wfn.org | Interludes of poetry planned for plenaries

[PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org]

03-July-1996 
 
GA96061 
 
 
    Interludes of poetry planned for plenaries 
 
   Presbyterian poet Ann Weems has been invited by Moderator John Buchanan 
to read poetry at selected times during plenary sessions of the 208th 
General Assembly. 
 
     On Monday, Ann Weems was given the 1995 Distinguished Writer by the 
Presbyterian Writers Guild.  J. Barrie Shepherd, announcing the award to an 
overflow crowd at the annual Guild luncheon, said, "If there is a poet 
laureate of the Presbyterian Church, Ann is it." 
 
    Speaking at the luncheon in response to the presentation, Ann said her 
career as a poet began in a "tree in Tennessee." Author of such popular 
volumes of poetry as " Kneeling in Bethlehem," "Searching for Shalom" and" 
Songs of Lament," published by Westminster/John Knox Press, Ann is also a 
popular speaker at gatherings around the church. 
 
     Ann told the Guild members that she was born and bred in the 
"Presbyterian brier patch" and she feels at home there.  But she said that 
the present moment finds the church in chaos and "that's an unpleasant 
place for poets who would rather be out in a tree looking up at the stars." 
     She asked, "What's a nice poet like me doing in a place like this?" 
As it turns out, she is reading poetry during interludes in what may seem 
like chaos during Assembly debates, thereby helping commissioners to see 
the stars as well as the issues. 
 
Jane Hines 

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