First Presbyterian Church - Wooster, Oh
FPC-Wooster.org

“Good Grief” FPC 6-28-09
    2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27, Mark 5:35-43
    The lectionary suggested an unusual text for this Sunday–the reading from 2 Samuel, a lament for Saul and Jonathan. And it occurred to me that since I’d never preached on this text, or even a similar biblical text, I better talk about it today. So there you go.

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"We Are NOT the Eagles"

Kathy Tschiegg

Founder of CAMO

For those of you who are not familiar with CAMO, it has been a journey formed out of experiences of my youth, Peace Corps experience, my profession as a critical care, ER nurse and as a business women.  There are many events that have shaped the creation of CAMO 16 years ago. Today I would like to share with you some of those defining moments.

As you may know, this past February, Beth and I bought a house in Wooster.  It’s a comfortable little place, on a quiet cul-de-sac.  The yard has a few trees, bushes, beautiful flowers, and real grass, not crab grass, real grass courtesy of the previous owners.  

Let’s talk about irritating sounds.  Are you one of those folks who can’t stand to hear fingernails squeal across the chalkboard?  Does it make your skin crawl?  Or maybe you are somebody who can’t tolerate Styrofoam squeaking against Styrofoam.  Could it be that you hate the sound of love sick cats?  Or does country music twang clang on your ears?  Which sounds drive you crazy?

Church. If you say that word church, what do people imagine? Do they think of a group of especially holy, always pleasant people gathered for worship that runs like a well-oiled machine? Is that what they envisage? Do they picture an ever-smiling folk, ever-ready to forgive? Is that what comes to mind? 

I begin with apologies. We have a lot happening here this Sunday–Holy Communion, Consecration Sunday commitment, the celebration luncheon, youth group and so on. So this sermon is going to be even more brief than usual. I apologize. I’ll owe you some additional sermon time. And I promise to preach a longer sermon one Sunday in the future.

A few of you have managed not to hear this story; so the rest of you are stuck listening to it again. Several years ago, my church staff had a little party for me for my fortieth birthday. And one of the valuable gifts I received was a photo that now hangs in a prominent place in my office. You see, I’d told the church staff (ad nauseam) that I attended high school with super-model turned actress Andie McDowell.

One of the joys of pastoral ministry is visiting parishioners in homes and hospitals.  We laugh and cry as we share life’s gladness and sorrow with church members.  But pastors also never know for sure what going to happen during those visits, how God might be revealed and how we ourselves may be comforted and challenged.