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Waldensian Presbyterian Church, 109 Main Street East, Valdese, NC (2026)

09/11/2026

: Today, as we mark 25 years since September 11, 2001, the carillon at Waldensian Presbyterian Church has been scheduled to ring 25 bell tolls, one toll for each year, at each of the following moments of our grief:

🎵8:46 am American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center
🎵9:03 am United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center
🎵9:37 am American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon
🎵9:59 am The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed
🎵10:02 am United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into an empty field in Shanksville, PA, because of heroic efforts of passengers to thwart the plot
🎵10:28 am North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed

Music will also be played throughout the day.

09/11/2026

It has been 25 years since 9/11.

Waldensian Presbyterian Church bell and carillons will be ringing and playing hymns at the same time of day the North and South towers were hit by the planes on September 11, 2001, twenty-five years ago, in remembrance of the thousands lives lost and even more changed on that day. 8:46am and 9:02am. Please pray with us.

Also, I found the sermon I preached on the Sunday following 9/11/01. I was scheduled to guest preach at Craddock Presbyterian Church, in Portsmouth, VA. I pray God spoke to them. Twenty-Five years is a long time. So much has changed. I pray this sermon will speak through the ages to you as well.

Peace,

Rachel Matthews
----------------------------

9/16/01 Craddock Presbyterian Church, Portsmouth VA

Minister: Rachel Matthews

It is with an humble and heavy heart that I preach today. Ps. 46 has become an anchor for me this week. I have chosen to share my reflections with you in place of the sermon that is printed in your bulletin. I can only trust that God’s Spirit will use the meditations of all our hearts and mouths today to proclaim God’s Word and grant us comfort, hope and peace.

Scripture: Ps. 46, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

The Psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, Though the earth should change...

Our world is changed. A symbol of America’s wealth, power and freedom has been crushed. We are the object of rage and hatred. We have lost children, parents, friends and co-workers. We are restricted in our movement. We are changed.

We were changed on Tuesday. 9-11-01. Each of us has our own story. I was on my way to the Presbytery office to work in the Resource Center. I walked in the office and everyone was glued to the TV in shock. We stood numb watching what looked like a horrible disaster movie. But it wasn’t. The newscast played and replayed the picture of the airplane flying into the NY twin towers. Then, they played and replayed the pictures of the Pentagon. Then, they played and replayed the pictures of the twin towers collapsing into a pile of rubble. When the day ended, the truth was all too evident. America had been attacked by terrorists and thousands of unsuspecting, innocent people were dead. The nation felt a huge sense of vulnerability and loss that hasn’t been experienced since Pearl Harbor or perhaps the death of JFK. We were changed on Tuesday.

The Psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea...”

But, I was afraid. The city shook. Our souls shook. Fear and panic. Who did this? Was it them? Was it one of us? Rage boiled in us. Angry words reacted around us: Bomb them! Wipe them out! Retaliate! Fear of WWIII. I was grateful for the Psalmists who expressed their anger to God. I gratefully cried the voice of the Psalmist of 137, “O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!” Many fingers pointed. Arab families were afraid. Ugly words. Disbelief. Numbness. Lostness. The world was lost. There were not just Americans in the World Trade Towers. There were all nationalities. This was an attack on humanity. Was our own rage going to lash out in injustice? Would we commit the same sin as our persecutors? Lost and afraid. There is a prodigal son in all of us right now. Mired in mud and confusion not knowing where to turn.

The Psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength...though the mountains shake...”

The mountains the Psalmist speaks of was connected to the foundation of the earth, a metaphor for the very center of life. Although the very center of life might be shaken the Psalmist is unafraid. “How can this be? “ I thought. Even as a person of faith, I had a hard time believing that God is my refuge and strength. And yet...in the midst of such chaos it was only my faith, our faith, that could lower my fear. We believe in God, Creator of the Universe, who in the beginning tamed the forces of nothingness that raged beyond control. God created order. God named it good. God can be in the midst of such rage and chaos and not be moved. God alone is our sanctuary. God is dependable. It was God who allowed me to cry. It was God who allowed me to yell. And, it was God who like a Father ran down the road to meet me in my misery and bring me home. It was God who like a Father who told me in my self-righteousness that he was with me all the time. All that he had was mine. God finds us where we are. God helps us to endure our struggles. God helps us to make the struggles shape us into people of hope, bearers of life.

Some of you were with me Wednesday night when I read this scripture from Ps. 46 at the Simonsdale Church. The words themselves were God’s strength for me. The presence of our neighbors and our families and strangers coming together for consolation was strength. It slowed life down and brought order. In between the words was the space I needed to sort out chaos. After Christ’s crucifiction, the disciples met together. It was there that God’s Spirit came to them. Where two or more are gathered, there Christ is as well.

It was Christ who told his disciples on the sermon on the mount the Beatitudes. We read them at Simonsdale as well. The words were strength to me as I thought of those who were poor in spirit, who mourned, who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, who were merciful, who were possibly hungry and thirsty under a pile of concrete, who were persecuted. Blessed are they, said Christ. And, Who were the pure in heart? Who would be the peacemakers? And, what of Christ’s other sayings, “turn the other cheek,...and love your enemy, ...pray for those who persecute you.” The silence that came to me in contemplating how to pray for my enemy was God’s strength. It cooled my anger. It was replaced with a deep sadness for the lives lost and the families who mourned. Bless them. Comfort them. Bring them true justice.

The Psalmist says, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.”

Through the eyes of faith God’s presence was evident this week. God was in New York. God was in Washington. God was in Tidewater. God was in this place. God was in the restraint of the government who chose to count to 10 and be sure of who did this. God was in the face of the rescue workers. God was in the hands of those who carried people out of the buildings. God was the stranger who helped the stranger. God was in the outpouring of resources, $3 million in one hour to the Red Cross through people giving through one site on the internet. God was in the questioning. God was in the sharing, in the information seeking, in reunion of loved ones, in the sorrow of those who lost loved ones. One prayer that was shared with me touched me at just the right moment.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We are moved by the alarming news and crisis that our country is facing. This, the greatest nation, founded in the belief that "In God We Trust" & the "Land of the Free". Please have mercy on those suffering, hurting and in fear, and give wisdom & strength to those who are assisting. May the forces of evil (outside us and inside us) be broken by your power and may we humble ourselves before thee, our strength and refuge. Give wisdom to our President & all our leaders and bring your comforting peace through the power of your Holy Spirit. Help us here to reach out to those that have been affected by this tragedy. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. AMEN

God was in the hearts of those praying. Indeed, memorials were said all over this nation. Candles were lit. My own family felt called to participate in lighting candles. We lit a candle in our window last night. God was there. God in Christ abides in us and brings us as a faith community together, to reflect, to grieve, and to act.

The Psalmist says, “The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. he makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shield with fire.”

God did not do this terrible deed. God is bigger than human madness. But, God is here. God brings desolation to the fear and hatred, to the chaos and rubble, to the terror of human sin. God will bring peace through those of us who will act in just and loving ways, who with God make wars cease to the end of the earth; break the bow and shatter the spear, and burn the shields with fire. And, that is what gives us hope and comfort today.

God says, “Be still and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations. I am exalted in the earth.”

Be still my soul. A Mighty Fortress is our God. A bulwark never failing.

Friends of Craddock, hear the good news where there is so little, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Carolyn Gillette, co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Pitman,NJ,

frequently writes hymns to express the emotions often felt but

sometimes difficult to shown.

Following are the words to her hymn that is to the tune of "O God,

Our Help in Ages Past"

O God, Our Words Cannot Express

ST. ANNE CM ("O God, Our Help in Ages Past")

O God, our words cannot express

The pain we feel this day.

Enraged, uncertain, we confess

Our need to bow and pray.

We grieve for all who lost their lives...

And for each injured one.

We pray for children, husbands, wives

Whose grief has just begun.

O Lord, we're called to offer prayer

For all our leaders, too.

May they, amid such great despair,

Be wise in all they do.

We trust your mercy and your grace;

In you we will not fear!

May peace and justice now embrace!

Be with your people here!

Tune: Attr. William Croft, 1708. Tune is in public domain.

Text: Copyright © 2001 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights

reserved.

305 South Broadway, Pitman, NJ 08071 Phone: (856)-589-8444 Email:

[email protected]

Permission for free one-time use of this hymn is given. Please

include the above copyright and contact information (in smaller

typer) when copying the hymn text or emailing to friends.

09/06/2026

Join us next Sunday (September 13) as we welcome the Rev. Dr. Buz Wilcoxon, Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life at Presbyterian College.

Buz grew up in the church, became a pastor serving PCUSA congregations in Greenville, SC, and Mobile, AL, and has ‘midwifed’ two generations of young people into a world of Spiritual Adventures. Buz invites us to think creatively about our spiritual journey as an adventure of faith. His plans include introducing us to fellow pilgrims we might have overlooked in the New Testament.

Sunday, September 13, 2026

8:45am & 11:00am: Buz will preach at both services of worship about aspects of the adventure of a life of faith. Come see the scripture with new eyes.

9:30am—Sunday school: Come join the conversation.

12:30pm-2:00pm: Lunch. Buz will give a talk about our theme and lead interactive table discussions. Be prepared to think, disagree, ask questions, have lively conversation with tablemates, and learn.

5:30pm-7:30pm: Buz will meet with our Sunday Night Youth Group.

09/02/2026

Alert! The Thursday, September 3, CAM food distribution has a location change. Please enter the upper church parking lot (off Italy Street).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WPC operates its Community Assistance Ministry (CAM) as one way we are called to demonstrate God’s love for those in our local community. In order to serve you better with food assistance, we ask that our food pantry patrons receiving food please remember the following:
• Food pantry only available 1st and 3rd Thursday each month
• Hours from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
• From St. Gemain Ave SE, park in the ground-level circle drive below the playground
• Volunteers assist from the curbside, no need to leave the car
Limited resources are available for emergency assistance. You may leave a message with a brief request and contact information by calling the church at 828-874-2531. Someone will return your call to determine if help can be provided.
DONATIONS NEEDED!!!
Whether you’re a member of this church or someone who just wants to help with this important ministry, WPC welcomes food and monetary donations. Please remember to only donate unopened and unexpired shelf-stable foods. The items that are in the greatest demand include:
• Canned meats like chicken, tuna, Treat, Spam
• Dried pasta, rice, beans
• Spaghetti sauce, canned pasta with sauce (like Chef Boyardee)
• Canned fruits, canned vegetables
• Peanut butter, saltine crackers
• Mac & cheese, canned soups, stews
• Various types of cooking oil
• Cereal, shelf-stable milk
• Mail monetary gift checks to: CAM c/o WPC, 109 Main St E, Valdese, NC 28690
Food donations may be placed in the yellow grocery cart at the church on Sunday mornings. It is located either in the breezeway between buildings or in the narthex (foyer) of the church. If you wish to bring donations here at a different time, the yellow grocery cart is located just inside the doors to the church offices and is accessible during church office hours. If you have questions about making food pantry donations, please call the church office, and a member will return your call.
If you routinely buy food online from warehouse stores and clubs, please consider having your CAM food donations shipped directly to the church on your behalf. Shipping address: 109 Main St E, Valdese, NC 28690.
VOLUNTEERS WELCOME
Volunteers from the congregation and the broader community are always welcome! No matter your skills, we can find a place for you to do God’s work in this ministry. You could be a blessing to our food pantry patrons by:
• Assisting patrons on food pantry days
• Food shopping with CAM donations
• Sorting donated food
• Stocking pantry shelves
• Soliciting CAM food donations from your workplace, civic club, church, etc.
• Actively praying daily for pantry patrons and volunteers
Call the church office at 828-874-2531 to receive a return call from a church member who can fill you in on how you can fit into this vital WPC ministry. See less

08/11/2026

Scared to Death
A Sermon Celebrating The Waldensian Glorious Return/
Matt Matthews

9 August 2026

What makes you really afraid? And how do you move through your fear?

Peter Steinke tells a story about visiting a friend’s new house. On their tour of the back yard, they round the corner of the garage, and his friend’s German Shepherd barges up, tongue and tail wagging, wanting to be petted.

Peter froze in terror.

When he was a kid, Peter was terribly attacked by a dog—specifically, a German Shepherd—and ever since then, he’s been petrified of dogs, even those with friendly faces and wagging tails.

Some people feel that way about snakes, or hospitals, or the dark, or heights, or thunder.

Some are terrified of the water.

Peter was a fisherman, so he probably wasn’t afraid of the sea. But those who work on the water are the first to tell you that they have a healthy respect for the sea. One must be safe on the water lest it swallow you up.

So, when Jesus asks Peter to step over the side of that boat into the stormy sea, even Peter, the fisherman, must have been afraid.

We learn some things about facing our fear in this story of walking on waves.

First, what makes us afraid does not make God afraid. What makes us afraid does not weaken or diminish God. Jesus could walk on those waves. God is sovereign even over the waves of trouble.

Second, God comes to us in our time of trouble. Some believe this is the biggest miracle of all: Not that Jesus could walk on water, but that Jesus chose to walk on water and to come to us when we feel we are sinking.

Third, when we focus on Jesus, our fears ease. Peter walked on water when he looked at Jesus. When Peter looked at the waves, he began to sink.

So, when God calls us into the storms of life, we can go with courage because God’s power transcends the storm, and God goes with us.

* * *

I’ve been thinking of our Waldensian brothers and sisters.

Valdo/Waldo was a wealthy Christian who had a basic and even radical belief in Jesus the Christ. He was deeply inspired by Jesus in the New Testament.

Jesus told the rich man in Matthew’s gospel, sell what you have and follow me.

Valdo did follow.

To underscore his faith and his faith in God alone, he renounced his worldly goods and chose to live as a beggar.

He and the society that formed around him, the Poor of Lyon, built their lives around Jesus alone, and this put them at odds with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Poor of Lyon believed that scripture was more important than church hierarchy. They believed that scripture should be translated into the language of the common people, not just the educated elite. They believe scripture could and should be preached by laypeople. They believed that priests should live a life that looked a lot more like Jesus’ life. They believed in traditions of scripture, not in the traditions and theologies that, to them, felt made up, traditions like purgatory.

The story of the Waldenses can be compared to a small boat on a troubled sea. In every storm, the Waldenses called upon the name of Jesus. They set their sights on the face of Jesus. They made their song the psalms: I life up my eyes to the hills; from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121).

The religious and civil powers of these Middle Ages saw the The Poor of Lyon as a threat to the powers that be. The Poor of Lyon known also as Waldenses were excommunicated by Popes, persecuted by inquisitions, herded and hunted and executed by those who wanted to keep the church pure and free of dissenters.

And through it all, Waldensian Christians focused on faithfulness to Jesus Christ, not on what they called religious “institutions, hierarchy, and ornaments” (p13, Waldensian Museum, Historical Section, Torre Pellice, Centro Culturale Valdese).

They trained Barbas (their name for “uncles”) who went out two-by-two sharing the Good News of this Jesus who comes to us in the storms of life and has the power to walk even on the waves.

While they weren’t against the church of the day, the Waldenses did stand against religious corruption and what they saw as infidelity to Jesus. In turn, the Roman Catholic Church called the Waldeses infidels because Waldenses refused to follow many of the ways and customs of the church.

Other religious movements had begun to be woven into (and out of) the Waldensian movement: The Cathars, Hussites, Taborites, and those groups that sprung from the Reformation, followers of Luther, Frederick the Elector, Calvin, Zwingli, Butzer, and others.

With the invention of the printing press less than 100-years-old, the ideas of reformation spread like forest fire pushed by winds of change.

Many of you have stood at the stone monument at Chanforan in the Angrogna Valley marking the spot where the Barba gathered as a synod in 1532 and joined forces with the Reformers on the other side of the Alps.

By this time, many Waldenses had settled in the Piedmont of northwestern Italy, which many of us have visited. In his history of these valleys around Turino, Rev. Jean Léger describes a land “created like a theatre for many wonders and which (God) had prepared . . . to protect . . . the church of Christ . . . against all torrents of persecution” (p. 31, Waldensian Museum, ibid).

The steep mountains and twisting terrain, did not, however, protect the Waldensian Church.

On the Piedmontese Easter of 1655, French forces sacked and devastated the Pellice Valley, massacring over 13-percent of the population (p. 46). After thirty years of limited Waldensian rights and in 1687, the Duke of Savoy gave Waldenses the choice between converting to Catholicism, settling in Vercelli, or emigrating to Switzerland. This purging is known as the Exile.

And this weekend, here in Valdese, North Carolina, we are celebrating the “Glorious Return” of 1689 with our Waldensian Festival. In late August of that year, over 900-exiled Waldenses fought their way ‘back home’ through nearly 200-miles of mountains and French troops from Geneva to their valleys in the Cottian Alps.

* * *

A caveat at his point in the sermon needs to be made: Waldenses weren’t perfectly good, and Roman Catholics weren’t perfectly evil. But they were at odds and their history is, to say the least, fraught.

Much can be said about Waldensian history. There’s a lot to take in.

For today, this is my point: Our Waldensian brothers and sisters simply wanted to worship God in ways that they thought best honored God. They wanted to serve their neighbors in the manner of Jesus. At the center of their theology was the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They wanted to follow Jesus faithfully and as closely and biblically as possible.

As they faced trial after trial, storm after storm, I can’t help but to wonder how this passage from Matthew’s gospel might have comforted them: We disciples often find ourselves in a small boat on a big, storming sea. We find ourselves in places where we are sore afraid. We find ourselves in positions that feel untenable, inhospitable, unsurvivable. We find ourselves weak and weary and wanting to give up and run away. We find ourselves nearly swallowed by the storm. We find ourselves in places of fight-and-flight-and-freeze where fear and fright shake us to our core. We find ourselves in places where we are scared to death.

Our Waldensian brothers and sisters have been in that boat with the disciples on that stormy sea.

We’ve been there, too.

And we know this is true: God is not weakened by the storms that shake us. We are not alone in the storm. God choses, in fact, to be with us; even the waves cannot keep Jesus from joining us and faithfully standing with us. Because of these truths, we can have courage to face the storms and follow God’s call into any fire and over any mountain.

To these truths we can cling.

And for these truths we can sing.

AMEN.

08/07/2026

On August 16, 1689, one of the most remarkable chapters in Waldensian history began—the Glorious Return.
Led by Pastor Henri Arnaud, approximately 900 armed Waldensian volunteers secretly gathered at Prangins, Switzerland, crossed Lake Geneva under the cover of darkness, and landed in Savoy. From there, they embarked on an incredible 150-mile journey, fighting their way through the Alps to reclaim their homeland in the Waldensian Valleys.
Against overwhelming odds, their courage, determination, and faith carried them home. The military achievement was so extraordinary that Napoleon Bonaparte would later describe the Glorious Return as one of the greatest feats in military history.
This weekend, as Valdese celebrates the Waldensian Festival, we also remember the bravery and perseverance of those who made the Glorious Return—a defining moment in the history of the Waldensian people and a lasting symbol of resilience and hope.

Visit the museum tomorrow 10am-5pm to learn more about the Waldensian history and the Town of Valdese.

08/06/2026

Join us for the Waldensian Heritage Museum Open House & Ribbon Cutting as we celebrate our newly renovated downstairs exhibit space!
Friday, August 7
1:00 PM
Waldensian Heritage Museum

Everyone is welcome to attend as we officially unveil this exciting new space, featuring expanded exhibits and recently installed displays that help tell the story of the Waldensian people and the history of Valdese.

Come celebrate with us, explore the museum, and be among the first to experience our newly renovated exhibit area. We look forward to sharing this exciting milestone with our community!

We hope to see you there!

Waldensian Presbyterian Church

09/11/2026

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