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Yes, the seventh and final volume of the Harry Potter series will be published this summer, but that’s not what we’re excited about. We’re excited about the return not of the “boy who lived,” but the “man who loved” — Harry Hassall.After 25 years of providing leadership for the Wee Kirk ministry of PFR, Harry Hassall retired in 2004. Sorely missed during that time, he agreed to return to give some guidance to this integral ministry within the PC (USA).
Since 1980, Wee Kirk has been one of the most important and effective ministries for mobilizing congregational leaders in the PC (USA), focusing on the “wee kirks,” the smaller congregations which make up the majority of our churches.
“Our goal has been to provide mountaintop experiences for people who are alone in the trenches, people who are too often ignored by the structures of our denomination,” Hassall says. “We do it the old fashioned way of loving and caring for people. The essence of Presbyterianism is connectionalism; Not of structures, but of ‘I care for you and you care for me’.”
With Gutty Gutridge stepping down at the beginning of this year, Wee Kirk is currently without a national coordinator. Paul Detterman, as PFR’s interim executive director, has been providing leadership and expressed great pleasure at Hassall’s return.
One of Hassall’s great gifts is communicating the vision of and need for the Wee Kirk ministry, drawing in the small and larger donations that keep this vital ministry going. And not just going, but expanding. Hassall is hoping the ministry will become international as it moves into Spanish-speaking areas, starting with a bilingual event in Puerto Rico.
“Wee Kirk has got to have new leadership,” Hassall says, “Younger leaders to take us to the next step and older leaders to go out and tell the story.”
Hassall sees much evidence of the Holy Spirit’s activity among the congregations of the PC (USA) and believes that, as congregational leaders come together, the hot flame of the Spirit among some will ignite others, who will then set their congregations and the denomination aflame. That’s what Wee Kirk is all about, he says, “It’s not just a three-day feel-good experience. It’s about having the enthusiasm of the Lord and sharing the love of Jesus Christ with everyone around us.”