One of my favorite hymns from growing up is Katherine Hankey’s “I Love to Tell the Story.” The chorus, based on her poem and set to music by William G. Fischer, is familiar to many of us.
“I love to tell the story
‘Twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story,
Of Jesus and His love.”
By now you have probably seen my name attached to many features in the Palmer News and Notes and the Eastern Magazine since early 2023. When I was asked to return to the Palmer community as the “seminary storyteller,” I was tasked to do exactly that: tell the story of Palmer. The story of Palmer is the library of stories from all our students and alumni, our faculty and staff. And with each story that I hear from you, I am reminded that I am telling the old, old story of Jesus and His love. Listening to you and telling the story of this community is a joy and an honor.
For Christians, Advent is the beginning of a story. It is a beginning that starts not with God’s joining with humanity in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, but with the longing and the expectation that there must be Hope to come. Advent begins with an absence of justice, for ourselves and for the world.
When I sit with you and hear your story, at some point this absence arrives. It is usually at the beginning. Then God seemingly appears! And more often than not, you share how, in hindsight, God was making appearances all along.
I began at Palmer in spring of 2013 to study for my MDiv. The seminary was renting space in Valley Forge, and the move from the City Ave location was quite fresh. The feeling of loss amongst faculty, staff, and students alike was tangible in many conversations. For my part, I came to Palmer to be closer to my now wife. I had interviewed at several area seminaries in fall 2012. Most asked me why I thought I was fit for their seminary. One admissions representative went so far as to say somewhat derisively, after learning I grew up American Baptist, that their school placed a great emphasis on academics and scholarship and I should be prepared for that.
The following day was my interview with Palmer. The admissions representative asked me one question right away: “How can Palmer equip you for ministry, and form your walk with Jesus?”
When I think of Palmer Theological Seminary and College, with all of the transitions in its history, I think of that moment in my interview. The Whole Gospel for the Whole World through Whole Persons was present even in that first interview question.
My seminary experience was not smooth. Like many of you, I was a full-time student one semester, then part-time the next. I commuted 4 hours once a week and slept in a friend’s basement, all to finish out the last 2 years of my 6-year seminary journey. I seriously contemplated quitting twice, but was convicted to stay the course first while reading Tolkien’s The Two Towers, and once more reading Eugene Peterson’s The Pastor. And my professors and fellow students counseled and prayed with me along the way.
Advent is about the expectation that God will act amidst our experience of absence. With every story I am humbled to share, I am encouraged that Christ is still acting. Christ is acting in each of you, and in us as the Palmer community.
And for that, I love to tell of our striving to bring the Whole Gospel for the Whole World through Whole Persons. I love to tell the story of Jesus and His love.
Dan lives with his wife, Libby, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Palmer Theological Seminary with his Master of Divinity in 2018. He now serves full-time as the Director of College and Young Adult Ministries with the Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA on the campuses of Eastern University and West Chester University. He also serves as a Chaplain and Seminary Storyteller for our Center for Alumni Care and Seminary Engagement.
