Outward OPC will soon be 5 years old and we have published almost 250 articles, videos, and podcasts. Because we have a committed audience, we are able to get a good idea of what posts hit a particular chord with people. We can see the analytics (reads, shares, social media posts, etc) but we also get good feedback from people–a couple of outreach committees using a particular post or a pastor encouraging his congregation to check out a post–anecdotes like that.
With that in mind, we want to intersperse a new series over the next few months. We are calling it “Hidden Gems.” These are posts from the past that we know struck a particular chord with people, but we also noticed that they maybe didn’t get the attention they probably deserve. A great post may not get proper attention for various reasons–the time of year it was posted, posted on the heels of other popular posts and got lost in the shadow, or just the unknown rhythm of life in a busy, information-saturated world.
Our first feature is a video that you may need to bookmark or send yourself an email reminder. It’s longer than most of our posts (probably why it’s a “hidden gem”) at 33 min. But if you can find the time, maybe on a Sunday, it is worth it. The video is of Alicia Williams speaking at a conference held by Covenant OPC in St. Augustine about 3 years ago when Eric Watkins was the pastor there. They hosted a conference on reforming race relationships and Alicia gave a testimony about what people leave behind when they join a Reformed Church.
Alicia, a member of Christ Church in Charleston, SC (PCA – Pastor Jon Payne), gives her testimony of what it was like to come from a very non-Reformed background into a Reformed church. We are commending this video to you because her journey is one many of us probably aren’t very familiar with, and it shines a spotlight on the types of things a person may have to leave behind and the pain and loss that may be involved with making such a transition. Everyone we know won’t be in this situation, but it makes us think about what circumstances a person may be in as they make their journey into our church. This talk was eye-opening to those in attendance, and we think it will be to you also. (Please note: The video ends abruptly as the recording ended just a couple of minutes before the talk, but what we have stands on its own).
