A Visit With the Moderatorby Don Padget Kenneth Dick is the 2002 moderator of the Synod of Living Waters. His favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 3:5-6. It's a verse he had to write in his Bible and memorize back in Sunday School days, and it stayed with him. His favorite chapter in the Bible is the 11th chapter of Hebrews, the roll call of saints. His favorite hymn is "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling." If he could meet any one person, who may be alive or dead, he would choose St. Francis of Assisi, and his favorite book he has read recently is St. Francis of Assisi, A Revolutionary Life by Adrian House. I asked him, "Some people seem to want to get rid of Synods. Do you think there's still a role for Synod?" "Absolutely," he said, and talked about being connected. The Presbyterian Church is a connected church. No church stands alone, but is connected to every other Presbyterian Church through presbyteries, synods, and General Assembly. We care about each other, support each other, learn from each other, and rejoice in each other's company. At least we should. However, staying connected isn't natural to us. We Americans are proud of our independence. We stand alone, and succeed or fail on our own merits and our own strength. Our churches rise and fall on their own, and if they can't make it, we close them and sell the buildings. Most of us have sermons to write, hospital patients to visit, youth groups to keep active, and we have little time for Presbytery work. Staying connected is hard work, Ken said. We have to haul out to Presbytery and work in its committees. Then, often at a meeting we never wanted to attend, we are surprised by the blessing we feel as we connect with our brothers and sisters in the church. Ken practices what he preaches. He is not only pastor of Smiths Grove and Pine Grove Presbyterian Churches north of Bowling Green. He is also stated clerk of his presbytery, and he volunteered to be a representative to Synod. "Why?" I asked, surprised that anybody volunteered to be a Synod representative. "Because," he said, "it's one more connection we have to work to keep alive." Through Synod, a church in Kentucky wanting to begin a Hispanic ministry can learn from a church in Mississippi that already has one, and a church in Alabama can work with a church in Tennessee developing a model for reaching the unchurched. Colleges in Tennessee, from Memphis to Johnson City, work together and across Presbytery boundaries in campus ministry. Ken's church work alone is enough to keep most people busy, but he has other connections too. He is married to Delores who is head of the math department at a Bowling Green high school and they have two boys in high school who run track. And, on his farm, he raises cows, chickens, ducks, geese, and peacocks. He is especially proud of his peacocks. He has several varieties, and I marveled at an all white one. Ken was born and raised in Southern California as a Southern Baptist. But during college, by a complicated road, he became youth director for a Reformed Presbyterian Church. His involvement in the church deepened and, after college, he enrolled in the Reformed Presbyterian Seminary in St. Louis. I asked him about his conservative background, and Ken said he considers himself an evangelical (if any label fits anybody), conservative in Bible and liberal on social issues. He also holds Masters Degrees in religion and humanities and in Marriage and Family Therapy, a D.Min. from Vanderbilt in Pastoral Theology, and a Doctor of Education in Human Development. He is a licensed family counselor in Kentucky, and has worked as a counselor at a home for adolescent boys. I forgot to ask Ken what sermon he would preach if he could only preach one, but I'm sure it would be on connectedness -- between people, churches, and presbyteries; with families and the creatures of the farm, and with God. I imagine his text would come from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.
Synod Moderator Kenneth Dick and friend
<< Previous | Contents | Next >>
|
