Dear Govans Family,
I love being part of the Govans family, and my heart is filled with gratitude for the journey that brought me to you. This coming Sunday, November 8, marks a meaningful threshold for us as we take our next faithful steps together. We celebrate it twice. At 10:30 AM, I will preach on Psalm 46 in a sermon titled “The Sacred Pause.” At 3:00 PM, the Presbytery of Baltimore gathers at Govans for a service installing me as pastor of Govans Presbyterian Church.
Life has taught me to pause at thresholds and mark them. When we rush through a doorway, we miss what God is doing in the crossing. This summer, Melissa Kirsch of The New York Times introduced me to slack water, the brief pause in the tidal cycle when the tide has finished coming in and has not yet begun to pull back out. The wind may still blow, and the surface may still ripple, yet beneath it all, the current rests. That image speaks to me deeply. Even when life stirs around us, we can find that rest within ourselves. Psalm 46 knows this, too. The waters roar, and the mountains shake, and still God speaks: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Govans has made bold commitments: to be an anti-racist church, a Matthew 25 congregation, an Earth Care community, and a radically welcoming home for our LGBTQIA+ siblings and immigrants. This week, many voters across our nation affirmed these same values: a country that opens its doors, seeks freedom and justice for all, and offers people a place to find home and live as their full selves. On Sunday, we give thanks for these signs of the kin-dom, here at Govans and in the wider world. As Presbyterians, we continue to discern together how best to live them. Although we might not all agree on the path forward, what matters most is that we stay honest, vulnerable, and committed to one another.
Come and be still with us in the morning, and return in the afternoon as we give thanks that God brought our lives together and make our covenant promises before God. Please stay for fellowship after both services, so we can linger in one another’s company and celebrate this day together.
Grace and peace,
Dries