First Presbyterian Church of Valparaiso

Dear Friends, After the events in Uvalde, TX, I find it difficult to write a blog post this week. I had many thoughts about how to lead, to comfort, to support our community, but they didn’t seem adequate. Just being honest. There is so much we want to say. So many words. Too many words. So, I offer you the following meandering, fragmented thoughts as I rest in the knowledge that God is love, even if the world seems not to be. Know that you are loved. Peace, Ken What is there

“As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.” Matthew 27:32. NIV. After almost 2 years, I moved my home office from our kitchen table to the basement. I had cleaned up most of my files and supplies and walked them down the basement stairs. I had almost finished the job and was loading up the mobile office chair I was using to walk down to the basement. Tracy, seeing my last load, suggested that I enlist my eldest so

So after more than two years, more than 80 million cases in the country, and in spite of being fully vaxxed and boosted, my luck finally ran out and I tested positive for Covid about a week and a half ago. Thankfully, my symptoms have been mild so that the biggest impact for me has been the cancelled events and missed activities and a greater sense of isolation as a result of my self-quarantine. Much has been written over the past couple of years about the consequences of soc

One of the characteristics that Roman writers observed about the early Christians was that they often gathered to tell each other accounts of how they had come to know Jesus Christ. These ‘testimonies’ were a common part of meetings among Christians. Of course the main Testimonies are the Gospels. But even before the Gospels were written, people were telling each other how they had come to know Christ, either in the flesh or in the Holy Spirit. It is a custom that has endure