Staff Turnover

For the last several months, the Staff Parish Relations Committee and I have been fretting over upcoming staff changes. We’ve been doing the hard work of revising job descriptions and interviewing candidates, as we also consider the future direction of our church’s ministry.
I am very happy to announce that we recently completed our work, and are ready to move forward with some new faces, while saying goodbye to a familiar face.

Finance Secretary

After Pier Crenshaw left us in April, the church contracted with Rebecca Creighton to lead us through the process of moving our financial records from Shelby to QuickBooks. She did such a great job handling the transition that we have asked her to stay on as Finance Secretary, while also shifting some of Pier’s responsibilities to Yvonne Boyack, our Office Manager.

Starting last week, Rebecca will be in the office once a week to cut checks, reconcile accounts, and run financials. Yvonne’s weekly hours have been increased, as she will take over data entry, handling bills, invoices, and contributions.

All questions that you have concerning your own giving may go directly to Yvonne in the front office. She has proven to be a capable and reliable member of our staff, and she handles everything with a friendly smile!

Youth Minister

Matt and Paige Bell

Four years ago, the church hired a relatively unexperienced young couple to be the Youth Minister and Children’s Minister. Matt and Paige Bell quickly assimilated into the Kessler Park congregation, and Matt began studies at Perkins School of Theology.

After two years, Paige stepped away from her work as Children’s Minister to focus on her new teaching job in Seagoville. Matt spent his fourth and final year at Perkins as a full-time intern at the church, and we have been the beneficiaries of his creativity and energy over the last year.

Originally Matt was planning to go into public education as an extension of his call to Christian ministry, but he got a surprise call from Rev. Mike Baughman, church planter and founder of Union Coffee Shop in Dallas. Mike invited Matt to join the Union staff as a Church Planter Resident, which means that Matt will be learning from Mike and others the skills and abilities needed to start new churches and ministries.

Personally, I’m very happy for Matt, as I think this position fits his unique skill set. But I’m also grieving that he is leaving our church community. Matt has served us well, and built great relationships with people of all ages.

We will wish Matt and Paige a fond farewell this coming Sunday, June 25, with a reception after the service, in which Matt will preach his last sermon for us.

Eva Englert-Jessen, new youth minister

The good news is that a new Youth Minister will start with us on the following Sunday, July 2. Our new staff member is Eva Englert-Jessen, who graduated from seminary last month herself. Eva earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociocultural Environmental Studies, with a Minor in Religious Studies at Hendrix College in Arkansas, and a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology. She has just moved back to Dallas, her hometown, with her husband, whom she met in seminary.

Eva is a candidate for ministry in the United Methodist Church, and is hoping to be commissioned as a deacon in the North Texas Conference next summer. When she is ordained, she will become the first third-generation female clergy person in the state of Texas — both her grandmother and mother were ordained in North Texas. Her mother, Rev. Valerie Englert, currently serves as the senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, Garland.

And if you haven’t figured out the connection yet, Eva is also the niece of our very own Office Manager. Yep, Yvonne is Eva’s aunt!

We are all very eager to learn more about Eva and her interests and passions, and that will be forthcoming. But for now, we will say goodbye to Matt and Paige, and celebrate the good work they have done among us!

To Live a Ghost Story

Last weekend, our neighborhood was the site of the sixth annual Oak Cliff Film Festival. Thanks to a sponsoring church member, I had access to a VIP pass, which enabled me to attend quite a few films over the weekend.

I geek out over film festivals; my favorites are the shorts and documentaries. But this year, I also got to see the big closing feature film, “A Ghost Story,” written and directed by local David Lowery.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I saw our very own church members, Margot and Sylvie Tomerlin, in a scene! (Spoiler alert: they played pioneer kids in a covered wagon.) I have no doubt that one or the other will end up being a famous performer; remember that Margot is our star liturgical dancer!

The film itself was an eye-opener. Don’t let the title or the marketing materials fool you; this is not a horror film, nor even a suspenseful thriller. And the one best-known actor in the film, Casey Affleck, spends most of the film under a white sheet. To be honest, “A Ghost Story” fits more comfortably in the “arthouse” genre. But don’t let that designation fool you either — the film is accessible to anyone who has just a little more patience than the average “Fast and Furious” filmgoer.

It’s certainly a different kind of movie from most Hollywood fare. For example, a few of the scenes are single takes that last four or five minutes. In one instance, Rooney Mara, playing a bereaved young widow, walks into her apartment and eats an entire pie. The whole thing is captured in only two shots, each of which seem to last forever. But the scene portrays grief in the most authentic manner I have ever seen on-screen.

The film is also very quiet. There is little dialogue, not much background music. Only natural sounds of night and quiet meadows. And so it gives the viewer the chance to really engage, not only intellectually, but emotionally with the striking images.

Yes, the story is about a ghost. The ghost walks around with a white sheet over his head. It sounds gimmicky, but it works in a very interesting way. He doesn’t come across as spooky or ethereal. Rather, the ghost is a clear symbol of loss, of a void.

The ghost functions as a screen upon which the viewer projects his or her own fears about belonging and identity. As I watched the ghost, I found myself wondering about the weighty matters of faith, love, and spirit. It wasn’t so much about the question of the afterlife, but upon what remains when one dies.

This particular ghost found himself rooted to one specific space; his identity was tied up in one location in a very particular period of time. As the people and things which inhabit his space disappear over time, the ghost becomes more and more disoriented; he becomes rootless and restless.

The point is clear: we humans inhabit time and space. Everything we do is bound by our place on the earth, limited by the seventy or eighty years we are given. We can’t transcend those dimensions as human beings, no matter how much we may strive to make ourselves “immortal.”

Only God transcends the dimensions of space and time. And God’s revelation in Jesus Christ makes plain to us what ultimately lasts, what goes on into the distant future, beyond our limited lifespan. Three things remain in the end — faith, hope, and agape/love — says the apostle Paul (I Cor. 13:13).

What matters is faith — the unconditional trust that we place in God’s love.

What matters is hope — the undying flicker of possibility in the future, however distant.

What matters is agape — the love that gives unconditionally and completely to the other.

These are the things that go on, that remain.

I know that I will die someday. But I sure hope that I don’t find myself in a white sheet, loitering around the house long after my death. Instead, I hope to find myself in God’s presence, enjoying the shalom I have sought all my life.

And I pray that my acts of faith, hope, and agape will last for a little while, at least, if only to encourage those who come after me to do the same.

A Prayer for a Choir on the Move

I have written the following prayer especially for the members of Credo Choir and Dallas Street Choir, as they travel to New York City and Washington, D.C. to perform at Carnegie Hall, the National Cathedral, among other venues. 

God of all inspiration and imagination,

From the moment that you opened your mouth and sang the words, “Let there be light,”
   the universe has been full of music.
Your creation is infused with melody;
   everywhere we go, a tune springs up, leading us forward into a vibrant future.

Lead us in singing harmony; we want to accompany your life-giving song.

When you raised up a people, you gave them song leaders.
When the Israelites left Egypt, Moses sang.
When Samuel was born, Hannah sang.
When the exiles were in Babylon, they wondered whether they could still sing. And they did.

Give us song leaders; and empower us to keep singing, even when we fear we have lost the tune.

Music is the way in which you bind people together;
   it is a covenant of soul and spirit.
Song is the medium by which we make the invisible connections.
It is the means by which we express those things which we can’t otherwise articulate.
May we always appreciate the power and tenacity of your bonds.

Bind us together with cords that cannot be broken, Lord, and strengthen the ties which keep us tethered to reality.

We ask that our brothers and sisters in Credo Choir and Dallas Street Choir
   may be blessed with success and filled with joy as they travel across the country.
We pray that all who hear their music may be struck by a sense of your presence;
   help each listener to hear the strains of heaven,
   so that they might long for unity and peace on earth.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Amen.