From Ash Wednesday to Pentecost

Once upon a time, when the NEPCI project began, it all seemed fairly simple—find out what’s going on at New England college campuses, discern some of the needs on those campuses, and tell the presbyteries about it. That’s still at the core of what I do, but somewhere along the way, I ended up doing several other things, too. A part of the project that I didn’t foresee at the beginning, organizing Presbyterians to engage in campus ministry has become another major facet of what I do when I’m in the office. So I hop back and forth around New England, visiting presbytery meetings, sending out innumerable emails, and getting committees together. It is one of those mustard seed things, where you throw opportunities out there on the sheer faith that they’ll grow into a great movement.

One piece of the project that has become increasingly important to my day-to-day work is our upcoming spring event on May 30, 2009. Please, please, please mark your calendar! The planning team for that event met last week in Worcester, MA to talk about some great potential keynote speakers for that event (although I’m not able to divulge that information at this time). We are also hoping to have a title and location in the Greater Boston area nailed down after a conference call we’re holding on Friday. So look for more information on this page soon!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the day when Presbyterians remember our mortality and fallibility, the day when we seek forgiveness in order to renew ourselves during Lent. You’ll notice that our spring event intentionally falls on the eve of Pentecost, a time when Jesus’ disciples awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit. Together, Ash Wednesday and Pentecost provide the frame for the great Lenten/Easter cycle of the church year—what begins today in dust and ashes ends with fire in a few short months. As you journey with Christ this season, I invite you to reflect with me on our church’s ministry to the campus. Consider our past, with its successes and failures, and pray for its renewal as we recognize where we have too-often forgotten our young adults. Look toward our future with hope, expecting that the Holy Spirit will anoint us for new and revitalized ministry on campus. And when we meet on the eve of Pentecost to imagine the future of campus ministry, it will be at the end of a long road we have walked together through this holy season.