A Letter from Lindy Aug 14

Pilgrims,

Have you ever been in a conversation and discover you are steps behind your conversation partners–emotionally, mentally, spiritually? If not, yay you!

If so, you’ll sympathize learning your pastor found herself in such a state during our weekly team meeting. In case you didn’t know, Franklin, Felix and I meet weekly Tuesday mornings to keep abreast of Pilgrim’s (and our) flow and the many balls we may be juggling at any given time. Our purpose is for check in, support, problem solving and praying with and for our beloved community. We benefit from this routine adjustment to our week. We follow an agenda to stay on task because, well, you know–many a rabbit hole can we go down if allowed.

This week Felix raised a query as to which board a specific idea/project should be directed, as it was one she had quietly been doing solo thus far, but recognized 1) it’s not a one person job and 2) perhaps it belonged in another lane. It seems she and Franklin had been ‘outreach brainstorming’ the week prior. She shared their passion/vision/ideas for reaching the broader community so as to entice folks to check Pilgrim out (did you notice our new sign sharing Pilgrim activities at one of our driveway entrances?) Franklin then asked why Pilgrim did not have a “committee/board/team” whose purpose was showing Pilgrim hospitality to strangers—from generating/elevating Pilgrim’s name recognition in community, to welcoming visitors on Sundays, to following up for deeper connection. As the author of Hebrews aptly reminds, for by doing so, we might entertain angels unaware.

“And for that matter,” Franklin wondered, “what is Pilgrim’s vision and mission?” Where there is none, him seemingly channeling Proverbs, the people perish. Franklin vaguely remembered an email recently asking for a copy of Pilgrim’s visioning process. When I shared that process occurred six-seven years ago, he asked, “Shouldn’t we do a new one? My generation really looks for stuff like that.” In our attention-deficited world while also being bombarded with 24/7 information overload, people seek clarity and purpose for what they choose to step into. And Franklin’s correct, we have become a different community than the one who called a new pastor five years ago. The landscape we have traversed has reshaped the terrain of our being. Franklin’s questions echoed Isaiah’s prophetic lament in last week’s scripture asking the Israelites (and through them us) if we have a collective understanding of who and whose we are, and why this unique and amazing constellation of people gather to worship.

What I marveled at in Felix’s and Franklin’s dreaming (revealed in their questions) was their passion for and belief in Pilgrim as beloved community. A beloved community they wanted others to experience. A beloved community they believed would enrich the lives of others, if only they would come to know of us. A beloved community they were excited to build anew and pass on to future generations.

I realized that this wonderful, dynamic duo was steps beyond me in being church in this very moment. Where I feel like I’m still grappling and groping to find my way, they are bearing witness to their faith in God’s kindom through Pilgrim. Their hope and trust in Pilgrim is as intoxicating as it is instructive. They want to share their joy with strangers who might very well be angels. As we shake off the lethargy of COVID isolation, can we meet them where they are at?

Because even if we don’t encounter angels, whoever we do are, wherever they come from, they are welcome here. That’s the Pilgrim I know.

So I’m hoping a little bit of Franklin’s and Felix’s pixie dust of energy and enthusiasm got sprinkled on me.
Pastor Lindy (she/her) why pronouns matter

Living and working on occupied Shakori land.
If you'd like to learn more about the Indigenous people whose land you occupy,
the information is just a text message away. Click here to learn more.