The Presbyterians of Lake Tahoe

Kris and I were kindly invited to join Faith Presbyterian Church of Sacramento at the Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center. Once when I was speaking in Placerville on the other side of the lake and over the mountains toward Sacramento we had planned on a day trip to Tahoe but it snowed and the roads were closed and we spent the day in the villages in the hills. So this was  first time for us — and Lake Tahoe is magical.

We arrived on a Thursday after flying into Reno (via Las Vegas) and came upon Tahoe on a crystal clear day — blue water, mountains on the far side, and a great clear sky. (The smoke from the Rim fire came our way the next day.) We had dinner in South Lake Tahoe, spent the evening back on the grounds of the camp, and awoke to spend Friday morning and afternoon driving from South Lake Tahoe up the western shore of Tahoe to Homewood…. where we took in a spectacular site from Inspiration Point.

Friday evening the church folks arrived, and my work began: I spoke about Paul, about the church as a genuine mixing of people of all sorts (Jews and Gentiles), and the way forward is to learn to live with one another well: prayer, love, grace, gospel and learning that God’s Grand Yes (2 Corinthians 1) means we have to echo back that Yes to all the others in the church with us.

We struck chords with many at Faith Presbyterian, so it was a special time of fellowship for us. Wonderful music, good food in the dining area, the opportunity to see a yellow-bellied marmot, and Steller’s Jays everywhere — a little bit on the order of the all-too-familiar annoying presence of Yankee fans — flashy, noisy, and confident.

Thanks to Jeff Chapman (and Esther, who happens to be a Cubs fan, rah, rah, rah, go team go) and to Jim Zazzera for the invitation, to the many with whom we had wonderful conversations over the three days, most especially Barbara Tracy who kept us all in line and on time. A wonderful camp at a spectacular location.