The Rev. Barbara Ballenger

These weeks of Easter and Pentecost can be an intense time of wishing well, winding down and wrapping up. The next few Sundays all have special components to take note of and take part in. This Sunday, May 17: At the end of the liturgy, we will bless and thank Laurel Mosteller for her 39 years as lead storyteller for our Godly Play program. Then during fellowship hour, we will “make new friends and keep the old” at the annual Welcome Luncheon. All are invited to stay for lunch, meet our...

Spring seems to be sacrament season – Eucharists, Confirmations, weddings, ordinations – all tucked around Easter and Pentecost. Add in graduations and Mothers’ Day, and if we had a cake for everything we celebrate this time of year, we’d be in sugar shock! Last week, Bob Hartung and I joined our eight Confirmands and their families as they received the sacrament at St. Thomas in Whitemarsh. The church graciously allowed us to crash their service and bishop’s visit to allow our kids to...

I spent the first part of last week at the annual diocesan Clergy Conference in the Poconos. It was a great chance to get refreshed and meet up with my clergy colleagues from throughout the diocese. My rector’s note took the rest of the week off, in fact. So, this week I’m catching up. I especially wanted to tell you about a conversation that several of the clergy had on the subject of welcome last week. Two clergy, the Rev. Suzanne Clune and the Rev. Ben Capps, are doing doctoral work that...