Dear Plymouth,

I have missed you. I return from my sabbatical (part one) grateful and refreshed. Over the past two months, I have written poetry, slept without shame, watched with joy the trees sway with praise to the God of the universe as their chartreuse leaves clapped their hands. I pray you joined me in the ministry of restoration.

As we plan for fall, my foremost message to you is that in the coming months, we will continue to be church. In the spirit of Plymouth Church, we have achieved yet another church plant. This time, the seed of community is planted in each of your homes and in the hearts of so many across the world. And to be sure, this isn’t about maintaining the institution, but truly a measure of the African proverb, “I am because we are.”

One day, the cloud of virus and variant will lift and dissipate. We will see clearly the path to meet in person and continue a spiritually vibrant and thoughtful presence online. Plymouth, we are close, but must hold on as we stay in the tension between following our desire to be together and following science. Gratefully, God is in both.

Over the past year, we have made the statement of faith that church is about the gathering of hearts that long for love, acceptance and grace. Plymouth, we declare through worship, Bible study, and our work of justice that together with God as our helper, we are building a world in which working for the good of us all is our first priority. Following the Spirit, let us continue to draw in friends whose names we have yet to discover, while supporting and growing with those we do. We are.

As the spiritual leader of the church, I take seriously the blessed and joyful work before us and I welcome your sincere prayers for our journey before us. May Plymouth be the builder of consensus, knowing that we are the ones for whom we have been waiting. May we be a chalice of adaptive change, the holding place to gather with courage. May we break open the conversations that must be had and pursue difficult challenges with grace. May we lay down old struggles and conflict by the riverside and study war no more. May we recall our faithful call to hands-on and direct ministry, doing justice and loving mercy as we walk humbly with God.

I have missed you, indeed, for I am because we are. We have been. We are. We shall be, with God as our helper. Blessed be. -Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown