Pastor's Pen

Last summer our family joined Presbyterian military and VA chaplains and their families for their annual retreat at Montreat, the Presbyterian Conference center in North Carolina. Angela had been invited to serve as the retreat worship leader and preacher. Alex, Tess and I were invited to tag along and enjoy the beauty of Montreat! (We’re heading back there again this summer.)

I was reacquainted with some former chaplain colleagues from years ago, and met many new friends, as well. One of those chaplains was Grace Kim, an Army chaplain about to embark on a year-long deployment to Qatar.

Late last fall, we heard from Chaplain Kim. She was hoping to hold a candlelight service on Christmas Eve for her soldiers, but did not have any candles! She wondered if we might help. When I was a chaplain deployed oversees, I benefited from the generosity of many congregations, so it seemed only fitting for us to pitch in. The mission and outreach committee designated some funds, and we ordered the candles and got them in the mail. We weren’t sure they would even get there in time.

Then, this week, we received a message from Chaplain Kim, and some pictures of their service – complete with candles!

I wanted to share this story with you, not only because it happened mostly behind the scenes, but also because it is a wonderful reminder of the way in which our church’s ministry in our little corner of the world reaches out, not only to Etna and the North Hills and Pittsburgh, and Oklahoma, but even to places as far away as Qatar.

Thanks be to God!

Trent