The First...

-

A little bit of history was made at Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church on Saturday, June 12, 2010. In over 130 years, I was the first African American and the first female to be installed in the history of this church. I am the ninth installed pastor in its history and I may also be the youngest. I ordered a sign that came JUST in time for the service. It is sooooo nice! (not cause I picked it but because it is nice and goes with the style of the Mt. Airy/Germantown/Chestnut Hill area)

The service of installation was amazing. John T. Galloway, Jr. preached from Paul's word to Timothy. But it was a word to everyone to not let anyone despise who you are in Christ. Just set the example and let the Lord do the rest. My band played with guest musicians and vocalists. I had folks from Wayne Pres, Moorestown Pres, Oxford Pres, our Presbytery, family, friends, and members of the surrounding community. It was THE MOST diverse worshipping crowd I have seen in a VERY long time, if ever. It looked just the way I imagined it.

Me and Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church. I can't believe that I will be able to truly settle and take the time to focus on ministry in this context. I wrote a paper while taking classes at Palmer Seminary back in 2001. I wrote my vision for my ideal church. i called it "City Line Presbyterian Church" and it was my dream church. I wrote back then that I wanted to pastor a church that was cross-cultural, cross class, cross economic, in Philadelphia. People would come together to focus on the importance of the cross and to go where God leads. It's nine years later, and God has given me the desires of my heart. I can't believe it. But I am thankful. I am honored. And i can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do. And I can't wait to see how the Lord will keep it all in balance.

A.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Brace, Brace, Brace!" - Reflections On The One Year Anniversary of The Pandemic

-
Image
I will forever remember the weekend of March 15, 2020. It will be marked as the weekend that many churches had to pivot or close their doors due to the pandemic. I was in St. Simon's Georgia for a conference for smaller churches in my denomination. My beloved fiancé was the guest preacher. As we were waiting for the Friday evening program to start, I was scrolling through my phone and noticed posts by some of the pastors in our private Facebook group. "Who's closing for worship this Sunday?" Within the hour, many were posting about their plans for shifting and adapting worship for what we thought would only be a few weeks. I called our staff together virtually and we made a list of churches who were closing, streaming, or remaining open. I jumped on Facebook Live with a quick word of encouragement for those who had to switch to a digital format over the weekend. I can remember honestly thinking that we would only have to deal with this for weeks, maybe a few months. A...
Read more

Vacation Eesh 2019 #thereset

-
Image
(Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Hit that reset button.)  I am finally taking a full week's vacation from this wonderful life we call ministry. If you are like me, you know the feeling of trying to get "everything" done before leaving town. I feel like I deserve a medal or at least a gold star from heaven! With some out-of-state down time with my son and the folks I love, I am realizing that I can use this vacation for what I like to call "The Reset."  The Reset is the space I allow to evaluate the past three to six months and ask myself "Aisha, is this how you want to end your year at this rate, this pace, and with the current priorities you have set for yourself?"  For me, the reset is a wake-up call to say, "Hold up, wait a minute...I am may NOT be living my life the way I have desired. I may NOT be living my life the way God intended. I may NOT be living my best life."  So, on this lovely quiet getaway, I am hitting that ...
Read more