Pastor's Pen: Wild About Harry

"Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."
--1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Plans are well underway for the Ardmore Presbyterian Church’s 2010 Vacation Bible School. The games, the crafts, the stories and the music have been a wonderful tradition at our congregation. Both volunteers and the children have great fun. For a few hours each day, the participants escape into the world of imagination. They might step into a wild West town, a space station, or a medieval castle, but the setting never detracts from the important lessons about the good news of Jesus Christ.

If you haven’t heard by now, this year we will be exploring our faith using the stories of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Recreating a school for wizards in our Fellowship Hall might seem a strange way for the church to teach about the faith. When the books first arrived on the scene, some Christian groups condemned the stories as invitations to the real world of the occult and witchcraft. Since then, positive reviews of the books and movies have shown up in Christianity Today. Other authors such as John Granger have explored the Christian themes and symbolism found in the tales of Harry. Rowling, herself, has acknowledged that her own Christian faith has influenced the writing of the books.

We do need to acknowledge that magic is condemned in the Scriptures, and it is true that the occult seduces many into a spiritual bondage. However, the magic of Harry Potter is instrumental, not supernatural. Harry Potter does not call down spiritual forces. Instead, his magic is a tool or an ability that works in his world like technology does in our own. In that way, the magic of Harry Potter is similar to the force of Star Wars, the x-ray vision of Superman, or the magic of Cinderella’s fairy godmother.

Rowling has created a world where choices have consequences. The courage to stand with the right is honorable, and wickedness is condemned. Love and friendship are celebrated, and the theme of resurrection echoes throughout the books. G.K. Chesterton once praised fairy tales because they give children the idea that evil can be defeated. He writes, ”The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.” Soon we realize that the fairy tale is reflecting the light rather than generating it, and we open ourselves to the true source of light.

Join us June 28 through July 2 for this year’s “A Journey in Faith with Harry Potter”. More information and registration is available on our website at ardmorepres.org.

Financial Safeguards at APC

It is helpful to know that APC has for years maintained financial procedures that are intended to keep the monies you donate safe from theft and loss. At least two people count the offering each Sunday and cross-check each other’s work. The Financial Office on the ground floor has its own lock, and the pastor cannot access it. Financial records in the office are maintained on a password-protected computer. The pastor, church treasurer, and financial secretary do not have signature authority on the church’s bank accounts. A church member who has no other role in the church’s finances signs all checks. The pastor, church treasurer, and financial secretary have no authority to sign contracts; only two designated elders can do so. All contracts involving an expenditure of over $5,000 must be approved by the Session. As required by the Book of Order of the PCUSA, financial records are reviewed each year and an accountant’s review report is submitted to the Session. The church has always maintained fidelity, forgery, and crime coverage as part of its insurance.

--Bob Hoelscher, Church Solicitor and former Treasurer

Thursday at Noon: Anne Lamott's "Traveling Mercies"

The San Francisco Chronicle writes that “Anne Lamott is walking proof that a person can be both reverent and irreverent in the same lifetime. Sometimes even in the same breath.” During this summer, a small group will be reading Lamott’s Traveling Mercies where she recounts her reluctant “lurch” into faith. The book is certainly not for the faint of heart nor for the easily offended, but some might argue that neither is the Christian faith. We will be beginning this Thursday, June 10th, at noon for lunch in the Fellowship Hall at the Ardmore Presbyterian Church. Please RSVP at admin@ardmorepres.org