by Phillip Kroh
I am writing the letter this week as a way to say thank you to everyone in the congregation as I finish up my internship with Broadway Church at the end of the summer. One silver lining of online church this last year was that it allowed me to worship and serve alongside you all from Lawrence, and I am grateful for the experiences I have shared with you all.
Broadway will forever be my first church experience as a believer, and it has been a vital one that shows me how church can be different than what else I have been exposed to. While still containing recognizable elements of music, prayer, and teaching, worship at Broadway does not have an oppressive, claustrophobic quality to it that I feel even at other progressive churches. As someone who plans to devote their life to ministry, but who sometimes feels uncomfortable in ministry spaces, these experiences of worship that is familiar yet not harmful have been crucial. To know that church can be something I can enjoy is a blessing that I will carry with me till I join more fully with Christ.
You all as fellow worshipers have also been a blessing to me, demonstrating that I can do church a little bit different and still be accepted, that the size of a congregation matters little in regards to spiritual presence, and that, if you’ll forgive me, that older people can in fact have interesting, intelligent and worthwhile thoughts and beliefs. You all have repeatedly joyfully surprised me with your wit, depth of thought, and your personal theologies which in my eyes often surpass those I am exposed to in seminary. For what you all have taught me with and without intention, I am thankful.
Lastly, I would like to give a special shout out to Pastor Amy for all she has done for and alongside me throughout my time at Broadway. The trust Amy has shown me in allowing me to try new things and express myself as I try to figure out how I can be a Christian has been the greatest blessing of all. I have wrestled with my identity as a Christian since it first began to develop a couple of months before I decided to go to seminary. Without Amy’s support, guidance, and love I would not be who you all have known. An influence that will persist throughout all my ministry in a way similar to a parent’s care.
I look forward to my last handful of weeks with you all, thank you all again for all you have been and continue to be.