 Pastor Appreciation Day is Sunday, October 10, 2021. This celebration happens in the month of October, which also happens to be Pastor Appreciation Month. The celebration of this day began with the idea to celebrate the contributions of priests, ministers, reverends, and pastors to the country, especially in the United States. It is also the day that encourages ministers and pastors to keep up with their good work and continue their contributions.
As Pastor to Pastors in this Presbytery, I know how much more difficult the work has become for these pastors over the past nineteen months, as they've had to pivot and adapt to the challenges of being the Church in a pandemic that has entangled many in a wired and wireless world. One of our pastors even had a baby during this pandemic! She and her husband presented their baby daughter for baptism during worship on Sunday, September 19, 2021. While Pastor Appreciation Day officially started in 1992, nearly two-thousand years prior to this, the Apostle Paul admonished the members of the congregation in Thessalonica with these words, "And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders, who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love" (1 Thessalonians 5:12, The Message). Pastor Appreciation Day provides you with an opportunity to thank our pastors for his or her service to the church and community. It is my hope that, either on Sunday, October 10, 2021, or some other time during the month of October, our congregations take time to overwhelm their pastors with appreciation and love. Faithfully yours, Danny C. Murphy General Presbyter
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 A worldwide pandemic, coupled with recent extreme weather conditions during the month of August 2021, makes one wonder: When is it ever going to end? We have seen cases of Covid-19 continue to rise as the more contagious Delta variant leads to spikes in infections and hospitalizations across the globe. In the U.S., southern states experienced a surge in cases, with many hospitals at or near capacity. According to a recent New York Times article, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Texas are reporting some of the highest case rates in the country. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake stuck the Tiburon Peninsula in the Caribbean nation of Haiti. At least 2,200 people were confirmed dead, 12,260 were injured, 136,800 houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged, 24,400 people were displaced, and 650,000 people required humanitarian assistance. Floodwaters inundated Middle Tennessee, where Waverly, a city in Humphreys County, Tennessee, was the hardest hit. Search and rescue efforts were suspended after identifying 20 people who were killed as a result of water topping the banks of area waterways and flooding the county. Among the dead were 7-month-old twins, swept out of their father’s arms by floodwaters, and 55-year-old Linda Almond Bryant. Bryant started a Facebook Live video. “We’re being flooded right now,” she said as water pushed debris by a door. “Really scary.” It was the last video she appeared to post to her Facebook page. The flood claimed her life, according to her son. Flash floods swept across western North Carolina in the wake of Tropical Depression Fred. Five people were killed and one person was missing in Cruso, NC, where homes were swept off their foundations. The flood caused at least $300 million worth of damage and destroyed 225 structures in Cruso. This figure did not include damage in the towns of Canton and Clyde. Ida, a category 4 Hurricane, blasted ashore in Louisiana as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S., knocking out the New Orleans power grid, blowing roofs off buildings and reversing the flow of the Mississippi River as it rushed from the Louisiana coast into one of the nation’s most important industrial corridors. Hurricane Ida made landfall exactly 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the state to become one of the deadliest and the costliest hurricanes to hit the U.S. in recorded history. The devasting Caldor wildfire that set California ablaze has caused thousands of people to quickly flee South Lake Tahoe as the resort city came under an evacuation order and the wildfire raced toward the lake. Our Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center in Nevada, has so far been spared from the furious wildfire raging in California and the Tahoe basin, and has become a safe haven for more than 100 people. At least 729 structures, including nearly 490 homes, have been destroyed by the Caldor Fire. I am pleased to announce that through our Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) program the Presbyterian Church (USA) is responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic and to each of the natural disasters mentioned above. Due to the connectional nature of our denomination, you and/or your congregation may join with other presbyterians and help support our Church’s response using the links below. COVID-19 RESPONSE PDA pulled 2.7 million dollars from reserves to seed the COVID-19 ongoing response fund, both in the United States and internationally. These are funds that have been given by donors to PDA’s general fund, meant to meet the response needs of disasters, small or large, that are not able to be funded by special appeals. Support the COVID-19 response with designated gifts to DR000148 HAITI EARTHQUAKE Working closely with Presbyterian World Mission, our traditional partners on the ground and ACT Alliance, PDA is responding to emergency needs such as WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), emergency power generators, shelter, food, first aid and more. Support the Haiti Earthquake response with designated gifts to OG100000-Haiti TENNESSEE FLOODING PDA is responding to this disaster and processed initial assistance grants to meet emergency needs. Support the Tennessee Flooding response with designated gifts to DR000191 NORTH CAROLINA FLOODING PDA is working with Presbyterian leadership on the ground as they assess the flood damages caused by Tropical Depression Fred. Support the North Carolina Flooding response with designated gifts to DR000191 HURRICANE IDA PDA is responding to Hurricane Ida. The initial assessment of the damage is staggering. The needs of those impacted is changing daily due to lack of access to power, refrigeration, water and housing. Support the Hurricane Ida response with designated gifts to DR000169 CALDOR WILDFIRE PDA is responding to U.S. wildfires. Support Caldor Wildfire response with designated gifts to DR000165 PLEASE NOTE: If you would like to serve on a response team that is mobilized to help people who are suffering due to natural disasters, then please contact Elder Laura Jordan, the moderator of Trinity’s Disaster Assistance Team (TDAT), at 803-466-8440. If your church has a disaster assistance/response plan in place, please share that information with Laura, as well. Faithfully yours, Danny C. Murphy General Presbyter  Live spelled backwards is Evil. We are to live a life that moves us forward into a deeper relationship with God. However, when we live a life that’s backward, we succumb to evil and move in a direction that takes us away from God.
The good news is that with the Holy Spirit’s help we don’t have to succumb to evil by giving in to vengeance, revenge, and retaliation. We can conquer evil by choosing to live our life by doing good toward those who mistreat us. Dear Siblings in Christ, On July 27, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reinstated their recommendations for wearing masks in indoor gatherings, regardless of vaccination status. This change is due to the emergence of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and subsequent rising case numbers and hospitalizations in some parts of the country. According to the most recent CDC data, South Carolina is a state in the high-risk category. In fact, as of August 3, 2021, all eleven counties that comprise Trinity Presbytery are either in the high* or very high-risk categories (Abbeville, Aiken, Edgefield*, Fairfield, Greenwood*, Laurens*, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Richland, and Saluda*). Every pandemic throughout human history has ended. We know that this pandemic will end, too. While we are yearning to speak of this pandemic in the past tense, the reality is that it continues for the present and immediate future. Therefore, as Sessions establish criteria for all church-related gatherings, including return to in-person worship and other indoor gatherings, the Presbytery Executive Coordinating Team strongly encourages everyone to continue to use common sense, wisdom, Christian love for others, and abide by all safety protocols. If you have returned to in-person worship and have not submitted a copy of your return to in-person worship plans for inclusion in your church files at the presbytery office, as directed by the Presbytery Coordinating Team, then please do so today. For more information, please check the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html#print. For the most up-to-date information on vaccination status and rates of infection, please visit https://www.covidactnow.org and https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map. These websites are real time U.S. COVID Risk & Vaccine Trackers. To find a vaccination site near you, please visit: https://www.vaccines.gov Faithfully yours, Danny C. Murphy General Presbyter  “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV I find it so easy to be thankful when everything is going well. When my prayers are being answered; when things that I've been visualizing are physically manifesting themselves in my life; and when I'm executing the plans and achieving the goals that I've set for myself, it's easy for me to be thankful. However, I find it more challenging to be thankful when things aren't going so well in my life. How about you? Do you find it easy to give thanks when your day is going well? You’re wearing your favorite t-shirt. You got a great parking spot. Your coffee is the perfect temperature with just the right mix of sugar and creamer. You get lots of likes on the selfie you posted to Instagram. But what about those moments when things aren’t going so well? You spill your coffee on your jeans. You have to wait in a long line of customers at the bank or grocery store. You realize the battery in your smartphone is dead. In moments like these, giving thanks is difficult. But giving thanks is also essential if you want to navigate these experiences with a positive outlook. This doesn’t mean being phony or pasting on a smile no matter what. Rather, it’s about taking a moment to shift your focus. Instead of grumbling about the long line of customers, thank God for the cashier and pray for her family. When your smartphone needs a charge, thank God for all of the impressive technology to which you have access. Put differently, shift your focus by choosing to turn the uncomfortable moments in life into thankfulness. Let's pray: God, when I’m tempted to complain and grumble, help to stop and shift my focus. I want to be someone who lives in continual gratitude. Let me never lose sight of the blessings You’ve poured out on me. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen. You Can Make An Incredible Play Against Hunger With The Souper Bowl of Caring February 7, 2021 Watch the Video to Learn How... One of the challenges of the church is to share God's love in tangible ways. The Souper Bowl of Caring is an effective way to accomplish this. I encourage all churches to join in this year's effort to raise 1 Million dollars in South Carolina! Faithfully yours,
Danny C. Murphy General Presbyter SCRIPTURE: “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too” (Philippians 2:4,NLT). In this text, the Apostle Paul is dealing with a problem that if it isn’t resolved will allow the destructive forces seeking to hinder the progress of the gospel to succeed. Unfortunately, there isn’t unity over what needs to be done in order to reduce the progress of these destructive forces. In the midst of all of this, Paul presents a proposal to address the issue at hand. He encourages the Philippian Christians to join him in combating these destructive forces by saying, “Don’t look out only for your own interest, but to take an interest in others, too.” This reminds me of the conflicts we’re currently experiencing related to a best practice for reducing the spread of Covid-19 infections. While in recent times we’ve received mixed messages from the political community, the medical and scientific communities have been consistent in saying that in order to reduce the spread of Covid-19 infections, wear a cloth mask. Now this doesn’t mean that wearing a mask in public is going to guarantee you won’t become infected; it simply reduces your chances of either spreading the coronavirus or contracting the coronavirus. The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. So, here’s the question. Is not wearing a mask out in public being selfish? On the one hand, it’s not being selfish if you’ve to go out into public and you meet one of the conditions provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC, “Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.” Beyond that, every state has its own guidelines regarding the wearing of face coverings. For example, the Department of Public Health in California gives mask exemptions to “persons with a medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that prevents wearing a face covering.” Unlike the California Department of Public Health, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control doesn’t give mask exemptions beyond what the CDC has stated. In fact, the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced yesterday 1,573 new confirmed cases Covid-19 and 52 additional confirmed deaths. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 83,720 and confirmed deaths to 1,505. Therefore, unless you have a legitimate health reason for not wearing a mask, then it’s best to wear a mask when you go out into public settings. Here’s why. You’re going to come into contact with people who you don’t know how well they are. On the other hand, in my opinion, it’s selfish not to wear a mask when you don’t have a legitimate health reason for not doing so. There are people who are simply refusing to wear a mask. They have no legitimate health reason for not wearing a mask in public settings. Unfortunately, masks have become a flashpoint, today. For example, I heard a man on the news the other day say, “I’m not going to wear a mask just to make someone else comfortable.” Again, for example, when a lady was asked publicly why she wasn’t wearing a mask, she replied, “I don’t want to wear a mask and nobody can make me.” In fact, she started blowing her breathe in the direction of those questioning her. Still others are having coronavirus parties and some public businesses are refusing to practice social distancing. In the picture above, two men who aren’t wearing masks are blowing their breathe on a man who is wearing a mask. Masks have become such a flashpoint, today, until people have been shot and killed following conflicts over wearing masks in public places. Now one of the solutions to all of this is what the Apostle Paul proposed. Paul claimed that if the Philippians wanted to participate successfully with him in the struggle against the destructive forces seeking to kill the progress of the gospel, then they must not look out only for their own interests, but to be concern for the needs and interests of others. Likewise, the Covid-19 virus will continue to spread and kill people here in the United States until we have enough folk, who don’t have health reasons for not wearing a mask, are willing to stop looking out for their own interest and be concerned enough for the needs and interests of others to wear a mask whenever they go out into public places. To this end, our Western Cluster of Churches have started the Wearing Is Caring Project. The Wearing Is Caring Project provides 2-layer polyester fabric, black or white masks imprinted with the PCUSA logo and the Christian message “Love One Another as I have loved you.” The proceeds from the sale of the masks will be used to purchase much needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help protect the high-risk seniors and the staff members of the Presbyterian Communities of South Carolina. Sessions may order masks to be distributed to members of their congregations by contacting Rev. Brad Christie at 864-229-5814. PRAYER: Dear God, please help us to guard against any selfishness that might lead to dissension; and empower us to show genuine concern for the needs and interests of others during this Covid-19 pandemic. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. Trinity Presbytery Western Cluster PCUSA Mask Project   One week before Ahumad Aubery’s death by two white vigilantes’, my wife, Judy, and I were walking through our subdivision early in the morning. I pulled my cellphone out of my right pants pocket and my driver’s license fell on the ground. Judy asked, “Why do you have your driver’s license?” I replied, “Because I’m a black man living in America. If a white officer should happen to stop me, then I’m prepared to prove that I live in this community.”
What is it that causes a highly educated and gifted, African American male, who has been the first African American to obtain significant achievements in several areas during his lifetime, to feel the need to carry his driver’s license while taking a walk through his subdivision so that he’s always prepared to prove he lives in the community should a white police officer stop him? While there are several contributing factors, I’ll highlight only a few. Let me to start with my first encounter with white police officers. I was eight years old. I was playing in a vacant lot near my house with several of my friends on a Saturday afternoon. A patrol car pulled over to the curb. Two white police officers stepped out of the car and asked, “What are you all doing?” I replied, “We’re playing.” The officer stated, “Well, one of you are going to jail, today!” Then the officer grabbed me by the arm, ushered me to the police car, opened the back door, and ordered me to get in the back seat. They got into the front seat of the patrol car and pulled off with me crying hysterically in the back seat over and over again, “Officers, I didn’t do anything! I don’t want to go to jail! Please take me home! I want my mama!” The officers were laughing in the front seat. They drove me around for about 5 minutes and then dropped me off where they picked me up. They said, “If you tell anyone what happened today, we’ll come back and arrest you and take you to jail for real next time.” All my friends had scattered. I stood there alone. While I was glad to be back in my neighborhood, I was traumatized by what happened to me that day. I walked home and never told anyone what those white police officers did to me. In fact, this is the first time I’m sharing this story. Once while driving with a friend of mine, I was pulled over by a white police officer. I did what probably every African American male has been taught to do when he’s pulled over by a white officer, in order to increase his chances of getting home alive. I rolled down the driver’s window and made sure that both of my hands were grasping the top of the steering wheel, so that my hands would be in full view when the officer looked inside the car. When the police officer approached the driver’s window, I asked, “What’s the problem officer?” He replied, “Let me see your driver’s license.” Before making any movement, I explained, “My driver’s license is in my wallet. My wallet is in my right back pocket. I’m going to use my right hand to retrieve it so that I can give you my driver’s license. Is that alright officer?” He said, “Yes.” After slowly removing my wallet from my right back pocket and retrieving my driver’s license, I handed it to the officer. He looked at my driver’s license and then asked, “What’s a black man like you doing driving a nice car like this?” At the time, I was driving my friend’s brand new, black Cadillac Sedan Deville. The officer then asked, “May I search your vehicle?” My friend who owned the car was upset because we had just experienced being pulled over for a DWB (Driving While Black). Therefore, he said, “No, not unless you either have probable cause to legally do so or you have a search warrant.” The officer took my driver’s license and returned to his patrol car. It seemed like an eternity before he returned. Fortunately, when he did return, he handed me my driver’s license and let us go on our way. However, he followed behind us in his patrol car for several blocks before turning around and driving away. I’ve also seen white police officers pull up to a group of white youth hanging out in an empty parking lot on a Friday night. The officers briefly laughed and talked with them before driving off only to pull up across the street with their blue lights flashing to a group of black youth hanging out in an empty parking lot and ordering them to disperse. Recently, I was so deeply focused on my dying mother until I temporarily shut out what was happening in the larger world. After my mother’s death, I refocused on the larger community only to discover that George Floyd, an African American, was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest. Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. What’s even more horrific is that 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time occurred after Floyd became unresponsive. Now, it’s just hard for me to wrap my mind around how Dylan Roof, a white man, who massacred nine African Americans attending Bible study at Mother Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC, can be captured by police and the officers assuage his hunger by buying him food from Burger King, all because it would be considered inhumane treatment for them not to do so. However, George Floyd can be lying face down, handcuffed, with an officer’s knee on his neck, while stating that he can’t breathe, crying out for his mama, begging for the officer not to kill him, and the officers present didn’t consider this inhumane treatment. I’m not asking that African Americans be given special treatment under the law. I’m asking that they be given equal treatment under the law. Unlike Dylan Roof, George Floyd was denied due process of law for allegedly passing off a counterfeit $20 at a market, all because those who are paid through our tax dollars to protect and serve all the citizens in a given community became the judge, jury, and executioner. As a result, on May 25, 2020, while in police custody, Floyd was unjustly murdered in broad daylight on a Minneapolis, Minnesota street. So, what is it that causes a highly educated and gifted, African American male, who has been the first African American to obtain significant achievements in several areas during his lifetime, to feel the need to carry his driver’s license while taking a walk through his subdivision so that he’s always prepared to prove he lives in the community should a white officer stop him? Well, it has to do with both the personal and collective encounters of white police inequities and brutality inflected upon African Americans through the years in America. Now at 8 years old, I’ll admit I thought that all white police officers were bad. At 64 years old, I realize that’s not true. In fact, I have a brother who has spent his entire career in law enforcement. He currently serves as a Captain over one of the seven police districts in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Like all professions, there are good white police officers and bad white police officers. We have bad doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, and clergy, just to name a few. We have to hold these bad people accountable and remove them when necessary from the positions of trust that they occupy. While the message of those who are peacefully protesting police brutality against African Americans resonates with me, I believe that violence is counterproductive. It serves as a distraction. It shifts the focus from where it should be; namely, on the Floyd Family and the facts of the case. Having said that, however, I fully understand what the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. meant when he said, “A riot is the language of the unheard.” At this significant moment in American history, it’s my hope that we truly hear what’s being said and put in place the necessary policing reforms that will prevent this situation from reoccurring. After all, this is more than a black and white issue. This is a right and wrong issue. This is a moral issue. This is a justice issue. This is a systemic red, white and blue issue that has far too long fostered disparate law enforcement practices when it comes to how people of African descent in the United States are treated by law enforcement personnel and requires drastic changes. Therefore, I call upon you...
Danny C. Murphy General Presbyter “But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream” Amos 5:24, NKJV. |
Rev. Dr. Danny Murphy, SR.The ultimate aim of Trinity Presbytery is to equip and empower our member congregations to become communities of faith, hope, love, witness and service, so that those who do not know Jesus might come to know, love and serve him and so that those who do know Jesus might come to love him more intimately and serve him more faithfully. Archives
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