Volume 4: Issue 2 | April2021
Fourth Commandment: Merciful Rest
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your
livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
-- Exodus 20:8-11
Christians usually think of Sabbath as a day of worship even more than as a day of rest. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks and answers “Q. 60 How is the Sabbath to be sanctified? A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.” The Sabbath rest is for us so we may freely and unhurriedly worship God, but its rest is also for others under our care. Notice the very last word in the answer, “mercy.”
God gives the fourth commandment mainly to household heads, which in ancient times meant more like the boss of a small business than the father in a father-mother-children household. Listen to God’s mercy for everyone in the small business, the household. Its head was to rest, but so were his wife, his son, his daughter, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or any other animals, and even the immigrants who might be working for him. Why should even the immigrants, who might not even be Israelites, also get a day of rest? Moses explains in Deuteronomy: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day (Deuteronomy 5:15).”
The rest God gave his people in the Fourth Commandment went even further than every seventh day. God gave their land rest every seventh year! Here is what God said in Exodus 23: “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard (Exodus 23:10-11).” Israel’s neighbors would find a whole year resting and not farming more than weird. While they plowed, planted, and reaped that seventh year, Israel’s God told them to rest for a year and the ground would give them, their poor, and even the beasts food. The other nations wanted rest, of course. We all do. So they and we work and save. Americans work constantly, seven days a week sometimes, so that when we are old we can retire.
But we Christians know that we are already free from ceaseless labor. Just as God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt, so God saves us from slavery to sin and the god Mammon. Today we call the god Mammon by the name “Career.” Some Christians forget that work isn’t everything, and they labor away climbing the career ladder. But Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and career.” Yes, we still work six days, but not for the ultimate goal of getting to the top of the career ladder or retirement. Our hope is to be with God and worship him full time when Jesus returns. In the meantime, if we are household heads, we mercifully give everyone a taste of the coming rest, even the animals and the immigrants. They too can freely worship God. Our weekly worship of God in public and private is a taste of the eternity when our resurrected selves will be permanently with God.
-- Hunter Jackson
Do You Celebrate Christmas?
The Likely Origin of the Question and Answers for Today – Part III
A Paper Submitted by John D. Edgar
DM 08: Biblical Worship
January 11, 2019
III. The wider Christian consensus in favor of Christmas
Reflecting on the differences between the Puritan situation and our own current American situation should also drive us to read more widely. The Puritans are not the only Christians to have lived before us. Not only was the Reformation broader than England and Scotland, the Reformation itself was not the beginning of the Christian church.
As Daniel Hyde details, the continental Reformed churches largely retained not only Christmas but also other evangelical feast-days.1 They disposed of saints' days and excoriated any notion that keeping a holiday contributed to our standing before God. But once they reduced the church calendar to the holidays that commemorate the greatest deeds of our Savior, most of the continental Reformed churches found them a useful way to celebrate Jesus and encourage piety.
To be sure, the Reformed Churches felt their way forward. At first in Strasbourg only Sunday was celebrated, but then Martin Bucer began to defend Christian festivals against the Anabaptists. John Calvin rebuked the larger crowd he saw at Christmas for not attending church on other days. Francis Turretin spoke of holidays as a thing permissible, in part for reasons that will be explained below. The Dutch Reformed Church required church participation in celebrating holidays. The Synod of Dordt directed that churches shall observe Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, with the day following, and the Christian Reformed Church in 1926 upheld a classis {similar to a presbytery -ed.} rebuking a consistory {the elders and deacons of a local church -ed.} for not calling a church service on January 1. Such actions seem as extreme in their own way as the Puritan position, but they do demonstrate that one cannot honestly say, “The Reformed position is against Christmas.” If that were true, what would one say about James Boice of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia? He taught Reformed theology with great warmth and clarity, and found something new and evangelistic to preach every Christmas Eve.2
The Puritan condemnation of Christmas as a pagan insertion also shows little respect for the ancient church. One can find sermons by Jerome and Augustine on Christmas Day. Accounts of its origin differ. One hostile account asserts that December 25, the winter solstice in the Julian Calendar, was set in 270 as the Natali Invicti, the birth of the Unconquered Sun. The church, the reasoning goes, took over this holiday as Christmas, the birth of the Son of God. But another account declares that March 25 was already known as the day of the Annunciation; the early Christians then reasoned that Jesus would have been conceived on the same day, and nine months later is December 25. In any case, the hostile account shows no sympathy whatsoever for the practical problems church leaders faced in a pagan environment. If Christians are being drawn away to riotous behavior on a pagan holiday, is it not right and good for the church's leaders to provide a godly alternative activity?
Whatever the origin of Christmas, the same Augustine who is read with such profit preached many Christmas sermons available today. Jesus was born today, he says in one, and we should celebrate. We should rejoice, both men and women. Men, for God came as a man, woman, for he was born of woman. Both sexes have been honored.3
No one can accuse Augustine of indifference to paganism. January 1, being New Year's Day then as well as now, was the occasion of pagan revelry. So, in one Christmas sermon he warned his congregation not to enter into the riot of the coming day. This is a Christian city, he said. There are two kinds of people: Jews and Christians. Let there be nothing odious to God, no odious games, no shameless amusements.4 And in a sermon delivered on January 1 he went farther: How can you sing 'Save us, O God, and gather us from among the nations' (Psalm 106:47), and then party like the nations? When they run to the theater, you run to church. When they give presents, you give alms.5
Jerome, possibly preaching in Bethlehem, also preached on Christmas Day. “I marvel at the Lord,” he said, “Creator of the Universe, born, not surrounded by gold or silver, but by mud and clay, yes, in the midst of dung, in a stable! He was found by shepherds keeping watch by night, for Christ is not found, except by the alert. Pride never brings salvation, but humility does.”6
When the Puritans condemned Christmas, they were combating an oppressive state church, a medieval mindset, and a riotous occasion for gambling. But the holiday called Christmas in English dates back to the late third century and enjoys support from the giants of the church fathers. Since the ecclesiastical compulsion that oppressed the Puritans is gone, and the cultural situation is tremendously changed, we should imitate the Puritans in a deeper way. Rather than simply adopting their critique of Christmas, we instead should return to the Scriptures as they did to seek the Lord's will for us in our own day.
Please see Issue 3.6 for Part I and Issue 4.1 for Part II.
Look for Part IV in our next issue.
Footnotes:
1. Hyde, Daniel. "Not Holy But Helpful: A Case for the 'Evangelical Feast Days' in the Reformed Tradition." Mid-America Journal of Theology, Vol 26, 2015, pp.131-149.
2. See James Montgomery Boice, The Christ of Christmas, Phillipsburg NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 2009.
3. See Augustine, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany, Westminster MD: The Newman Press, 1952, sermon
4. See Augustine, sermon 14. An editor's footnote informs us that the kalends of January were held in honor of Janus, god of beginnings and openings.
5. Augustine, sermon 17 (A New Year's Day sermon).
6. See John D. Witvliet and David Vroege, Proclaiming the Christmas Gospel: Ancient Sermons and Hymns for Contemporary Christian Inspiration, Grand Rapids MI: Baker Books, 2004.
Proverbs Explanation: Shun Sex for Money
"My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.
She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind."
-- Proverbs 23:26-28
Prostitutes go way back. In Genesis, heroic Tamar acted the whore to lure father-in-law Judah to provide an heir for her dead husband. In Joshua, Rahab (like Tamar, named as Christ’s ancestor in Matthew) hid Israel’s spies in Jericho. In Judges Samson lost hair and strength to Delilah’s nagging. Prostitutes were always available in Israel. They are available everywhere. So the father pleads with his son, “Give me your heart,” just as God asks us for our hearts. He warns the son about three dangers of visiting prostitutes: slavery, poverty, and treachery.
Sexual sins enslave many. “A harlot is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.” Fall into a deep pit, perhaps a cistern, and someone else must pull you out. Get wedged in a narrow well, and you can’t climb out. Being trapped below the earth in a pit or a well that someone has dug nicely describes enslavement to any sin, including sexual sins. The Internet, with its privately accessed pornography, brings new power to ancient sexual temptation. The Internet’s powerful sex images are a deep pit that warp and ensnare those who frequent them.
Sellers of sex are thieves. They want your money. The prostitute, and often the pimp controlling her as his slave, offers the mirage of love, or at least lust, but their single-minded goal is your money. “High class” whores may hide rapaciousness behind glamour, and even sometimes affection, but they too exploit weakness and folly. Do not be fooled by them.
Finally, “sex workers,” the current euphemism, ruin families by enticing men, ready to be enticed, to betray their wives. Deployed soldiers, for example, too often betray wives left behind; that is one reason some military marriages fail. There is nothing fun or glamorous about betrayal by adultery or the divorce that results!
Son, the proverb pleads, pay attention with your head and your heart. Do not frequent prostitutes, or spend your nights with Internet sex. When you do, you deal with ruthless people who know how to pull you in ever deeper, enslave you, and take your money. The prostitute, the stripper, and their Internet companions are deep pits and narrow wells, all of
them robbers. Once addicted to them, you find escape hard.
-- Bill Edgar
Even So, Come, My Bridegroom!
"You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.
You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
You have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue;
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruit, henna with nard,
nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices –
a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.
Awake, O north wind, And come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden, Let its spices flow.
Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.
I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I ate my honeycomb and my honey I drank my wine and my milk.
Eat, friends, drink, And be drunk with love!
-- Song of Songs 4:7-5:1, ESV
Introduction
Oh my! What is this chapter doing in the Bible? Your faithful Christian – or your defiant unbeliever – reading through the Bible, turns from Ecclesiastes, with its famous opening, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” and its sober conclusion, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments,” – he turns to the next book and finds – ecstasy! “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth – For your love is better than wine… Draw me away! (Song 1:2-3)” And the startled reader exclaims, “Can this really be in the Bible?” Here are eight chapters of love poetry as intense as anything that William Shakespeare or John Donne ever wrote. They begin with a woman expressing urgent longing for her man – “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” – and ends on the same note, as she exclaims, “Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices (Song 8:14).”
One Bible passage, and one only in my opinion, matches the Song of Songs for intense longing. At the end of Revelation, Jesus says, “I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. Behold I come quickly.” The Church replies, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:16, 20)” But the Song of Songs itself gives no hint that it sings of anything other than a man and a woman in love. We must go elsewhere in the Bible to find Christ compared to a bridegroom and the Church likened to a bride.
The Song of Songs is written like concentric circles on a target. (I follow the notes in the ESV study Bible, edited by Leland and Philip Ryken.) The most important thing is put right in the middle, rather than at the end where we usually look for it. The Song begins with A, falling in love, then, B, courtship, and C, marriage, the heart of the book. It then returns to courtship, but now within marriage – we can call this section B’, and finishes up with falling in love, A’. Here is a marriage ideal: fall in love, court, marry, keep on courting, and fall in love again and again. At the very end of the Song of Songs, there is a coda of warning.
Two main voices speak to each other, a man’s and a woman’s. A third voice, a chorus, makes an occasional comment. But it is impossible to be precise about which verses belong to which voice. Modern translations, which try to identify the speaker in each verse, differ from one another. I would prefer that they omit in their translated texts headings that are so uncertain.
Who wrote the Song? The heading of Song of Songs identifies the book with Solomon. It is unclear whether it intends to claim that Solomon wrote the book, or whether it is about him, or whether it is for him. At one or two points he is named in the book.
What is the book’s purpose? Here is a clue. The woman is called the “Shulamite.” Listen: Shulamite, Solomon. Shulamite in Hebrew is the feminine form of Solomon. In some cultures, the groom and bride are treated as a king and a queen. In Greek weddings, for example, a central feature is the crowning of the bride and groom, a custom that goes back to ancient Greece. Here is a brief description culled from an Internet site:
In the Byzantine (9th – 13th century) era, the crowns became symbols of royalty. The ceremony of marriage became a coronation service, and so the tradition stands today. Today the crowns are often made of silver or gold. They are a sign of the bond between the Bride and Groom and represent the glory and honor, which God bestows upon the couple who have observed His Commandments. The couple is crowned as King and Queen of their new family and ordered to rule with justice and integrity. The priest places the crowns (which are tied together by a long ribbon) on the heads of the bride and groom and the “koumbaro” or best man exchanges the crowns three times.
Although I cannot prove it, I believe that the Song of Songs is about the love of any husband and wife for each other. The Song personifies the man as Solomon and the woman as a feminine Solomon. The love poems were put together for Jewish men and women on their wedding day. The bridegroom is a powerful and handsome king. His bride is an incandescent beauty. Their visible beauty reveals their inward pure passion for each other.
The Song is a commentary on Adam’s exclamation when he sees Eve: “This at last is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh (Genesis 2:22).” The Song of Songs makes God’s view of marriage unmistakable: “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled (Hebrews 13:5).”
Falling in Love (1:1-8)
Marriage begins with two people falling in love with each other, sometimes all at once, sometimes over a period of time. Because of the chaos caused by people falling in love, then out of love, then in love with someone else, some Christians denigrate the experience of falling in love. But it is undeniably part of human life. That’s why a good “get to know each other” conversation starter for couples is the question, “How did you first meet your husband, or wife?” My guess is that a study of answers to that question would reveal that a majority of married couples match our experience: my wife remembers a first meeting before the first meeting that I remember. But we each remember a first meeting where we thought, “Mmmm, look at her” – or him.
One of my favorite movies – don’t laugh – is Walt Disney’s classic 1942 animated movie Bambi. I love to watch it with grandchildren. Almost exactly in the middle of the movie, Bambi and his two friends, Flower the Skunk and Thumper the Rabbit, see some birds making a wild and excited fuss. “What’s the matter with them?” they ask Friend Owl. He
answers with the longest speech of the movie:
Yes. Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. For example: You're walking along, minding your own business. You're looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of a sudden you run smack into a pretty face. Woo-oo! You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head's in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you're walkin' on air. And then you know what? You're knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!
The three friends think that this experience sounds terrible and vow that it will never happen to them. Then off they go, each one caught in turn by a pretty face, a smile, and a giggle.
There is an account in Genesis of a man falling in love. Jacob, running away from his brother Esau, meets Rachel at a well. He waters her sheep, kisses her, tells Rachel that he is her first cousin, and moves into her father Laban’s house. “Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance, (Genesis 29:17)” the Bible says, and that Jacob loved her. So in short order, he agreed to work seven years for her.
In the Song’s first chapter, the woman introduces herself to her man and apologizes for her too tanned appearance. She asks how they can meet. “Tell me, O you whom I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon (1:7).” American Christians generally believe that the man should pursue the woman, but please note that not only did honored Ruth propose marriage to Boaz (Ruth 3:9), it is the Shulamite who asks the man where she can find him, not the other way around.
Courtship (1:9-2:7)
The man tells her how to find him. Now he begins to court her. “I have compared you, my love, to my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots (1:9),” that is, the best there is. He praises her. “Like a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters (2:2).” She answers, “Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons (2:3).” She revels in how attractive she is to him: “I am the rose of Sharon,” and he showers her with praise. “Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes (1:15).” Notice how absent parents are in this book. They seem to have nothing to do with the thoughts and plans of the man and woman.
The second section ends with a warning that is repeated three times in the book. I will state it plainly: no sex before marriage. “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases (2:7).” Romantic love is dangerous when it won’t listen to this warning. There are periods in Western literature when the power of love to smash all conventions, most notably marriage, has been praised. But the literature also teaches that failure of restraint brings temporary exultation and then lasting regret and sorrow and trouble. The wages of sin is death.
Wedding Poems (2:8 – 5:1)
The third section of Song of Songs consists of poems suitable for a wedding day. As you may remember from some of Jesus’ parables, it was the custom in Israel for the groom to come to his bride’s house for the wedding, so here is the bride singing: “The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills (2:8).” He invites her to go away with him. “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away, for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land (2:10-12).” She describes how she longs for him in the night, and then describes him as King Solomon in all his glory coming for her (chapter 3).
Chapter four belongs to the man speaking. He praises the Shulamite from her hair on down. Here is the familiar male glance at a woman from head to toe. “Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! (4:1).” Times have changed, of course. We don’t easily hear the words, “Your hair is like a flock of goats, going down from Mount Gilead,” and see flowing, long hair. Pity the man today who tries saying to his girl, “Your hair is like a flock of goats running down a hillside.” The next verse is clear enough. We can’t use it today either. “Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep which have come up from the washing, every one of which bears twins, and none is barren among them (4:2).” That might be a vivid image for people who deal with sheep, but if a man today wants to praise straight white teeth with none missing, he needs to use other words.
At the center of the book, verses 54 to 56 out of the 117 altogether, in 4:9-11, the man calls his bride “my sister, my bride.” In the ancient world, one way to cement a marriage beyond all breaking was for the husband to adopt his wife as his sister. The reasoning was that you could divorce your wife, but never your sister. So to call your bride your sister was to say, “This marriage is irrevocable. It can never be unmade.”
"You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride,
You have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
With one jewel of your necklace.
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride;
How much better is your love than wine,
And the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon."
-- Song of Songs 4:9-11
The final verses of chapter four and the first verse of chapter five describe the consummation of their marriage in poetic language. She says, “Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits (4:16).” He closes the wedding section, saying, “I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk (5:1).” And a chorus affirms them. “Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love! (5:1).”
Courtship Within Marriage (5:2 – 7:13)
Chapter 5, beginning with verse 2, through the end of chapter 7, contain love poems with marriage overtones, as the ESV Study Bible puts it. The praise continues, he of her, and she of him. Separation and coming together again make their appearance. Here is the experience of a happy marriage, where husband and wife continue to court each other as they did before marriage, but where there are continued separations and reunions.
In chapter five the daughters of Jerusalem ask the new bride what makes her man so special. She replies, “My beloved is white and ruddy, chief among ten thousand. His head is like the finest gold, his locks are wavy, and black as a raven (5:10-11).” She goes on to describe his eyes – they are like doves – and his cheeks and lips, his hands, his body, his legs like pillars of marble. Here is how she finishes. “His mouth is most sweet, yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem (5:16).” People marry not just to have children, or for economic and social reasons. They marry also for friendship, to know each other’s thoughts, to have no secrets between them, to share the same plans and goals, to confide in each other, to relate at night what has happened during the day. A husband and wife are friends. In a wonderful passage in the Gospel according to John, Jesus also calls us his friends. He says to his disciples, “I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15).” What is so special about the Shulamite’s husband? “His mouth is most sweet, yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem (5:16).”
In chapter 6 there are some wonderful word pictures. The man praises his wife. “O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners! Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me (6:4-5).” In Israel, Jerusalem and Tirzah were two cities renowned for their beauty. Later, the man compares his bride to the most glorious things we see. “Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners (6:10)?”
In chapter 7 the husband again praises his wife, and she sums up their life together. “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me (7:10).”
Falling in Love (8:1-14)
Finally, in chapter 8 the poems recapitulate their first falling in love. The woman wishes that her man were her brother, so that she could find him outside and kiss him without causing a scandal. But to such thoughts there is the warning again, “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases (8:4).”
What does the Shulamite desire? Nothing other than marriage! “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm (8:6).” In the ancient world, a man’s seal stood for the man, just as our signature does today. He would typically wear his seal around his neck, so that it lay against his heart, or on his arm. “Set me as a seal” means make me one with you, and you one with me. Wear me on your arm, rest me against your chest. What holds them together? The covenant seal of marriage seals their love, which cannot be denied. “For love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave (8:6).” Marriage is until death do us part; love will take a couple all the way to death. And jealousy? That is what a husband or wife rightly feels towards anyone who would come between them. The flames of jealousy are flames of fire, a most vehement flame. But love is strong! “Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it.” And it cannot be bought! “If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised (8:7).”
Conclusion
It has often been noted that God is never mentioned in the Song of Songs, nor does the New Testament quote it directly. There is a third oddity: the Song of Songs knows the law of God – don’t awaken love until it is time – but it hardly seems to know sin. The garden theme that runs throughout the book evokes the Garden of Eden, where before sin Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. The innocent delight between the man and the woman in the Song of Songs holds nothing back. In a sinful world, how can this innocence be? It can’t really be.
The book reads “almost” as though sin had never entered the world. The Song actually ends the way Psalm 104 does. That beautiful Psalm about God’s creation also sounds as if sin had never appeared in the world, until its very end, when there is a sudden harsh note: “May sinners be consumed from the earth (Psalm 104:35).” I used to dislike that note because it ruined the mood of the Psalm for me. But the verse has to be there. Sin has damaged God’s Creation, and it will continue to damage it until God removes all sinners from earth. If God did not punish unrepentant sinners, then hell would be imported into heaven.
Thus, after the summary about the power of love, the Song of Songs adds a coda in 8:8. My mother told me that in her public school opening exercises in homeroom, this was a popular passage to read because teenagers found it so amusing.
"We have a little sister,
And she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for?
If she is a wall,
We will build on her a battlement of silver,
But if she is a door,
We will enclose her with boards of cedar"
-- Song of Songs 8:8-9
But the verses are not there to amuse us. The point is that the little sister may be like a wall, that is, unapproachable so that none can enter until marriage. Then her brothers will ornament her. Or she may be like a door, swinging open too soon. Then her brothers will have to wall her in with boards of cedar. It is a very unpleasant note. Sin indeed is in the
world, also in the world of love.
The Shulamite immediately says that she herself was like a wall. “I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace (8:10).” The Song ends with her longing, as it opened with her desire. She sings, “Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spice (Song 8:14).”
Our world is not pure. Spouses are not always friends. Seals of marriage are broken. People disregard the warning not to awaken love until it is time. We marry for worse as well as for better. When we read the Song, we see in its beauty and love and longing the world that might have been – but also the better world that is coming. God calls us as Christians to let that coming world transform us now. We are new creatures in Christ. Christian couples pray and labor to make their marriages living pictures of Christ and His Church, where man and woman delight in each other body and soul. And in our longing for each other, we pray together, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” “Make haste, my beloved, make haste.”
-- Bill Edgar
The Pandemic One Year In: Broomall:
When Can I See Your Face?
In the early days of the pandemic when it was not completely clear what the threat level was, there was a fair bit of fear and concern in the U.S. and across the globe. It is clear after nearly a year that the mortality rate is not as high as first feared, and yet this coronavirus has proven to be highly contagious, and for much of the winter, causing the daily deaths of sometimes 2k, 3k, and even 4k Americans per day. What should we as Christians think and do in the midst of this?
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." --Matthew 10:28 NKJV
We should not fear the virus, not as those who might fear that do not know the Lord. Rather, we should reflect on the nature of sin in us that has brought sickness, plague, and death. We can use the opportunity of the common experience of life in the pandemic to share the good news, and hope that we have as Christians, that we alone have in Christ. Jesus is King, he has defeated sin and death, and he welcomes us into his kingdom through faith in him. When we die as Christians, we have an eternal hope that Jesus will raise us body and soul, united to himself forever.
The Broomall congregation, after resuming in-person worship in early June of 2020, has continued to make use of digital technologies to increase accessibility for those going through Covid-19 quarantining protocols, and those taking extra cautions to avoid potential exposure to the virus. Although there are a variety of opinions regarding how necessary
some of the recommended mitigation efforts are, we have been able to maintain the ministry of the word and in-person worship without much disruption. Several members of our church have been sick with the virus, fortunately without the need for anyone to be hospitalized. We have reduced the length of our Lord’s day together over the winter months,
eliminating our indoor lunch gathering and afternoon service, while maintaining in-person Sunday school. Our weekly prayer meeting continues to be through Webex, and the women’s group has continued in-person meetings. Most of our congregation have been able to maintain employment throughout the economic disruptions of the virus and
accompanying restrictions, though some have had reduction in hours, pay, and other job disruptions. Our families have had to adjust to a variety of different types of schooling for our children, some with hybrid learning models, some virtual only, and some opting for homeschooling.
The scriptures teach us that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. We have obligations to do and encourage those lawful things that preserve life, and not neglect them. As the roll-out of a vaccine moves forward in the coming months, we can expect that some of the government restrictions and mitigation efforts can ease. This will be good. We can debate
about the need and medical efficacy of masking, but we know from a spiritual perspective that it does disrupt the communion of church and society. We are meant to be a face to face church, with an eternal expectation of seeing God face to face.
"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." -- I Corinthians 13:12 NKJV
-- Joe Rizzo
The Pandemic One Year In: Cambridge
The Cambridge congregation has weathered the pandemic well, by God’s grace, manifested in our officers’ and other members’ creativity, diligence, forbearance, and love! We thank God for unity as we have together responded to the challenges of various restrictions. We suspended in-person worship in early March of 2020; our pastor Noah Bailey recorded sermons each week through early June, when Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker allowed 40% occupancy in houses of worship (dropped to 25% for a few months and now back to 40%). Recently when attendees exceeded the limits, our deacon purchased a large-screen TV so that some can participate from the fellowship room behind our auditorium.
Members take turns cleaning the church building weekly, with extra measures for sanitizing. A Plexiglas barrier has been constructed around our pulpit (very beautifully, by one of our members), allowing our pastor to preach without a mask. Each week, worshipers indicate by email their plans to attend worship, and a socially distanced seating chart (including some spots for visitors) is distributed. Worshipers wear masks, and singing is reduced to one Psalm selection and a doxology late in the service. Tithes and offerings are deposited in a plate at the back of the auditorium as members enter, and brought forward for thanksgiving during the service. Our monthly Lord’s Supper continues, with some modifications. Attendees are encouraged to leave fairly quickly after the service and gather in and around the parsonage driveway (halfway up the block from the church building) for outdoor fellowship.
The vulnerable and those who might present risk to others due to their exposure to the virus are encouraged to worship from home, as the services are live-streamed on Facebook. A Zoom link is available for fellowship after the service, usually accessed by 5 or 6 households. Several members take turns going to our oldest member’s home to help her access the service. In addition, the pastor and elders have conducted several Sabbath afternoon backyard services, including the Lord’s Supper, for members who don’t attend the indoor services in Cambridge.
We have had many other opportunities for fellowship. Three midweek groups meet by video chat, as well as our Session and monthly women’s group. A couple of congregational meetings have also been conducted by video, but we had to cancel our annual caroling on Antrim Street and our 125th anniversary celebration last summer. (We are looking at various possibilities for a celebration in August of 2021.) Our pastor and others regularly schedule outdoor one-on-one meetings, mostly morphing into walks or runs as the weather has cooled. We have gained a dozen new members and baptized two babies in the past year!
Although several of our members have contracted the virus, all have recovered without serious illness, for which we thank God. We are also thankful for our governor’s steadiness and reasonableness in determining our state’s response to the virus. Since so many of our members can work from home, the economic impacts to our members have been fairly
small. Some unique opportunities have opened up because of the COVID restrictions; for example, one of our members who has been teaching a handicapped child by video chat has had extensive interaction with her pupil’s mom, who is a Christian, resulting in lovely Christian fellowship. Another has been able to take a job in a new industry due to COVID-
related opportunities made available by the state.
Vulnerable church members have benefited from much love and kindness, including offers to pick up groceries or meet outdoors. We are all eager for the restrictions to become unnecessary so that we can meet in person again, give and receive hugs, and travel freely, but in the meantime we are doing quite well. Comparing our situation with that of the 1918 pandemic, which killed so many more people, especially young adults, has helped put this pandemic in perspective.
-- Chris and Carol Wright
The Pandemic One Year In: Elkins Park
Don't Tell; Ask!
The Elkins Park congregation of the RP church is thankful for preservation and perseverance as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Coronavirus pandemic shutdown. We also look forward to the end of these times. There are jokes about priests and rabbis and preachers (they seldom gather together for one purpose, do they) but, beginning
in March 2020, Montgomery County's Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh invited priests, rabbis, and preachers to participate in a weekly conference call about public health. Arkoosh's message was tempered by a blessed quirk of Pennsylvania law: the county has no legal authority to order churches (and temples and synagogues) to do anything, and so instead of delivering diktats, she asked, politely and firmly, that we cancel in-person services for the good of the health of our congregations. We did so. A friend, technically savvy, had access to the Webex platform for virtual meetings, and our church services became a weekly meeting on Webex. John Edgar presided and preached from his dining room table as we watched via Webex. Our church leadership, inspired by the Montgomery County model, began to hold weekly phone conferences, with all deacons and elders of our church participating.
What about communion? We decided that communion would not be something that would be taken in the home, even with the preacher “presiding” via the internet, as we had heard of some churches across America doing. Communion is about being together in the body as well as the spirit, and so we decided not to hold communion services until we were able to do so in person. As the pandemic went from the red to the yellow to the green phase, we began holding communion services.
Another issue was singing: with reports of the novel Coronavirus being spread easily through choirs, we decided to sing with masks on. We continue to do so. Password protected Webex meetings provided a wonderful service, but we wanted something that could be used by anyone with an internet connection – more open to the public. We are now using YouTube's platform for live broadcasting. Some people are still not comfortable returning to regular worship in person, and we make the YouTube broadcast available for such cases. Some members of our church have contracted Covid, but none of our members has had any serious health complications, for which we are thankful. In these cases, we tried to determine which people had met with one another, and twice we canceled in-person meetings as we waited for test results. We continue to wait for the end of the Coronavirus pandemic, but we wait with much greater longing for the return of Jesus, as Christians have always done.
-- Duran Perkins
The Pandemic One Year In: Hazleton
If You Open It, They Will Come
First, as a Pennsylvania congregation, it's important to note that at no time was there ever a “shutdown” of churches. Governor Wolf has always explicitly excluded religious organizations from his mandates.
That being the case, the Hazleton church voluntarily went online for a few short weeks as we gauged the seriousness of the virus. Week 2 we did “drive in” church, but low attendance and poor weather forced us back online for another 3 weeks. When spring arrived, we immediately moved to 3 services in 3 locations, with thin attendance. What we hadn't
counted on was the interest from others in the community to attend church. Our early service in pastor's neighborhood and also our afternoon service held to the south in Harrisburg drew many visitors.
By early June, Hazleton was basically back to normal, and has continued that way thereafter. With one medical exception, the congregation was agreed that in-person worship is our highest duty, and we trusted the Lord to keep us safe. Plus, as so many early editions of A Little Strength railed against Gnosticism, it became extremely difficult to justify online or other physically distanced “worship” as fulfilling the call of Heb 10:25 to physically assemble. Although there have been Covid cases in the church, and although our county was a very early hotspot, everyone has remained healthy.
In November of 2019, we had essentially closed the work in Harrisburg. But the core of that group became the location of our spring 2020 afternoon services. Meeting in the field, barn, and factory, that group grew through the year. This growth was due, in large part, because all the other churches in Lebanon County had closed (see line one)! Later, the Covid-induced mass migration out of the cities finally brought us a family we'd been patiently expecting for 5 years. The church plant “officially” resumed November 2020, and enjoyed near record attendance in December.
We also note the financial impact of covid. Almost all of our members were deemed “essential” workers, and generally had more work and more overtime. Additionally, when the stimulus checks started rolling in, our many large families benefited substantially. Hazleton prioritized faithfulness to the Lord. And he blessed. We look forward to the rest of life returning "back to normal" in the near future.
-- Paul Brace
The Pandemic One Year In: Providence
Christ RPC had no in-person worship services from March 15 through May 24, 2020. We resumed in time to say goodbye to Associate Pastor Gabriel Wingfield, who departed with Megan and their kids to Oswego, NY, the very next day. Gabriel was able to baptize baby Kit Howe. Other baptisms followed that year: Micah Marotta, Travis Trexler, and Owen Thompson. We also welcomed Andrew Kirk to the communicant role upon profession of faith.
During the 2.5 months of enforced shutdown, pastors Howe and Wingfield preached via Facebook from their homes. We did not view these online “services” as true or full worship services, but as a genuine ministry of the word and prayer, in the spirit of Paul’s epistles (which often include prayers, and always begin with a greeting and end with a benediction).
Before reopening, our deacons built a Plexiglas shield for the pulpit, enabling the preacher to take off his mask. They also devised a means of receiving the communion without personal contact or passing the elements, and we signed up for an online giving platform and started using a tithe box.
For June and part of July, we held two identical services each Sunday (at 10am and 4pm). Alternating rows of chairs were cordoned off, and half of the congregation was assigned to attend each service. Later in the summer, the state of Rhode Island raised attendance guidelines, and we resumed one service.
As infections rose again in the winter, we were more restricted again, this time to 25% of capacity. Throughout the pandemic some members have stayed home out of health concerns, including most of the refugees who have been members or adherents in recent years. One refugee family moved out of state. With the overall reduced attendance, we have been able to more or less keep to the attendance limits. Sunday School has only happened via Zoom (a class on sex and gender for the high school and college students). Prayer meetings and sermon discussions have likewise been online events. We have not had any parties or fellowship meals.
Seven years ago one of our members (now a ruling elder) donated a kidney to a sick friend. That left him particularly vulnerable to Covid infection. In September another member did the same. She recovered well. Between these clear vulnerabilities and others, the personal concerns of a number of members, the overall spirit of cooperation between churches and the state, we have continued to take precautions very seriously. For instance, we have had the windows open for ventilation every single week since May 31, we wear masks throughout the service except when eating and drinking communion, and we only sing outdoors, at the end of the service. This has been a particular challenge in cold weather. But by God’s grace, from May 31 through January 31, we have never been rained or snowed on during a service. (January 24, when the temperature was 20F plus a wind chill, was a particular test. We’re considering issuing commemorative coins.) Our streak was only broken this past week (February 7) when we canceled service due to a snowstorm, and Pastor Howe preached from his home again.
-- Daniel Howe
The Pandemic One Year In: Walton
The Walton Reformed Presbyterian Church members will not soon forget the Year of our Lord, 2020 A.D. In January of 2020, few in Walton could identify the city of Wuhan in China. Fewer contemplated the proximity of quarantine, face masks, and empty grocery aisles. We are an older congregation, but neither our memory or imagination could reach back to 1918. 2020 would be education and none of the calamities of the late 20th century or early 21st prepared us for what Christ had in store.
The year began with great optimism. On a snowy day in January afternoon, the Walton congregation met and unanimously voted to call a new teaching elder. We had high hopes that within months we would be meeting again to call a Ruling Elder. We believed a new Teaching and Ruling Elder(s) would provide continued momentum. Things did not go as planned. Our call to a new teaching elder was rejected. Optimism was not crushed. Christ was still King.
By February, news reports of a strange flu-like disease caused anxiety. In March, the old Biblical word pestilence was becoming real to us. The Walton Elders started discussions on how to keep the congregation safe. Political leaders joined in the conversation, soon making our considerations moot. National and State shutdowns included church gatherings. Prior to Lord’s Day March 15, the Session voted to cancel our worship service. Email and Facebook messages encouraged members, adherents, and friends to engage in private and family worship, remembering that the body of Christ gathers at Mount Zion in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
By Lord's Day, March 22, the Walton Reformed Presbyterian Church's worship had moved to Facebook. We were broadcasting from my personal page and the Church's page. Because of the difficulty of preaching via social media, we ended our preaching rotation, and I, the interim moderator, began preaching.
By the end of April, the Session wanted to restore an adult Sunday School class, and on Lord's Day, April 26, Sunday School was reintroduced via a new online platform, Zoom. Now Walton RP members and friends could worship with us on Facebook or Zoom. This pattern continued through Lord's Day June 14. On June 21, 2020, the Walton Covenanters returned to regular public worship. We have worshiped in person since, save for one week in November when my daughter was feeling sick. She was fine within days, but our strict policy is that sniffles must be treated like COVID-19 until proven otherwise.
By August, the Session asked me to reconsider their previous offer to me to serve as Pastor in a part-time capacity. I agreed, and in September, a congregational meeting unanimously voted to call me to serve as a Teaching Elder and John Cripps as a Ruling Elder. We both accepted. In January 2021 the Walton congregation held its annual congregational meeting. We rejoiced in God's goodness. Deacon Renwick Russell commended and thanked the congregation for their faithful giving and commitment during difficult times. 2020 was an education, but God was faithful and we have not lost our optimism.
-- Bill Chellis
The Pandemic One Year In: White Lake
unPaused
In March 2020, the White Lake congregation found itself amid a global pandemic with New York entering its “On PAUSE (Policies Assure Uniform Safety for Everyone)” phase. While the old “norm” was suddenly interrupted, we sought the Lord’s guidance and with the provision of the internet, beginning “online” worship services on Facebook. Our pastor lead a shortened service (singing several Psalms, general Scripture passage, pastoral prayer, sermon text and sermon) from his living room. Several sermons addressing our humanness and the need to rely on God were preached early in the “remote” phase.
In-person worship resumed on June 21, 2020 following CDC and NYS guidelines. Every other pew was roped off and some folding chairs added to the front of the auditorium. Psalters and Bibles were removed from the pews and selections were instead projected on the front wall of the meeting room. We omitted our usual Church School before worship and encouraged the usual after-worship conversations to take place outside. Due to ongoing virus concerns, we typically see between 20 and 30 in attendance, with another 20 to 30 households (individuals, couples and families) tuning in live or after as we continue to broadcast online. We began a sermon/study series in 1 & 2 Peter. We intend to continue to broadcast our worship services and have installed a church network to facilitate such.
Men’s Fellowship resumed in June. The Tuesday and Friday night small groups continue to meet “online” using Zoom. In-person was encouraged for a while during the Summer and Autumn when we could meet outside but returned to remote as the second wave of the Pandemic escalated. During this time, a Bible study led by David Klussman began with his friends and neighbors in Mountain Dale (about 30 minutes northeast from White Lake). This was necessitated due to their concern about unnecessary exposure of the virus to their newborn baby, Lucia. This expanded our thoughts to the possibility of a new area for ministry. With the onset of cold weather some from that group decided to worship in-person in White Lake (some others moved out of the area). What the future holds in that regard remains to be seen.
COVID had mixed effects on our community outreach. Shepherd’s Pantry adopted a new way to distribute food: drive-in only. The number of families participating grew dramatically, as well as the number of “emergency calls.” Our outreach to community elementary students, Adventure Club, stopped completely due to school being full-remote for the spring and hybrid in the fall. That meant no bus transportation from school. We had the space available for social distancing in Faith Hall but not the means to get students there. Our senior luncheons stopped altogether, along with our monthly service at the county nursing facility. Those most in need of contact with others were most negatively affected. Perhaps after the vaccination program takes effect, we will see a return to some familiar programs. The pandemic has made us more fully appreciate the importance of corporate worship and the need for in-person fellowship, as well as opportunities to reach out in new ways to those in need.
-- Dave Coon
Presbytery Life 2020: Steadfast Through Wuhan Virus COVID-19
"And they continued steadfastly in . . . fellowship."
-- Acts 2:42 [NKJV]
How can presbytery-wide fellowship be maintained during lockdowns and other limitations set by the civil government? This has been a trial for the Atlantic Presbytery in the past year as we have struggled with the limitations placed on us since God sent the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three meetings in a row have been scheduled to be hosted by the Broomall Church, but quarantine rules in five northeastern states have prevented us from being hosted by any local church. We have missed the fellowship of the local churches as well as the fellowship of the elders. It remains to be seen whether we will meet with the Broomall Church for the third scheduled meeting at the end of March.
To replace the first of the missed gatherings, in the spring of 2020 a short virtual presbytery meeting was held and focused only on pressing needs. We wish we could have welcomed Alex Edgar to his first presbytery meeting in person. There was an exam for Hunter Jackson and we certified him eligible to preach; but a virtual extension of the right-hand of fellowship was less than satisfying. Then we addressed the items needing to be done before the June Synod meeting... which was subsequently canceled.
By the fall of 2020 we knew we needed to hold a full meeting, but still no church would be able to host delegates. Thankfully and surprisingly, New York was the one state where delegates from the other four states could travel without having to quarantine after returning home. New York is also home to (unheated) White Lake Covenanter Camp where we could have overnight accommodations. The fall closing of the camp was delayed to allow the presbytery to meet. Larry Gladfelter provided wonderful meals and snacks to replace the meals we would otherwise have enjoyed in homes. We kept windows open and delegates wore masks when not reporting. (Those who spoke through masks sounded like they were in a Charlie Brown cartoon.) Some with underlying health issues chose not to attend.
Though the Presbytery could meet at White Lake, the normal camps were not able to be held. Yet some young people did some bright, outside-the-box thinking and held a virtual family camp, complete with slip-n-slide materials and s'mores ingredients shipped to participating families. We were further limited when installing Bill Chellis as pastor of the Walton Church (and ordaining and installing John Cripps as a ruling elder). Normally this event would have been a meeting of the full presbytery, but the Ad Interim Commission appointed the in-state White Lake Session as an installation commission. Voluntary attendance from other churches was understandably sparse. Pastors have not been taking time for vacations as they might normally do. I realized this as a retired teaching elder when I was not being requested to fill pulpits at the previous pace. We pray that church leaders will not be worn down by the workload in this altered ministry.
-- J. Bruce Martin
Naming a Local Church
When writing to churches, Paul addressed them with remarkable uniformity, naming himself, identifying himself as an apostle, and naming the city of the church to which he wrote. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle…. To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints (Romans 1:1, 7).” “Paul, … an apostle of Jesus Christ … To the church of God that is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints (I Corinthians 1:1-2).” “Paul, an apostle… To the churches of Galatia (Galatians 1:1- 2).” “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus (Ephesians 1:1).” “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians (I Thessalonians 1:1).”
The title “apostle” names a messenger sent with authority, in Paul’s case sent by King Jesus who has all authority in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18). The word “church” translates the Greek word for the assembly of citizens meeting to conduct city affairs. Naming churches by their cities testifies to Jesus’ presence and rule there.
Following New Testament usage, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, like many others, long named its churches for the places where they met. In Atlantic Presbytery, there is the Hazleton church, the Broomall church, the Cambridge church, the White Lake church, and so on. Even when RP churches use names such as Trinity, Grace, or Providence for
themselves, people still rightly call them by the name of their locality.
All in all, Paul’s way of addressing his letters to the churches makes it clear that Jesus is the new King, Paul is his appointed spokesman, and the assembly of the saints made holy by Christ’s blood means that God is calling the nations to serve Christ. It is analogous to David’s extension of Israel’s rule over other nations. As James, leader of the church in
Jerusalem, said concerning Paul’s mission to the nations (Gentiles), “And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ (Acts 15:15-17 quoting Amos 9:11).”
If the name “Cambridge RP Church” feels ordinary and prosaic, maybe even not very spiritual, the feeling is quite mistaken. That name means that in Cambridge also, home of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jesus has established his authority, and he will prevail. If the great and mighty of the earth do not bow to him, his patience will eventually run out, and he will destroy them with a “rod of iron (Psalm 2).”
-- Bill Edgar
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Authors in this issue
Paul Brace is pastor of Hazelton RPC.
Bill Chellis is pastor of Walton RPC.
Dave Coon is pastor of White Lake RPC.
Bill Edgar is a retired pastor of Broomall RPC (Philadelphia) and is currently working on the sequel to his History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America 1871-1920.
John Edgar is the pastor of Elkins Park RPC (Philadelphia).
Daniel Howe is pastor of Christ Church RPC (Providence).
Hunter Jackson is a student under care of Atlantic Presbytery and is studying at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is currently serving as pastoral intern at Elkins Park RP Church.
Bruce Martin is clerk of the Atlantic Presbytery and retired pastor of Ridgefield Park RPC.
Duran & Betsy Perkins are members of the Elkins Park RP Church. Duran is a ruling elder.
Joe Rizzo is an elder at Broomall RPC (Philadelphia).
Chris & Carol Wright are members of Cambridge RPC. Chris is an emeritus elder.