Tom Gillespie
Our annual campaign theme is 200 Years of Blessings: Imagine What Comes Next. Over the next few weeks, members of the Stewardship Committee will share some blessings they have experienced.
As I sit to write this message, I am recalling a much-beloved old tune and want to share the opening lines with you: “There Shall Be Showers of blessings: This is the promise of love… There shall be seasons refreshing, Sent from the Savior above.”
How true this has been for the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro and the blessings have flowed through this congregation into my life in such surprising and joyful ways. I want to share just a few of many joys.
Looking at the congregation from the choir loft on Sunday mornings, I praise God for the people who have been so loving through the years and count it a pleasure to pray in gratitude for so many faithful saints. I remember the times my father would call and invite me to come and hear the great music coming from the choir and the musicians in Greensboro. He knew I would love the experience. I was then touched when the Greensboro church made its First Place facility available to my home choir group to attend the Montreat Worship and Music Conference. I never imagined that one day I would be sitting as a member of the Greensboro choir.
Some 20 years ago, my daughter was asked to visit FPC to discuss her call to become a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) in Guatemala. The PCUSA requires YAVs to raise a portion of their support before a commitment to serve is finalized. Our family was delighted to learn that the Greensboro church had decided to support her in an amount which made the YAV experience possible — the visit response put her over the top.
I never imagined that seven months later, Becca would e-mail me from Guatemala to announce that she would not be attending UVA as a candidate for a business degree but would be attending Princeton Seminary pursuing a call to ordained service as a Minister of Word and Sacrament. This pastor of Burke Presbyterian Church had a life-changing experience which was sponsored by Greensboro saints.
Speaking of showers of blessings, I never imagined that three years ago I would sit in FPC’s chancel and marry Kate Gillespie. Our families sat in the choir loft and Jill officiated.
I am grateful and blessed by this church’s response to Christ’s love. For 200 years, many others have been deeply blessed.
I just have to grin when imagining what comes next! “There shall be showers of blessings, if we but trust and obey; There shall be seasons refreshing If we let God have His way.”
Commitment Sunday is October 27.
