“Let Endurance Have Its Full Effect”: PSWR Keynote, Rev. April Lewton, October 2017

In October 2017, Rev. April Lewton, NBA Vice President of Development and Marketing, was invited as the keynote speaker for the Pacific Southwest Regional Gathering. She reflected on the event’s theme scripture, James 1: 2-4:

“My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Weaving together the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, the 130th anniversary of the National Benevolent Association’s ministry, and her own perspectives as a 1.5 generation immigrant, Filipina-American, April shares how faithful endurance, even through times of tension, can yield abundance: “As people of faith and as the Disciples Church, we indeed have what we need to make meaningful change, transformation, and justice. While we have the tensions of our global world and social and cultural challenges, we also have the beauty of our shared communion table and the grace and peace that comes from breaking bread and sharing the cup of life together.”

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