A Message from Mark
4/13/26
Is This Real Life?
Mark McCormick, General Presbyter
The question has been asked so many times in wildly various scenarios. “Are you for real?” There was a well-known video of a little boy in his car seat after a medical procedure trying to determine if what he was experiencing as the anesthesia wore off was real. At one point, through his struggle he asks his parent, “Is this real life?” It can be both exciting and a little scary when we try to align our current moment with our lived experience.
We find this same sentiment expressed in the Bible. Usually, it is in a response to a specific call of God upon someone’s life. We can hear this in Moses’ response to the LORD in Exodus 3, “Who am I that I should [be the one to] go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” It is the sentiment that Gideon expresses with his double trial of the fleece in Judges 6. Gideon sought affirmation of the Lord’s instruction by laying out the fleece and setting the trial that confirmation would be evident if the fleece were wet and the ground around it dry. After finding that very condition on the next morning, he immediately decided to test that confirmation by reversing the conditions so that it would be determined by the fleece being dry and the ground around it wet. Gideon tested the reality of the call that God made upon him. Twice! Jeremiah clearly has this sense in chapter 1, when he claims his youth and inexperience surely disqualify him from the mission the LORD declares is his purpose. In each of these moments, the affirmation from our LORD who calls is the same. The success of this call is not dependent upon who they are, it is dependent upon who the LORD is!
In my case, this sense of “Is this real?” came upon me as I was taking up the position of General Presbyter on the first day of the month of April. The significance of the moment was certainly not lost upon me as I drove to the Presbytery office on my first day. It was a doubly happy moment when a good brother in the Presbytery called me to affirm that there was no April Fool’s joke involved, it was indeed real: I was confirmed to be the next General Presbyter of Sheppards and Lapsley! This is real life!
And what an exciting real life it is! I have been so very gratified and encouraged by the steady stream of welcomes and affirmations, all expressed with a deep sense of hopefulness and prayers for our work together. That is what I want to affirm today and throughout my tenure as your General Presbyter: this work in central Alabama is indeed our work. It is the invitation of a gracious God and a loving Lord to each of us to consider our call as an opportunity to participate in the great and hopeful labors of reconciliation, restoration, and consolation.
We join an immensely important and historic ministry here in central Alabama, initiated by a great host of faithful folk who have labored in these bounds. We can think of the 100 years of Christian worship and service beautifully celebrated this past Sunday in the Centennial worship in the sanctuary of Independent Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, the 150 years of ministry and education celebrated in the Sesquicentennial celebrations at Stillman College this year. These two historic ministries join their older and younger sister-ministries across this Presbytery, demonstrating that Presbyterians have been partnering with and equipping worshipping communities, and building Beloved Community in central Alabama since arriving. And yet, in each case, in each ministry, the success of the call and the ministry has not been, and is not now, due solely to the individual called. Any success we may know in ministry benefits from the work of God, who calls, equips, and prepares us and the way for our work.
I look forward to serving with you and to serving you as your General Presbyter. I move into this ministry with a hope born of the confidence that we are invited to this work by a gracious and generous God who is persistent and faithful. Through whatever comes, I am hopeful that we serve this ministry together with the faithful knowledge that God provides us with all that we need to accomplish all that we are called to do. This is real life!
Hopefully,
Mark