Opening worship on Thursday evening featured the Rev. Anna Carter Florence, homiletics professor at Columbia Theological Seminary, as the preacher. Reflecting on the story in Mark’s gospel of Jesus drawing such large crowds that a paralytic’s four friends tore up a roof in order to lower the man to Jesus for a healing touch, she observed that “’No more room’ isn’t exactly a deterrent to Jesus, but a signal that it’s about to get interesting, an invitation to a miracle.”
A “big tent” is a great metaphor for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) “because this church is a place where we all gather because of, not in spite of, our differences,” the Rev. Claudio Carvalhaes, professor of worship at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary said during Friday's worship service.
The Rev. Graham Baird, pastor Highlands Church in Paso Robles, CA, preached at Saturday's closing worship. Preaching from the Pentecost story in Acts 2, Baird outlined three ways that fear and isolation can be transformed into a Pentecost experience of rebirth and renewal.
The photo shows the Invitation to the Lord's Table – Rev. Dr. Arlene Gordon and Rev. Dr. Alfredo Miranda and is by Sandy Randolph for the Presbytery of Charlotte