While one could argue we are still emerging from the rearrangement of religious life and practice caused by the two-plus years of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a genuine sense that 2022 was a year of emergence. Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church returned fully to in-person gatherings for the worship and work of being a congregation together. It took a while as people regathered slowly to the new rhythms of incarnate community, and even now, not everyone is fully comfortable being in a big room with dozens, much less hundreds of people. However, our sense of vitality and the spirit of our community has again come into full view.
What a joy the year of 2022 became: filling our spaces again with groups of church friends and mission partners; educational and missional opportunities; the return of Youth Sunday and the Thanksgiving Pancake Breakfast; the Family Christmas Eve service again after three years; and multigenerational gatherings! What a blessing that the down time of the pandemic raised
and enhanced our technological abilities to connect via livestreaming and Zoom! What a treasure we have found in some of those things we may have previously taken for granted! Singing hymns together. Breaking bread together. Upholding one another during seasons of grief together. Celebrating baptisms and weddings together!
I invite you to read this Annual Report from cover to cover. Discover what your partners in Christ have been up to in ministry and mission. Let your spirit be sparked by potential new or deepened involvements in and through this remarkable community of faith. We have emerged from a most challenging season of isolation into a renewed and revitalized congregation. The summary contained within these pages merely hint at the depth and breadth of what this congregation is being called by God to be and do.
Grace and Peace,
Dottie Bowen, Clerk
Elder Class of 2023
Heewon Chang+
Emily Cieri
Carolyn Gerrish
Linda Griska
Finley Hoffman (Y)
Doug McCone+
Joe Parente
Kathy Stevens+
Owen Yoder (Y)
Elder Class of 2024
Dottie Bowen
Elliot Dee
Mary French+
By Graf+
Joan LaLeike +
Annie Lee
Bill Matthai +
Elder Class of 2025
Keith Brinks
Meggin Capers
Susan Daley-Gibson
Fred Fletcher
Susan Swanson
Pam Walsh+
Flo Zeller+
Clergy
The Rev. Dr. Agnes W. Norfleet
The Rev. Brian K. Ballard
The Rev. Leigh DeVries
The Rev. Rebecca Kirkpatrick
The Rev. Rachel Pedersen
The Rev. Franklyn C. Pottorff
Board of Deacons
Andy Kuntz, Moderator
Deacon Class of 2023
Angie Baturka
Jean Bay+
Steve Burdick
Nadine Champagne
Kathryn Chang (Y)
Stacey Fagan
Dave Heaton+
Anne Lee+
Steve McConnell+
Katie McGuirl (Y)
Susan Thorkelson+
Deacon Class of 2024
Colleen Bertrand+
Dave Bravo+
Ted Collett
Dan Haller+
Kathy Kreider+
Tricia Mackay-Hopkins+
Sheila Rohrer+
Bill Shinn+
Kara Udicious
Deacon Class of 2025
Gary Davis
Judy Frazier
Andy Kuntz+
Sandie Nicholson+
Elaine Robertson
Charlotte Swenson
Anne Wendel+
Board of Trustees
President, Tom Willcox
Trustee Class of 2023
Tim Chitester+
Linda Gamble
Dave Hastings
Eric Johnson+
Steve Ryan+
Kent Walker+
Trustee Class of 2024
Peter Cordray
Rob Gunther
Dave MacGregor+
Dave Reiner
Tom Willcox+
Trustee Class of 2025
Dave Barrickman
Andy Bees
Kirstin Engelman+
Dan Irwin
Marge Kennedy
Tobin Whamond+
(Y) Indicates a youth serving a one-year term as Elder or Deacon. + Indicates a person is serving their second three-year term.
The mission of Caring Ministries is to extend Jesus’ invitation to live life “(w)holy.” We are called to live out Jesus’ example to care for one another, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to comfort the afflicted, and protect the vulnerable.
Throughout 2022 the Caring Ministries team – parish nurse, social worker, Deacons, and the Middleton Counseling Center – continued to extend Jesus’ invitation to live life (w)holy. Through in-person visitation, programming, and direct engagement, members of BMPC and the surrounding community were comforted and supported.
Following the pandemic years of physical separation, the Deacons resumed in-person meetings and face-to-face visitation. They resumed delivering flowers from Sunday worship to homebound members each week, which has been a blessing to both the Deacons and those being visited. In May, the Deacons participated in a retreat led by the Rev. Laurie Lewis titled, “What to Say to People Who Are Hurting.” Her wise suggestions coupled with various hands-on demonstrations helped equip the Deacons to carry out their visitation ministry.
Carol Cherry, parish nurse, and Renee Malnak, social worker, visited members, assisted those with medical and family needs, and provided prayerful care. Together they were
able to help people understand new diagnoses, navigate various hospital and rehab processes, and journey through the complexities of grief.
Kiki McKendrick, director of the Middleton Counseling Center, worked closely with the center’s 12 counselors to offer quality, affordable counseling in person and online. The labyrinth ministry, facilitated by Anne Montgomery Schmid, was offered regularly throughout the year, and the center’s spiritual directors, Patricia Danzon and Betty Wright-Riggins, presented multiple classes exploring spiritual disciplines and practices.
There is not enough space to share about the numerous exercise programs or support groups, as well as the prayer shawl ministry, medical equipment lending program, and other offerings. In these ways and more, the Caring Ministries team continues to help people live life (w)holy. As always, if there is any way we can support you or a loved one in need, please be in touch.
After almost two years of being unable to do hands-on and community-based mission projects, thanks to the good work of the BMPC Refugee Support Committee, our whole congregation stepped up to support, care for, and encourage the Sepah family who arrived as asylum seekers from Afghanistan in late 2021.
divided themselves into subcommittees working on English tutoring, education issues, Fardeen’s job search, navigating local transportation, driving lessons and licenses, and even health and dental care. Again and again thanksgivings were offered by everyone involved for the opportunity to be of good service in a season when many had felt disconnected. After eight months living on the church campus in the Foerderer House, the Sepah family found housing locally, and the children were enrolled in the Haverford School District. Even as the Sepah family becomes more independent, the relationships they formed with members of our community will be lasting. 2022 was another abundant and generous year in our fight against food insecurity led by the BMPC Hunger Committee. Over $100,000 was distributed from the Hunger Fund in support of local partners and casserole making. The consistent generosity of our congregation toward this ministry has allowed the Hunger Committee to increase, even doubling in some instances, the financial support we give to our partners around greater Philadelphia to help those who continue to struggle in a uncertain economic environment.
In addition to the funding distributed to local and international partners from the Outreach, Worldwide Ministries, Peacemaking and Environmental Justice Committees, 2022 also was a year in which the Eugene C. Bay Fund for Urban Ministry awarded four grants totaling $100,000 to two historic BMPC partners – Interfaith Philadelphia and Urban Tree Connect, as well as two new partners – Episcopal Legal Aid and Philadelphia Children’s Alliance.
Each year BMPC distributes over $500,000 in mission funding to more than 50 local and international organizations doing the work of community development, advocating for social, environmental, and structural change, and showing compassion in times of crisis, violence and disaster.
After two years of primarily online and hybrid adult education programs at BMPC, we entered 2022 with more opportunities to study together in incarnate community. January brought the completion of the Ministries Center renovations which meant moving into and living into our newly-imagined meeting and classrooms on the ground floor.
During the spring and summer the Converse Library collection reemerged from storage and was moved into its new location in the Fullerton Room. Volunteers and staff spent countless hours helping to create a new online catalogue for the collection, reshelving and organizing books, and updating our checkout system to transform the Converse Library into a 21stcentury collection. Now church members can even browse our catalog online at home and even reserve a book to be picked up later: https://www.libib.com/u/converselibrary
Another significant change we experienced was the creation of two smaller rooms from the previous Gloucester Room. By dividing Gloucester in half, we were able to rightsize our classrooms and create a sister room to Gloucester named after and dedicated in memory of the Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon. The first African-American woman ordained in the Presbyterian Church and the pioneer of Womanist theology, Cannon also served in ministry at First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, one of our longstanding partners in mission. In April church members, clergy, neighbors and Dr. Cannon’s family gathered for an afternoon dedication service where we celebrated her legacy and reflected on how her vision for justice and inclusion can and will shape the work we do as a congregation.
A highlight of the year was our annual Rev. Dr. David and Ruth Watermulder Theologian-in-Residence program with Lisa Sharon Harper. Harper is a writer, theologian, activist and public advocate on issues of diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion. The focus of her two lectures and her worship leadership was her newest book, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World and How to Repair it All .
A Philadelphia native, Harper used the story of her family to help trace the story of racism and inequality in our national story and shared her vision for reclaiming the possibility of the Beloved Community.
We have emerged from a most challenging season of isolation into a renewed and revitalized congregation
- Agnes W. Norfleet
Standing behind two wide-eyed shepherds during the 4:30 Christmas Eve service, I overheard one saying to the other, “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful!” Indeed, at six and seven, they hadn’t. 2022 saw us return to many of our pre-pandemic patterns of worship and corporate life, but for the children of our congregation, these were
new experiences and new opportunities to grow in faith.
Walking with the youngest members of our congregation, we have had the opportunity to experience anew the joy of gathering in the Sanctuary for corporate worship, the energy of dozens of children playing games at VBC, and the friendships that form over Oreo cookies and Goldfish crackers after Sunday School. Many of the projects and practices from 2020 and 2021 have helped us become a more flexible and adaptable program, prepared to imagine new avenues of ministry and meet the changing needs of families in our community.
• The year offered special events to foster community like our “Surprise Sabbath” and “Sanctuary Scavenger Hunt.”
• Opportunities to serve others and learn more about BMPC’s mission partnerships were woven into our curriculum and calendar. Third to fifth grade students had the opportunity to go off site on mission projects, and every Sunday School class participated in local mission projects and activities.
• Special programs for the youngest members of our church helped connect families and children as we celebrated baptisms, explored the Chapel, learned about Easter, and told the Christmas Story.
• 2022 inaugurated the new multigenerational Evening Worship Service on the first Sunday of the month. In addition, special family services on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Christmas Eve created space for children and families to worship and lead together.
We are thankful for the volunteers who give their time, expertise, and energy to teaching, leading, welcoming, and encouraging the children of our congregation. Our volunteers stretch in age from 12 year olds helping at VBC for the first time to 97-year-old Prayer Partners.
In addition to teaching for more than 700 hours, volunteers have given time organizing Christmas costumes, stuffing Easter eggs, playing with three year olds, hosting family fellowship, helping with mailings and deliveries, popping popcorn, making crafts, walking a sheep, and building a new library. In each of these acts, volunteers have created something truly beautiful for the children of our church to continue growing in faith, hope and love.
The Youth Ministry of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church seeks to be an inclusive faith community that connects, engages, and equips youth to discover and live out the gospel of Jesus Christ.
January we continued our weekly programming of Middle School Midweek Meet Up on Tuesdays via Zoom, persisting in our study of Visio Divina, reading scripture, and viewing a piece of art connected to the scripture passage. Student Serve met in Foerderer House, delving into issues of faith and the world.
February Both groups helped prepare an outstanding Youth Sunday service on Feb. 13.
The youth continued to meet on Sunday mornings in Foerderer House with classes led by phenomenal volunteers for middle school, Confirmation and high school students that delved further into discipleship and what it means to follow Jesus.
March we held two retreat weekends at Johnsonburg Camp for middle school and high school students that focused on the biblical call of the Sabbath and how that call impacts our lives.
April youth led a moving Tenebrae Good Friday Service, and in May we hosted a fantastic Confirmation Expo where Confirmands presented their Discipleship Projects. Lastly, we welcomed 17 new members to the church on Confirmation Sunday.
August all youth were encouraged to attend our annual weeklong camp at Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center. The theme of the camp was “You’re Invited,” with lessons centered on meals in Scripture and the theological idea that we are all invited to God’s Table.
September we began the program year with Youth Kickoff on Sept. 18 in the gym, where all youth and their parents were invited to hear about all the programs planned for the upcoming year. At the kickoff gathering, youth were invited to sign up for various opportunities to serve the church, including assisting with Children’s Sunday School. Now, more than 15 youth regularly help with Children’s Ministry on Sunday mornings! We also restarted Student Serve that same week with our High School Small Group meeting in the new Youth Lounge. We continued our Prayer Partner Program which pairs each child or youth with an adult who regularly prays for them.
Sunday morning groups also restarted in September for middle school, Confirmation, and high school students. Middle schoolers began their year learning about what it means to experience welcome in the church, while high schoolers studied ideas about the church and what it means to be a part of the church. These classes were led by incredible volunteers who give their time and energy to help lead youth to a deeper understanding of their faith.
October Pastor Leigh hosted brunches at her house for middle school (including Confirmands), and high school youth. The new Confirmands also participated in an event for Heeding God’s Call, setting up T-shirts on the front lawn with the names of gun violence victims in Philadelphia.
November after a fantastic Glow in the Dark Capture the Flag event, we bid farewell to Youth Director Jack Liskey, who was deeply loved by the youth. Youth also hosted the Thanksgiving Pancake Breakfast for the first time since 2019, serving delicious pancakes to over 100 people and providing fellowship and fun for families
December all youth were invited to the Rainbow Reindeer Games, our annual Christmas extravaganza full of games, color powder, and fun.
The BMPC Youth Ministry is grateful for the faithful work accomplished in 2022, and we are excited to see how God continues to move in our Youth Ministry and the church in 2023.
2022 saw the continuing return to “normalcy” in Music and Fine Arts programming. The year began with the exciting opening of the BMPC Gallery. Artist Michael Bartmann’s "Dimensions Discovered" exhibit was specially chosen for the opening of the newly-renovated gallery space. The gallery quickly drew the attention of the public, and we were approached by many area artists who wanted to exhibit their works at BMPC.
After the successful launch of Mr. Bartmann’s show, environmentalist/ activist Diane Burko offered a breathtaking show entitled “Our Endangered Earth.” The gallery season continued with a celebration of two church members’ creative work: Nena Bryans, sculpture, and Gerry Tuten, painter. The fall opened with Bill Kemmerer’s stunning photographic celebration of the Sanctuary Choir’s successful tour to the Middle East and a member’s art show that celebrated the gifts of more than a dozen church members (including two of our pastors!). The gallery has proven to be an immense blessing to both the church and community.
Musically, this was a productive year as well! The Sanctuary Choir observed Good Friday with a performance of “Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode.” This astonishing work for choir, actor, soloists and orchestra was composed by Canadian composer Allan Bevan and is a four-movement meditation on the Crucifixion. Easter Sunday saw the world premiere of a new Easter anthem by celebrated composer David Conte.
Post-Easter, the Sanctuary Choir moved into full gear with preparations for its tour to the Middle East. That tour, originally scheduled for summer 2020, then rescheduled for summer 2021 and finally rescheduled for summer 2022, was much anticipated! Fortyfive travelers from the church and community traveled through Israel and Jordan, singing to audiences drawn mostly from Palestinian communities. For every traveler, this was a mountaintop experience and especially poignant, given the tragic unrest we are now seeing in that part of the world.
The first appearance by Notre Dame Cathedral organist Vincent Dubois was a memorable performance that kicked off the fall season. An enormous audience contributed generously toward a fund established to help with the restoration of that great cathedral, which suffered a catastrophic fire in April 2019. Other fall events included a presentation of Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem” on All-Saints Day and a “Messiah” Sing-in, co-presented with Singing City Choir in December.
It was a great year, one filled with more hope and optimism than we have seen in several years. It was a year that reinforced the reality that BMPC is a blessed and holy place, filled with wonderful people and a vision for what it means to live in community and with purpose.
* 2021 Use of Surplus: $135k for mission, $300k for deferred maintenance, $156k loan payment * 2022 Use of Surplus: $60k for 150th Anniversary, $205k for deferred maintenance, $127k for mission
In 2022 our church was blessed with many generous donations, and we are grateful for each gift received. Most of these gifts were applied to our annual Stewardship Campaign, while some were allocated for specific uses. Samples of these special gifts are highlighted below.
• Armstrong Foundation, for the Operating Budget
• Connelly Foundation, for the Operating Budget & the This Time, This Place Capital Campaign
• D&CN Trust, for the Operating Budget
• Katharine Hoyler Charitable Trust, for the Operating Budget
• KGR Foundation, for Hunger
• Pew Charitable Trust, for the Mary Catharine Pew Memorial Chapel
• Pfundt Foundation, for the Capital Campaign
• Philadelphia Contributionship, for the Operating Budget
• Philadelphia Foundation, for the Operating Budget
• Vanguard Matching Gifts, for the Operating Budget
• Gifts in honor of Barbara Balongue
• Gifts in honor of Carolyn and Larry Berglund, for Ukraine Disaster Relief
• Gifts in honor of Paul Bergsteinsson, for the This Time, This Place Capital Campaign
• Gifts in honor of Paul and Kathleen McMurray
• Gifts in honor of Bobbi Adair’s birthday, for refugee support
• Gifts in memory of John Grandbois, for the Middleton Center
• Gifts in memory of Parker Sherry, for refugee support
• Gifts in memory of James Weiss, for the Middleton Center
• Estate of Betty Alexander, for the Building Preservation Fund
• George and Grace Andressohn Fund, for the Unrestricted Fund
• Bequest of Claire Balentine, for the Building Preservation Fund
• Gift to establish the Molly Storb Hartzell Fund
• Sophie H. Powell Trust, for the Ada Howard Donaghy Fund
• Estate of Carol Pyle, for the Building Preservation Fund
• Gifts in memory of Betty Alexander
• Gifts in memory of Marcia Beckwith
• Gifts in memory of John (Jack) Bogle
• Gifts in memory of Elia Buck
• Gifts in memory of Martha Caesar
• Gifts in memory of Hayley Craig
• Gifts in memory of Richard Dillon
• Gifts in memory of Gene Fisk
• Gifts in memory of Aurora Grifone
• Gifts in memory of Molly Hartzell
• Gifts in memory of John MacMurray
• Gifts in memory of Nancy McCahan
• Gifts in memory of Richard Nasher
• Gifts in memory of Carol Pyle
• Gifts in memory of William Ross
• Gifts in memory of Parker Sherry
• Gifts in memory of Aldan Tucker
• Vanguard Matching Gifts, in memory of John (Jack) Bogle