Deacon Reflections

We need deacons in this diocese! Deacons of all shapes and sizes, all ages and ethnicities. How do we help make that happen? I believe it begins with us. Last year I shared a story about planting my first garden. It began: In 1975, I plant...

“Nobody told me there'd be days like these. Strange days indeed.” John Lennon wrote and sang these lyrics back in the late 1970s, and they have been lingering in my head for most of this year. The reality is that none of us knew we...

These are in deed trying times and probably times that were not much different than the times when the characters in Jesus’ parable of the “Good Samaritan” were told. When Jesus told this story he was essentially asking the list...

My name is Wendy Merrill, and I am a deacon serving at St. John's , Charlotte. I was ordained this January (2020) so the role of deacon is still a bit new for me. When I was invited to write this reflection about myself as a deacon, my react...

I believe God started tapping me on the shoulder when I was about 5 or 6 years old, when in the summers at the beach with my grandparents (all of us good Presbyterians!), we went to church every Sunday morning.The closest church was a chapel in R...

One of the joys about being selected to lead a diocesan committee is that you get to “drive the boat,” and as the one who drives the boat, you often get to decide where the boat goes. A few weeks ago during a Board of Directors mee...

"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, the oldest among you will dream dreams,the youngest will see visions.” Joel 2:28 I am an older man who had a dream. For nearly five years af...

“Make him , O Lord, modest and humble, strong and constant, to observe the discipline of Christ. Let his life and teaching so reflect your commandments, that through him many may come to know you and love you. As your Son came not ...