by Rev. Carol Holbrook Prickett, Crescent Springs P.C.
I am a big fan of the store Tuesday Morning. If you’ve never been in one, it’s one of those overstock places, where you get stuff for cheap because name-brand places bought too much of it and it didn’t sell. While not as chaotic or overwhelming as say, Ollie’s Bargain Basement, you’re still likely to find a bit of a mess. That’s part of the charm. You’ll see some things you can’t believe are selling so cheap, and some things you wouldn’t touch if someone paid you to take it home.
It’s best not to go into a Tuesday Morning with too much of an agenda; whenever I really need something, it’s sure not to be in stock on a particular day. But if I’m willing to be flexible with what I want, or just browse to see what might be useful, I can almost always find a treasure.
This is not an ad, however, for Tuesday Morning, the retail outlet. This is an ad (yeah, honestly, an ad) for our Tuesday morning lectionary Bible study for preachers. For the last five years, a group of us have met Tuesday mornings at 9:30AM to discuss the upcoming lectionary passages for Sunday. Some of us are seasoned pastors with decades of preaching under our belts; some of us are new on our first cycle or two of the lectionary; some are ruling elders providing for their own congregations. Since the pandemic began, we meet on Zoom, which makes it easy for this not-a-morning-pastor to roll out of bed and into my favorite part of the day. We’ve also begun to meet in person again on occasion at Mount Auburn, for the Zoomed out among us.
Like Tuesday Morning, we’re a bit messy. Sometimes at Bible study you get a great, thorough exegesis of an upcoming scripture. Sometimes you get a really great joke you can tell in the sermon—or maybe one you can’t! Sometimes we talk Greek and Hebrew. Sometimes we talk about manure and growing up on the farm. Sometimes we chat about the state of our churches—or the church universal. Sometimes we share exciting ideas for ministry, or celebrate wins, or grieve losses. Sometimes we go on theological tangents (we almost always disagree, and we almost always learn). Sometimes nothing clicks and we just kind of wish each other the best. Sometimes there’s magic.
You never know what you’ll find on Tuesday morning, and it’s best not to go in with too much of an agenda. I’ve been to preachers’ Bible studies where all the pastors show up essentially to preach their sermons to each other; I find those obnoxious. But the openness, the curiosity, and the sincerity of this group never fail to astonish and enrich me. If I go in wanting something specific I’m often disappointed, but when I show up willing to browse through my colleagues’ wisdom, and perspectives, and questions, and stories, and abundant faithfulness, I almost always walk away with a treasure.
If you haven’t attended our lectionary Bible study recently (or ever) here is your invitation to give it a try! The Zoom link and information is on the calendar on the Presbytery website. We’d be richer (and delightfully messier) for your voice!
