Walking Alongside
A New Year's Reflection
At the turn of a new year, I once reached out to fifty-two close friends and family, inquiring about their favorite Scripture verses. Over the course of that year, I placed their verses in a journal, reflected on a different passage each week, and prayed for every person by name.
The Rev. Paul Pingel, a compassionate Lutheran pastor in our community, was among those I had contacted. He offered two favorite passages in response. The first was 1 Corinthians 12:27, which he described as “a spiritually powerful verse for the church.” The second was more personal. He wrote, “My confirmation verse, Jude 20–21, was chosen by a pastor’s kid who wanted to be different, yet I believe it was Spirit-led because it reminds me how God showers grace and invites our daily participation in faith.”
Paul’s confirmation verse got me thinking about the brothers of Jesus. We find them listed in Matthew’s Gospel: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, also known as Jude (Matthew 13:55). I can only imagine what it must have been like to grow up in the same home as Jesus, raised by the same parents, and shaped by similar experiences. We hear in Scripture the voices of two of those brothers: James and Jude. James is well known for his teaching on faith and works. Jude, though less familiar, calls believers to deepen and strengthen their faith in Christ.
Jude wrote his brief letter of twenty-five verses to believers, likely Jewish Christians, hoping to reflect on the salvation they shared in Christ. Yet he felt compelled first to send an urgent warning against false teachers who had distorted the gospel.
He offers guidance and a blessing, reminding the church that the good news of Jesus and God’s freeing grace is worth protecting. He urges believers to keep the faith, especially when it feels threatened by cheap grace or deceptive teaching.
Near the close of his letter, Jude writes: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 20-21, New Revised Standard Version)
Jude’s message encouraged believers to remain faithful to Christ and continues to speak to us today as we keep the faith by walking alongside God and one another.
As I reflected on Jude’s words, they reminded me of Pastor Paul’s ministry in his church and within our small community. Upon his arrival to Waynesboro in 2012, Paul continued the long-standing tradition of Lenten services among the downtown churches and helped establish a new partnership with a Church of God in Christ congregation to bear witness to racial reconciliation and justice. He earned the respect of both conservative and progressive pastors alike while serving on nonprofit boards and supporting mission efforts throughout the city.
For over a decade, Paul has faithfully led our ecumenical clergy group. He not only organized and guided our regular gatherings, but was often the first to reach out to new pastors with a gracious invitation for coffee or a meal. What began as lunch among colleagues has grown into a trusted community of faith leaders.
The demands of work can leave people in all professions a bit weary, but gathering with those who understand both its joys and struggles offers a vital source of strength. Around a table while sharing a meal, we learn one another’s names and discover the passions that shape our work. In honest conversation and mutual support, we are reminded that we are not alone. Some may call it networking; I call it friendship.
These regular lunches have led to meaningful work in the kingdom, including ecumenical youth mission efforts and the creation of a new nonprofit that helps prevent individuals from becoming homeless.
It has been a true honor to walk alongside Paul, from clergy lunches to community ministry, especially in 2022 when our congregations, Grace Lutheran and Westminster Presbyterian, answered God’s call to sponsor a Congolese refugee family through Church World Service. After the initial phase of learning the details of refugee resettlement, sorting through finances, and finding a home and furnishing it, we slowly realized that much of what the eight-member family needed was a consistent, supportive presence. And so, together, numerous members and two pastors navigated language barriers, taught driving lessons, attended medical appointments, supported school and job efforts, adjusted to cultural differences, shared meals, and advocated for their needs. Over the past three years, we discovered that no matter our denomination or land of origin, we are not so different after all.
One of my fondest memories with Pastor Paul and the family came when we took them to Virginia Beach. While celebrating their third year of calling America home, the parents mentioned that their children had never seen the ocean. Paul and I began discussing the possibility of a beach trip. Over the next few months, each home visit confirmed more details, including who would attend and how long we would stay. Eventually, we planned a one-day trip to Virginia Beach, with Paul and me accompanying the father and four of the six children. Church members contributed by lending sand toys and covering transportation and food costs.
We left early on a Saturday, with Paul driving the minivan and the father sitting beside him in the passenger seat. I sat in the very back with the two girls, and the two boys sat in front of us. About ten minutes into the trip, the youngest child asked, “Are we almost to the beach?”
Along the way, we tried a few car games and discovered it was their first time playing them. The license plate game did not work well because the children could barely see out the windows. We switched to the ABC sign game, looking for words on signs that began with each letter of the alphabet. Toward the end of the alphabet, we bent the rules a bit, allowing words like “exit” to count.
We had talked about the beach all summer long and during the three-hour car ride, so it was a joy to finally stand with our feet in the sand and allow the waves to wash over our toes. The boys rushed straight into the water and, with scrunched-up noses, told us how salty it tasted. Paul and I laughed, realizing we had forgotten to mention the salt water. But really, some things in life can only be truly learned by experience.
The two girls were more cautious at first. The ocean felt overwhelming to them, but soon they were jumping over the waves and letting the water wash over them as they lay on the sandy shore. We ate lunch together on the beach, and the afternoon seemed to pass as quickly as it began. Before long, we were hauling the cooler and chairs back to the van and talking about the crashing waves all the way home.
It was a day to remember.
The beach trip will remain one of my favorite memories with Paul. I will also treasure a simple lunch we once shared at a local park, where he looked toward retirement and reflected on his years of ministry. He spoke about the three congregations he had served over three decades and about a transformative trip to Nicaragua, where he met a school director who poured her life into students and their families.
He then talked about the Lutheran term accompaniment, the spiritual practice of walking alongside one another in community. That word, together with his favorite verses from Jude, describes his ministry well. Accompaniment reflects how Paul walked alongside others in faith as a fellow companion and faithful follower of Christ. His calm presence welcomed without judgment and left people feeling connected to our Lord. In his personal and professional life, he embraced the gifts of worship and service, and then widened them to include not only himself and his congregation, but countless others as well.
Jude’s call to “keep yourselves in the love of God” names this way of walking together. With the Spirit’s help, we cannot keep mercy and kindness to ourselves for very long, because almost without realizing it, they begin to flow naturally between us. These moments help form a spiritual practice of remaining in God’s presence, reminding us that even in tough and uncertain times, God abides with us all.
As Paul often said, God has shown us love and invites us each day to follow in faith. May we, too, walk alongside others in this new year, offering care and compassion in all that we do, in all that we are, and in all that we can become together.
Serve and Love Well,
Rev. April H. Cranford
May this Christmas season and the upcoming New Year be wrapped in love and overflowing with joy.
—The Cranfords, River (20), April, Reed, and Haven (18)