media.

In the early 1960s, Rogers recalls, national media staff in the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. began talking to him about developing a children’s TV program as an outreach for the denomination. But then priorities shifted and money for the project evaporated. Did the church miss a big opportunity?

“It’s hard to say,” commented Gregg Hartung, executive director of Presbyterian Media Mission and a personal friend of Rogers’. “I’m not sure a ministry like Fred’s could be done within an institution.” If a church-Rogers partnership had come to fruition, the PC(USA) might be known today as a trailblazer in TV evangelism. On the other hand, the constraints of working within a church bureaucracy might have had a stifling effect on Rogers’ creativity.

In 1962 Pittsburgh Presbytery ordained him with a charge to continue his work with children and families through the media. He has never served in the traditional role of pastor, but through television he brings his simple message of affirmation and acceptance to a “congregation” of millions.

On TV and in person Rogers comes across as refreshingly genuine. His gracious “Mister Rogers” persona is not an act, says Hartung. “It’s really, truly Fred.” His affirmation of the goodness in people elicits powerful responses from adults as well as children.

Being a good listener is a vital part of ministry, especially ministry with children, Rogers believes. He cultivates his own listening skills by integrating silence into his life as a daily spiritual discipline. He says he has been profoundly influenced by the devotional writings of the late Roman Catholic priest Henri Nouwen, who was also a personal friend. “Silence is becoming more and more of a luxury,” he remarked. “I’d encourage everyone to have more quiet time.”

Nurturing children in the Christian faith is a challenge in today’s world, Rogers acknowledged. He still is appalled by many of the things kids are exposed to in the media, such as situation comedies in which the lines spoken by child actors “are invariably smart-aleck remarks and put-downs.”

Rogers bases his work with children on the maxim, “Attitudes are caught, not taught.” The best way to cultivate faith in children, he says, is to “share our own enthusiasm about what we believe.”

The most important thing the church can offer children, he adds, is “a place where they know it’s OK to be a child.” This means stocking church school rooms with age-appropriate furniture and toys. It means allowing time in the worship service to “appreciate what children might have to give.”

Jesus welcomed children and so should the church, Rogers believes. In fact, he says thoughtfully, flashing one of his trademark smiles, “I think Jesus delighted in the presence of children.”

Eva Stimson, Former Editor, Presbyterians Today

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Kitty Ufford-Chase, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Rick Ufford-Chase, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

God our Creator, we give you thanks that you are always with us: to guide us in celebration and mourning, to cultivate and nurture our growth, and to encourage us to extend ourselves to others in your name. Remind us that you are here, and help us trust you. Amen.