By Maureen Wright

I have always been envious of those people who keep a daily journal, whether that journal focuses on the written word (narrative or poetry) or some form of artistic expression. In recent years, many people have focused on gratitude journals. The concept is rather simple; a gratitude journal is a record or diary of things for which a person is grateful. Some may refer to this practice as counting one’s blessings or three good things. One can use a simple notebook for a gratitude journal. There are also beautiful “prefab” gratitude journals with prompts to help the journalist focus on gratitude. There are even gratitude journal apps and websites that offer daily questions around the theme of gratitude. Perhaps your style is to jot down your thoughts of gratitude on scraps of paper. Gratitude is what is important. While the practice of gratitude journals is not exclusively Christian, a gratitude journal that is a record of things for which a person is grateful to God is a spiritual discipline that creates a space to encounter God.

Here is my gratitude journal for today.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be with you on this journey of transition. It is my privilege to serve as your Transitional General Presbyter. You have entrusted me to work with the Presbytery staff, to ensure that the day-to-day work of the Presbytery continues. I am thankful for the chance to ask questions and think with you about the areas of our common life that work well and those that need to work better. It is my great joy to visit churches and listen to stories of God at work in their midst, to hear how they are witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am grateful for the work of the Presbytery in A Season of Discernment. The Presbytery has “stepped up” to this task of transition – of the Presbytery of West Virginia moving from where it has been and what we know to the unknown. You are opening yourselves up to this journey of leaving behind our old ways of doing and being the church. You are engaged with the deeper questions of our identity, purpose, and future – in other words, who God is calling us to be and what God is calling us to do now and into the future.

Emily Swanson from Holy Cow! Consulting complimented the Presbytery at her meeting with the Leadership Team. Many of you completed the Landscape Survey and attended a discussion on Zoom or in person about the information gathered. You are sharing your thoughts and ideas. Thank you.

The Leadership Team will take all that has been learned from the survey and conversations and will move to the next step of discernment at its retreat on January 15-16. The team will spend all of Monday with Emily Swanson as they begin to identify Presbytery priorities.

At the Presbytery meeting, I shared a bit of what to expect from A Season of Discernment. Expect new presbytery priorities and values. The goal is NOT to rearrange the deck chairs but to move into a new way of “being” Presbytery. Expect a committee structure that reflects the new priorities and values. Expect a staffing plan that reflects identified priorities. Expect a plan for moving into this new structure & staffing.

I am grateful for the Presbytery staff. This dedicated group of five is committed to supporting the work – the ministry, mission, and relationships – of the Presbytery. The staff graciously offers expertise and creativity. I am thankful for Chris Alfred, Susan Sharp Campbell, Mark Miller, Amy Robinson, and Sarah Specht. It is with deep appreciation that I wish Sarah well as she moves in new directions in her ministry beginning January 1, 2024.

Finally, I am thankful for your prayers. Please continue to pray. Pray for me, for the staff. Pray for the Presbytery leaders you have elected – Moderator Dawn Adamy and Leadership Team chair Randy Fife. Pray for the committee chairs and all those who serve on Presbytery committees. Pray for the mission partners of Presbytery. Pray for Emily Swanson, for A Season of Discernment, and for the Leadership Team, who is leading this process. Pray for our churches and pastoral leaders. Pray for the Synod of the Trinity, its staff and leaders, and pray for the Presbyterian Church (USA). I invite you to pray so loudly that God cannot help but hear and that we cannot help but hear what God is saying to us.