Introducing Resurrection in the Rust!

Introducing Resurrection in the Rust: Loving, Serving, and Reclaiming our Communities Together in Christ

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For the last five years, my sermon blog has been untitled, and I have wracked my brain as to what to call it.  After all, it is my calling to proclaim God’s truth to a certain people, in a certain place, and a certain time.  As a congregation, we are living together in all that the living Christ is doing in us, for us, and through us.

The Kiski Valley has proven to be a beautiful community to serve.   I love that you can greet the people you see on the streets and be greeted in return.  I am amazed at how lovingly and generously our community reaches out to love and care for our neighbors in need.  And I love that our neighbors are receptive to our ministries, and recognize us as valuable members of their community.

But with every passing year, life becomes more difficult.  In 2016, we suffered the closure of our last-remaining steel mill.  Unemployment and underemployment continue to be rampant, wages are stagnant, and poverty is widespread.  Taxes are increasing, forcing many of our neighbors to relocate elsewhere. Many homes and storefronts lie vacant and abandoned.  Drug and alcohol abuse and deadly overdoses continue to increase.  Our population is aging.  To make matters worse, church participation is decreasing, offerings are down, and we will continue to witness the closure of congregations. 

What does it mean to live faithfully in the face of such drastic and destructive economic decline?  How do we faithfully resist and fight back against the powers destroying our communities?  What kind of vision can we cast for our community if the mills never reopen?  How can we stay together as these trying times inevitably create conflicts and differing visions?

These are the questions we are living in together.  Yet we journey forward in confidence in hope, knowing that Jesus will never leave town.  There are always stories to tell, gifts to share, and lives to bless.  The power of the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is alive and moving among us.  Even as the challenges and difficulties remain, the Spirit will be forming us in our faith, showering us with spiritual gifts, and sending us out among our neighbors to bring Christ’s resurrection to a reality.