Dear Edgeboro Family & Friends,

I’m going to take a similar approach to writing the front page of this issue of The Envoy as I did last month. I’ll be giving you three things: Prayerful words, a Bible update, and something I learned this month.

Prayerful Words
Seminary taught me what to do in a lot of situations. I’ve had practice in knowing what to say when someone’s going through a tough time, when I make a mistake, when a conflict arises, when I’m visiting someone at the hospital, when I’m leading a funeral, and other difficult situations. Seminary did not prepare me for knowing what to say after the unspeakable shootings that have taken place recently, mainly because this is not normal, and we can’t let it be normal. (Lord, have mercy on us all, and may your peace be with us.) There are many calls for change, prayers for justice and peace, and concern for our children and our country going on right now, and I pray that you and I find opportunities to join in on that as we are led in the spirit of loving our neighbors as Christ does. But as your pastor, I also have concern for you (especially students, parents, and teachers right now). Witnessing everything that’s happening is traumatic and exhausting on so many levels. I pray that you can find mental, emotional, and spiritual care at this time, whether that be with me, another professional, or someone else you trust.

A Bible Update
A new English version of the Bible came out this year. Yes, there are many English translations of the Bible, but this one could be one of the more prominent ones. Many of you have heard of the New Revised Standard Version—it’s what’s in our pews at Edgeboro and what the Moravian Daily Text uses frequently. The NRSV was prepared by the Society of Biblical Literature, commissioned by the National Council of Churches in 1989. This year, the SBL and NCC released the NRSVue (updated edition). Thousands of updates were made based on new scholarship that has been done in the last three decades, readability, and modern language. I realize that this news may not impact your day-to-day life, but as church people, it’s probably something that you will see eventually, and it’s another tool that will help us interpret God’s word that I am looking forward to exploring.

Something I Learned This Month
I started reading a book called Grace and Gigabytes: Being Church in a Tech-Shaped Culture by Ryan Panzer—a seminary graduate who previously worked at Google, which is an interesting mix of perspectives. When identifying common concerns among churches today (declining attendance, less young people, etc.), he cited an interesting statistic: In the U.S., the question “Who Is Jesus?” is 2-3 times more popular to google now than it was in 2004. People google Jesus far more during Christmas and Easter, in fact Jesus’ popularity peaked on Google during Easter of 2020 (Find these stats at tinyurl.com/rlfobee). I was surprised by that and have yet to fully digest what to fully make of that, but my initial takeaway is that the Church seems to have an opportunity to be a witness for Jesus to those who are literally searching for answers.

By the way, it’s also the season of Pentecost in the church year, so may the Spirit of God actively bless, inspire, renew, and heal you during this season of the Holy Spirit.

Praying, Reading, and Searching with You, Pastor Dan