Pastor's Life - Epiphany and Lent

Contemplating epiphany in the busy season of Lent by Rev. Dr. John Cleghorn Is there still an Epiphany? After the budget has been settled and the inevitable trade-offs in ministry and staffing are made? After the officers have been trained and the new calendar year launched? After the first unexpected, unbudgeted building repair has come up?　 Is there still an Epiphany as we track post-Pandemic worship attendance and ask, "Is this the new normal?" Is there still an Epiphany as we scramble, again, to recruit the volunteers required to bring our ministries to life? As we watch our best-laid plans fall short? Is there still an Epiphany as we tally the numbers for the annual statistical report — how many baptisms and how many deaths? Where our mission dollars went? How little diversity our congregations reflect in comparison to our neighborhoods and nation. What unwelcome truths do our data reveal, if we dare tell the truth? Is there still an Epiphany? As we take up our Lenten journey to the tomb and dig deep, one more time, to proclaim what lies beyond it, hoping we can speak with something like the conviction we had the first time we told the wondrous outcome?

Rev. John Cleghorn is pastor of Caldwell Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, N.C. His first book, Resurrecting Church: Where Justice and Diversity Meet Radical Welcome and Healing Hope, was published in 2021. His next book focuses on how churches are building affordable housing on their properties.

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