The narratives of Jesus’ ministry show us that the good news he preached and lived called people to transformation at every level. Terry McGonigal will relate stories from his own life and ministry which illustrate Jesus’ gospel commitment to bring about change in our own perspectives, our relationships, our communities, and the cities in which we live.

Catherine Hughes knew in her early teens that she had a call to ministry, but because she was born female, she was unable to pursue her calling until 1990, when she entered Fuller Theological Seminary at the age of 54. In this MUSINGS, Catherine will share the ups and downs of her journey to receiving recognition for her ministerial gifts. Her story will inspire you to join in on her proclamation, "The best is yet to come!"

REV. DR. Lynn Cheyney

Rev. Karen Berns

Rev. Dr. Gary Sattler 

The ways of Jesus convince me that God loves the whole world, no exception. Yet, growing up in a church and society that considered some people more equal than others, God’s radical acceptance was a foreign notion. How did I get here from there? And what lies ahead?
That is the story I will share.

After assuming that Arabs, especially Palestinians, were Muslims, how did hearing, meeting and reading about a Melkite priest change the mind and impact the heart of a Presbyterian career Associate Pastor? Who are the Living Stones? Why is the creation of the state of Israel called Nakba, the catastrophe? Why and how are we to care and pray and act?
The Rev. Karen Berns is partly an answer to her Swedish-American Lutheran grandfather’s prayers in the late 1940’s. Augustana Lutheran Pastor Theodore Hjerpe wrote in his prayer journal that he had hoped one of his children would serve the Lord fulltime in gospel ministry, but though they were Christians, they were a language teacher (Karen’s mother) and a medical researcher (Karen’s aunt.) He prayed that God would answer his prayer in his grandchildren, and God did – in Karen and her cousin, the Rev. Dr. Deb Kielsmeier, another PCUSA pastor. After serving three LCA (now ELCA) parishes as a Lay Associate/Parish Associate, Karen was asked to join the staff of Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, where she became a Presbyterian in 1971.  While earning her M.Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary, Karen began serving the La Canada Presbyterian Church, where she was ordained and served joyfully for 21 years. Karen also loved her subsequent installed calls at Pleasant Hills Community Presbyterian (6 yrs) and San Marino Community Church (PCUSA) (8 yrs), as well as Vitas Hospice chaplaincy prior to retiring in 2015. Karen has lived at MVGH since 2012. 

Augustine’s “Confessions” are not simply confessions of the sins in his earlier life, but also a confession of faith.  Dr. Albert Outler says “Confessions” are a "pilgrimage of grace… they retrace the crucial turnings of the way by which [Augustine] had come.”  Although the sins of my earlier life are probably more interesting, this evening’s musings will be my confession of God’s enduring mercy to me, an agnostic Christian who loves and trusts Jesus.

Beginning as a baptized infant in an old-fashioned baptismal gown in an ethnic-German congregation, wandering my way through our working-class neighborhood, ending up on LA’s Westside before coming to MVGH, Jesus was speaking into every one of those situations, albeit in different ways and in different tones of voice.  In positions of trust and responsibility as athlete, pastor, professor, and psychoanalyst, the high demands and renewing grace of God reflected life as it is intended to be.  Throughout, the message was essentially the same: challenge, love, incarnation, grace.  As I said in virtually every lecture: I look forward to questions, concerns, anxieties, repudiations or amplifications.

Merilie Robertson

A Presbyterian Adventure:

The account of one ordinary Presbyterian's journey through time and space -- Puerto Rico, Pakistan, Iran, and southern points in Latin America -- and what she learned about these places, her native country, herself, and God.