Ginter Park Presbyterian Church

The year in blogspeak: God spoke to me directly and clearly. I would have preferred a ‘yes’ to my ‘no’, but experiencing physically the...

A simple story of telling the most amazing story: To conclude our Lovefeast, the choir joins the congregation, the congregation becomes...

Does anything say “white male” more perfectly and ironically than a choral setting of the Magnificat? This question popped into my head...

I have loved being an intern with this congregation! I have learned more already than I ever expected and have been a part of several...

When I was asked if there might be some reflections I could share with you after my recent race, the New York City Marathon, I had some ideas running (pun intended) around my head. A few hours after I began writing that piece, the world changed. The City of Light went dark. I spent the better part of Saturday morning trying to share my reflections on the different neighborhoods of New York, my recent experience in the Social Security Administration office and how we all belon

Somewhere in the depths of my computer storage I have a picture of my daughter at 5 or 6 years old walking by herself down our street and...

Have you ever tried to dig a hole to China? When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at the beach and every now and again I’d try to dig...

Melinda Mottley was well into the draft of “her story” when Margaret Sydnor’s account of teaching in the city’s public schools appeared...

Longtime GPPC member Margaret Sydnor (shown with husband Jim in the mid-1980s) recently shared a rich and unblinking ten-page memoir of...

“Well, my story makes me feel rather small” was one of the first things I blurted out in response to Carla’s request for us each to...

I was talking with a fellow Eagle Scout last night. We were both feeling saddened by what should have been a heart-warming image we saw on Facebook: boys and their dad dressed in scout uniforms. But the uniforms were not Boy Scouts of America uniforms; they were uniforms of the newly-formed Trail Life scouting program. Now, I have watched the BSA’s discernment surrounding homosexuality with great interest and a fair amount of sympathy. I loved my ten-plus years in the scoutin

As I was considering the call to return to being a ruling Elder at GPPC, my first response was reluctance and I started stressing out...

On a fishing trip with my uncle and cousin in California several years ago, we met Dave. The story of Dave and that fishing trip probably deserves a blog post of its own, but for now I’ll just focus on the cosmic wisdom Dave shared with us. While sitting in a hot spring in the Sierra Nevada on a cool May night, we asked Dave the obligatory ice-breaking question “What do you do?” His response was life-changing: “I’m in transition.” Literally, life, changing. As I have thought

I sometimes swim with the conservatives. Because of this I get mail from time to time on the subject of Spanish speakers in our society....

“Church elder? Are you kidding me?” This was my response to my pastor’s phone call asking me to serve on the Ginter Park Presbyterian...

As I’ve worked with our youth group over the last couple years, one of the most memorable and lively conversations we’ve had was around...

“Keeper of the blog”. If you’d told me when I joined this church as a youth nearly 50 years ago I would one day serve as “keeper of the...

Before an improv show, there’s a moment when the group of improvisers is huddled together as they wait for the emcee to introduce them to...

“If she is a [insert political label], how can she call herself a Christian?!?” That question was asked in bewilderment about me during...

Editor’s Note: Growing up white in 20th century Richmond, Ginter Park Presbyterian Church’s involvement with race relations continues to evolve. Two weeks ago, the Session unanimously voted in favor of our church joining RISC (Richmonders Involved to Strengthen our Communities), a group of diverse congregations seeking to “address the root causes of injustice” in our greater community. The interest in RISC was sparked months earlier by informal conversations among a bi-racial