Saturday Morning (May 10, 2025)~Signs of Grace

Alison Krauss, Pope Leo XIV, rebuilding Western North Carolina and a Duke graduation

Saturday Morning

May 10, 2025

Good morning friends. This has been a full week, with plenteous grace, as Charles Wesley would put it. After the Council of Bishops meeting in Chicago I stopped by Memphis for a few days, to see family. On Sunday morning I went to Abby’s church, Trinity UMC. I saw that they would be having Holy Communion, perhaps because it was the first Sunday of the month. My goal each month is to worship four times and receive Holy Communion twice.

As we transitioned from the sermon to the sacrament, I saw that Paige was taking part. She would in fact be holding the basket with glute-free elements. So after the blessing of the meal, I got into her line and received communion from my seven-year old granddaughter. In the receiving I said, “Thank you Paige!” And she looked at me and said, “You’re welcome!”

Grace.

On Tuesday evening Abby and I attended Alison Krauss and Union Station in concert at the Orpheum in downtown Memphis. It is a beautiful space, reminiscent for me of the Fox Theater in Atlanta. She has a stellar band—Jerry Douglas, Ron Block, Stuart Duncan, Barry Bales and the recently added Russell Moore from IIIrd Tyme Out. They were amazing, some songs from the new release, Arcadia and lots of familiar music. The encores were “When You Say Nothing at All” and “Down To the River To Pray”. The latter was church. She invited us all to sing and the packed house was like a choir, but it was so moving I could not bring myself to sing.

Grace.

Very early the next morning I got back to Charlotte and then Gastonia, for the Moving Seminar. This is a day of learning and support for all clergy who will be moving to new assignments or retiring. It is great to see the faces of our pastors and to see them together, and to reflect on the gravity of what we are leaving behind and all that is ahead. And wonderful to see friends with whom I have shared the whole journey of ministry. While there I also recorded several videos, one with Kim Ingram on the upcoming votes around constitutional amendments and regionalization.

I made my way west and the next day had a meeting with the leadership of the Dogwood Trust. This is an extraordinary philanthropy whose footprint is the eighteen western counties in our state. They have a passion for wellness in the west, and we are working on ways to repurpose sections of our church buildings and portions of land for the common good, along with the Episcopal Diocese of WNC and my friend, Bishop Jose McLaughlin.

During that meeting we learned that a pope had been elected. I got a quick lunch to be ready for a zoom meeting and then learned the new pope was an American! After my zoom meeting I dug into who he was and is: Born near Chicago, his grandparents were of Louisiana Creole, Afro-Haitian and French descent. He is known to be a Chicago White Sox fan, but his mother was a fan of the Cubs.

The new Pope has been a missionary, a bridge builder, a teacher and pastor, a native of the United States who has spent significant time with the church in Peru, and a supporter of the synodality work of Pope Francis, which gives a greater voice to the laity. The chosen name Leo is after a Pope (Leo XIII) who spoke and taught on behalf of the working poor, often immigrants. I can remember reading Rerum Novarum in a class on Catholic Social Teaching in graduate school at the University of Virginia; our professor was Father Ken Himes, who had earned his PhD at Duke. I recall our shared joy when Duke made it known that Danny Ferry was coming to play basketball.

I am happy for Catholic friends and aware that this is a great blessing for the world.

Grace.

Today I will drive to Durham to take part in the Baccalaureate Service at Duke Chapel for the Divinity School. I was blessed to be the first reader for RJ Yun and will have the honor of presenting his doctoral hood. I am excited for all of the graduates. In this year’s class I have had the joy of teaching all of the United Methodist graduates in the Master of Divinity degree, and all of the Doctor of Ministry graduates, across many denominations.

Grace.

The coming week will include our United Methodist-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Dialogue; I am giving a presentation on Pope Francis’ Jubilee Proclamation, “Hope Does Not Disappoint”. And then I will gather on retreat on Thursday with those I will have the privilege to ordain, God willing, in just over a month at our Annual Conference. We are blessed this year with twenty ordinands, our largest cohort in many years.

Grace.

So I continue to grind the beans, engage in morning and evening prayer, walk and stretch, watch Brokenwood Mysteries and the NBA Playoffs, and look toward summer and catching my breath. But in the meantime I try to be aware of grace that comes in unexpected ways, like a child offering a gift, or improvisional music, or working with allies to make life better for ordinary people, or a missionary pope, or reconnected with lifelong friends in ministry.

I could go on, and I imagine you could as well. Grace surrounds us, and occasionally we have eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to receive.

Thanks for reading, sharing and subscribing, and for your friendship and the connection.