Telling Our Stories

Stories of faith by members of the Ginter Park Presbyterian Church Family.

Mar 233 min read

"Black Gospel is Not Like Haydn"

“Hi, Amanda. I have an idea for a project at church, and I wanted to see what you might think of it.” I had heard my friend and seminary...

Mar 72 min read

The Crosses of Santa Fe - and an Invitation

What are the images and influences you bring into your life, the ones there by invitation? The books kept at our bedside, the art...

Jan 263 min read

Do You Ever Wonder If God Really Talks to You?

Do you listen? Do you obey, even when it doesn’t make sense? From personal experience, I can unequivocally say YES to all, although not...

Jan 126 min read

Once - Again - on This Island!

Can you believe our youth musical was 8 weeks ago? Does it seem like yesterday - or several holidays back? Before Christmas, while it...

Nov 29, 20233 min read

A Remembrance

In April while keeping vigil over our mom in her last days, my siblings and I sang hymns, and I listened—really listened—to the lyrics,...

Nov 15, 20233 min read

Gingkoes Across the Years

Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around. I don’t remember the first time I saw a gingko tree, but I remember the first...

Mar 25, 20232 min read

Finding Love for Haydn

At the beginning of this year, we were blessed with a generous gift to support instrumentalists in worship at GPPC. “Have you thought...

Apr 14, 20224 min read

Good Friday Reflections

Alfred asked me to write this blog for Good Friday in the series of reflections for the season of Lent. I reluctantly agreed because I...

Apr 9, 20223 min read

What Do You Love?

Not who. What. This is a question that has been on my mind for a few months as we begin to slowly rebuild connections after being...

Apr 2, 20224 min read

How Does One Become an Adult at Church?

Even though I grew up going to church I never learned how to be an adult Christian. As a child, I loved going to church. Before my opa...

Mar 26, 20222 min read

I Was Asked to Write a Little Something for Our Church Blog

Of course I said yes and then my mind went blank. I had no idea what to say. I read Randy Hallman’s post again and thought I could just...

Mar 19, 20222 min read

Help

I need help these days. Help being willing to see the good in other people. Help being kind. Help quelling anger. I need help. I need it...

Mar 12, 20223 min read

Tunnel Vision

It’s been a strange couple of years, hasn’t it? Stressful, confusing, exhausting, isolating. There have certainly been moments of peace...

Mar 4, 20222 min read

Water Crossings

In a Sunday school class on baptism he led earlier this year, Roger Gench proposed a daily morning practice: before you even rinse your...

Oct 9, 20219 min read

Along the Spectrum of Understanding

Our church, Ginter Park Presbyterian, owns a half-acre of undeveloped land one block away from the main church property. Church members...

Sep 11, 20213 min read

Moving the Pallet

The work of so many GPPC members on the session and on the committees of our church reminds me of the gospel story about the friends who...

Sep 5, 20212 min read

Thank You, GPPC!

The last 20 months have been hard on me as well as others. Recently I started thinking how thankful I have been for GPPC over those 20...

Aug 29, 20211 min read

"Hello - My Name Is ... "

You may recognize that phrase on a name tag. But I first saw it in an English-Khmer book that my dad was given in a refugee camp. It's...

Aug 13, 20212 min read

More and Less

Is it strange to say that I missed it? Being a part of Session, that is. Who wants to be in more meetings? This guy (see photo). Six...

Aug 7, 20212 min read

Belonging

Author Brene Brown talks about the difference between fitting in and true belonging. Fitting in takes lots of forms. Sometimes it’s based...