Pastor's Message - March 2026

~ A New Thing ~

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

~Isaiah 43:19

Dear Members and Friends,

How fast the world changes! My earliest memory is my 4th birthday in January 1974. There was big stuff going on in the world, like the aftermath of Watergate and the war in Vietnam. But—unlike my daughter Chloe—I was not aware of politics by the age of 4. I mainly occupied myself with affairs closer to home, like getting our Great Dane to let me ride him like a horse. Some of you remember 1974 as if it were two days before yesterday: network TV, rotary phones, Aqua Net. It was only 56 years ago. But 1974 is exactly as far from today as it is from 1918, the last year of World War I. What’s the first year you recall? Now subtract your current age from that year. What year did you get? How has the world changed since then? The changes during your lifespan are like a gentle snowfall: consistent, sometimes imperceptible, enormous, unrelenting.

How much has the church changed in the number of years you’ve lived? Church was once your “third place,” even if you weren’t very religious. Plays, concerts, classes, clubs, committees, “mixers,” picnics, games, supper clubs, and worship services brought people to church several times a week—not to mention the frequent weddings, baptisms, and funerals. People were not more spiritual in the 1950s; they just had fewer options. You could hang out at the church or at a bar. No Starbucks, no B&N, no social media. I prefer the 21st century because, now, folks come to church because

they want to be here.

But what happens when fewer and fewer want to be here? Our 75th anniversary, with its speaker series and capital campaign, is an opportunity to explore forward-looking questions like these. The session of Bower Hill Church has been asking such questions and reading the book When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation

beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation, by Andrew Root. Root will be the featured expert at our speaker series on April 22. What does the expert have to say? One elder on session put it this way: “Stop flailing.” Adding more events and programs to the church calendar is not the answer. People are already busy. Instead, do the very thing church is supposed to do: Love your people and love God.

And so, we’re looking at ways to renew our bonds to each other and to God without asking people to come to a bunch of extra events outside Sunday morning. What if we had a different church member share their “testimony” each Sunday? What if we let the passing-of-the-peace go on till people were done talking? What if we shared our joys and

concerns verbally during worship…or had a meal together once a month instead of the sermon? What if we did more intergenerational mission projects together? How about an all-church retreat somewhere in the Laurel Highlands in the summer?

Love others, love God. That’s all God asks of us. If we focused our energies on doing better at those two things, what might the church become? We hope you’ll join us on this journey of discovery. A good place to start is to take part in our speaker series, “Faith Forward: The Future of Congregational Life.” See inside for details. God is doing a new thing in our times, as God has done in all times. What do you think we could do to better love each other and God? It’s a joy to be making this discovery with you.

Christ’s Peace,

~Brian