Our Church's Personality is Resilient

What do I love about our church? PCM’s personality! Every church has a personality and a distinctive style of bringing glory and honor to God. Our church has a resilient, warm and welcoming personality, a heart for mission/outreach participation, an appreciation for education, a love of sacred music, and a devotion to the care and development of children. Our church members volunteer their time to help govern, repair, cook, organize, lead, teach, and care for our congregation. We are blessed with many awe inspiring Christian role models in our midst. The long term devotion to PCM, demonstrated in all the active volunteerism, keeps our church ministries thriving. This is an essential personality trait that contributes to our ministry longevity ever since 1733.

When I decided the best use of my continuing education fund was to complete a Doctorate of Ministry in Science and Theology, the PCM session was very supportive. This fits with the character/personality of the Presbyterian Church since its development out of the Church of Scotland. The Scots have always valued higher education for their pastors.

I am so grateful for the education I received in these past 3+ years going back and forth, 4 weeks each year, to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for the coursework. It has been an honor to share the Science and Theology knowledge I learned through sermons and adult education seminars. I gained valuable information from conducting the prayer and resilience study, too. In the end, the head of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary DMin program greatly praised my final project.  PCM deserves the praise. My project would not have been completed so well without all those who participated and supported it!

A bound copy of my final project: "The Impact of Two Forms of Prayer on Resilience," will be in the church library as my gift to our church. I am convinced (as a result of doing this research) that we should all comply with Paul's recommendation to the church (in 1st Thessalonians 5) to: "pray without ceasing." My study and many other scientific studies are showing that resilience is enhanced when prayer, (especially the contemplative centering form of prayer), is practiced daily.

 

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you..." (Ephesians 1: 16-18)