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We are coming up to the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on the moon.\u00a0 CNN produced a documentary that is comprised entirely of video, photos, and audio transmissions during the mission, and it is stunning.\u00a0 I am always stunned by the enormity, and enormous beauty, of space, and it always affirms my Presbyterian understanding of the greatness and sovereignty of God.\u00a0 If you ever want to be so inspired, I recommend visiting the APOD<\/a> website (\u201cAPOD\u201d stands for \u201cAstronomy Picture of the Day\u201d).<\/p>\n By the way, Presbyterian trivia time:\u00a0 What do John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin, and Katherine Johnson (the lead in \u201cHidden Figures\u201d) all have in common, besides their groundbreaking accomplishments with NASA?\u00a0 They have all been dedicated Presbyterian elders!\u00a0 So much so that Buzz Aldrin quietly took communion on the moon during that historic Apollo 11 landing.\u00a0 (Ironically, I only learned of this because Margarita Reyes, who had just moved the First Rosemead church to become Puente de Esperanza in La Puente, invited me into a conversation on communion with her Catholic priest neighbor. \u00a0He wanted to understand the Presbyterian view of communion, to inform his adult education in his parish on ecumenism, because he was so intrigued by an article in “Guideposts”<\/a> on the steps Elder Aldrin and his pastor took to be authorized to take communion on the moon\u2014including contacting the Stated Clerk.)<\/p>\n The Apollo project was an enormous, ambitious, and stunningly complex mission, and arguably one of the highest achievements in all human history.\u00a0 Yet we Christians believe that without God, we are broken and prone to self-centered triviality and destruction.\u00a0 So regardless of our endeavors, we seek the will of God, knowing that without God our efforts fall short.\u00a0 And in completing these endeavors, we do as Buzz Aldrin did\u2014we pause to give thanks and contemplate God\u2019s hand in all that we do.<\/p>\n So what does this mean for us today?<\/p>\n Last week I had the opportunity to have lunch with a few leaders from the Pomona and Claremont churches, and one elder asked about the vision for San Gabriel Presbytery.\u00a0 It was compelling to me because the Presbytery tends to take a more supportive role in response to our member congregations.\u00a0 And yet, we do have opportunity to work as a collective, and even the responsibility to act on issues that a congregation cannot.\u00a0 We do the former (working as a group of churches) whenever we make decisions for the presbytery, join efforts on a presbytery-wide mission such as Living Waters for the World or the Tapestry youth ministry, or welcome each other and support each other when churches need help.\u00a0 We act on issues that go beyond a single congregation when we offer advice based on collective wisdom, or help a church facing conflict or fraud, or decide on starting up, merging, or ending church ministries in a particular area.<\/p>\n We believe that presbyteries are formed as a result of God putting eher a particular group of people, through congregations, in a particular time and place, to proclaim the Good News to their community in the way most relevant and faithful to God\u2019s vision for that moment.<\/p>\n In San Gabriel Presbytery, we are in a good place\u2014many churches are thriving and serving God and God\u2019s people faithfully; churches are welcoming new members, new partners, and new pastors; and churches who are struggling are getting direct support from sisters and brothers in the Presbytery.\u00a0 There have been times of conflict, and now there have been several years of relative peace (so much so that some of us worry that the energy is \u201clow\u201d).\u00a0 There have been initiatives to utilize our property assets to support ministry better, and renewed partnerships with House of Rest and Monte Vista Grove Homes.\u00a0 The partnership with Monte Vista Grove was celebrated this last Saturday, when San Gabriel Presbytery and Rev. Jeff O\u2019Grady of San Marino Community Church were given the 2019 Spirit Awards, and Lauren Evans\u2019 chaplaincy at Monte Vista Grove (a ministry of our presbytery, funded by House of Rest) was lifted up as the most visible manifestation of this partnership.\u00a0 And we continue to increase our mission beyond our church walls, including La Casa de San Gabriel, Pomona Hope, the LAC+USC Chaplaincy, Living Waters for the World, and now the Immigrant Accompaniment Ministry, led by Kristi Van Nostran.<\/p>\n After this lunch when the topic of the Presbytery\u2019s mission was discussed, I thought that perhaps it is time for us to take a new look at what God wants of us.\u00a0 Karen Sapio, who was at this lunch, will be Moderator of the Presbytery next year, so we may invite some conversation on this.\u00a0 Karen also shared the vision that is coming into sight at Claremont Presbyterian\u2014that rather than having a specific program of ministries that may (or may not) attract others to follow, that the church become a platform, or dare I say launching pad, for \u201cgospel-formed dreams\u201d as people are led to respond to God\u2019s call for that community.\u00a0 In light of this, I wondered whether the Presbytery needs to have a set program for others to follow, or do we continue to take a more supportive role, offering networks and services and resources as leaders answer God\u2019s call?<\/p>\n As we seek to be faithful to Christ\u2019s mission in our world, I am reminded that while I (and many Presbyterians) spend a lot of energy trying to decode God\u2019s will for us in very specific ways, one of my seminary professors characterized God\u2019s will more as a broad river, where each individual (like every fish and beaver) makes our own little decisions, but we are part of a much larger effort that we may never fully understand or even recognize.<\/p>\n As we are faced with seemingly impossible problems, such as the whiplash of massive deportation raids against our neighbors threatened and then delayed, it is worth our time to open up to God in prayer, asking \u201cwhat would You have us be and do?\u201d\u2014as individuals, as churches, and as San Gabriel Presbytery.\u00a0 And may we trust Jesus enough to obey, and go forth in faith, even beyond our understanding.<\/p>\n Blessings for the journey,<\/p>\n Wendy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav in_same_term=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.87″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” hide_prev=”off” hide_next=”off”][\/et_pb_post_nav][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thus says the Lord:Heaven is my throneand the earth is my footstool;what is the house that you would build for me,and what is my resting-place? 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