From the Pastor’s Desk: January 27

Dear Grace Community,

Are you wondering ‘What to Expect When Your Pastor is Expecting?’ My February 21 due date is fast approaching, and while it’s exciting, it does raise some questions. You’ve asked me a wide range of questions, and I’ll try to cover some of the most common ones.

  • Will I take a maternity leave?
    • The Grace personnel policy allows for an eight-week maternity leave, and it is my plan to take eight weeks. If the baby isn’t early, my last day in the office is Thursday, February 18, and I’ll return sometime around Thursday, April 14. If the baby comes early, this all gets moved up. I am grateful for a policy that allows for this time off, both for my body to recover from childbirth and for time to bond with our new daughter.
  • Who will preach while I’m gone?
    • We have wonderful preachers lined up, all of whom know our community. They are: Amy Baumgartner, Joyce and Danny Daniel, and Geoff and Jennifer Snook.
  • What about the other things you do? Who will do those?
    • Amy Baumgartner and Geoff Snook will cover funerals and emergency pastoral care issues. Deacons and hospital callers will visit hospitals. Staff and teams will cover a lot (probably more than I can imagine at this point), and I’m doing what I can to leave things as ready as possible. There’s a chance things will get missed while I am gone. If something you expect to happen doesn’t, please ask someone on staff for help or an explanation. We have an incredible staff here. I am grateful for their servant-hood and ask that you offer them extra support while I am gone.
  • So, you won’t do funerals?
    • My plan is not to do any funerals during my maternity leave. While I will of course want to walk with you and your family through the death and funeral process, I do not know what kind of shape I’ll be in after having a baby. I know that some women bounce right back while others do not. It is best for me to plan not to be involved.
  • Will I come to worship while I’m on maternity leave?
    • While John and I are excited to introduce our daughter to you, we do not plan to worship here during my maternity leave.
  • Who should visit me in the hospital or at home?
    • When a baby is born in our congregation, Jennifer Snook and I visit the hospital, and whoever the hospital callers are for those days visit as well. I would like to limit hospital visitors to these people (our Director of Children’s Ministries and hospital callers) and hope you will understand. As far as home visits go, I don’t know that I’ll be the best hostess for a while, but in time I’m sure we’ll be glad for short visits. Just call before coming by.

Please let me know if you have questions about any of this, and please keep me, John, and our baby in your prayers.

In Christ,
Catherine

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From the Pastor’s Desk: December 5

Dear Grace Community,

A couple of weeks ago I sat at my desk making worship plans. I read through scripture and liturgies, and I thumbed through the hymnal. One of my favorite things about our hymnal is the online resource. The online hymnal lets us keep track of how many times we’ve sung a hymn and what dates we sang it. It also makes suggestions about hymns to go with scripture.

The best thing about it is that it plays 30-second samples of each hymn. This is immensely helpful because I don’t read ‘music well, so I don’t always know what tune goes with a song. Sometimes the words are wonderful, but the tune is hard, so I know not to choose that hymn.

On this particular day I played Hymn #839 Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine! Before I knew it, I was crying. My dear friend Nancy loved this hymn. She and I shared an office at our church in South Carolina for three years. Every Monday we talked about Sunday worship, and we always talked about the hymns. As two non-musicians, we talked less about the musical
characteristics of the songs and more about how they made us feel.

A few years ago, after a remission from breast cancer, the cancer returned to her bones. She did not live long after that.

Nancy was an incredible friend, and at 14 years my senior, she taught me much about life. Her witness as a Christian, a mother, wife, and friend inspired me. I was deeply saddened by her death, but years removed I do not think of her every day or even every week. Yet, her favorite hymn touched a place deep inside of me.

Grief is funny. Not ‘ha ha’ funny, of course, but inexplicable. In worship on November 1, we read aloud the names of people who died in the last year. During that service, I invited you to name aloud saints that you knew, living or dead. It is important for the church to allow space for remembering, for grieving.

On December 14, we have our annual Silent Night Worship Service at 6:30 pm in the sanctuary. The service is quiet, dark with candlelight, and it includes the Lord’s Supper. Everyone is invited. I encourage you to attend, particularly if the month of December is difficult for you, whether it is because of a recent loss, persistent difficulties, or grief that makes an appearance from time to time.

In Christ,

Catherine

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From the Pastor’s Desk: November 24

Dear Grace Community,

On Sunday, November 22, the Presbytery installed me as your pastor. Yes, I was your pastor before Sunday. In fact, this was the third installation. That’s a long story that I’m happy to tell you some other time. For now though I want to say thank you.

Over the summer when I learned that the presbytery would require a third installation for me, I rolled my eyes. I thought it seemed like overkill, that we really didn’t need to do this again. And maybe we didn’t need to, but I’m glad we did.

Worship on Sunday was a wonderful celebration. It was a celebration of God’s goodness and a chance to give thanks for the ministry we share at Grace as pastor and congregation. It was an opportunity to ask God to bless our shared ministry going forward. It was joy filled with incredible music and many people faithfully leading worship. It was wonderful to be joined by sisters and brothers from Chase and Caldwell and to share a meal together after the service.

Thank you for the beautiful stole. You will see me wear it in worship, and I will treasure it throughout my ministry. It’s a wonderful symbol of our lives together at Grace. The imagery on the stole represents communion and baptism. It is only together as a community that we celebrate these sacraments, and I am grateful to be in community with you. I am grateful for the ways you support me and John, and for the ways I know you will love our baby.

In Christ,

Catherine

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From the Pastor’s Desk: October 21, 2015

Dear Grace Community,

In his book, As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner tells the story of the Bundren family. Addie Bundren, wife and mother, dies, and the family must transport her body from their home to its burial place. They plod across Mississippi with Addie’s casket in the back of their wagon. It is a punishing journey. At one point they cross a river, and catastrophe ensues. The casket floats away, living bones are broken, and whatever pride was left is lost. While fraught with disaster, at its core, the Bundren’s journey is a familiar ritual, that of moving from death to burial.

The Bundren family needed someone to help them ford that river. Today when families are faced with death there is figurative water they do not know how to cross. My role is to help them. Others might be able to lead the grieving so far, but when it comes to crossing the water, it is my job to offer a steady hand.

This year as we approach All Saints Sunday onNovember 1, I decided to share this metaphor with you as it informs how I approach death, funerals, and memorial services as your pastor. I am the one who stands in the water. Standing in the water is not for the faint of heart, but it’s what I was called to and trained for. In time I’ve learned how to bend my knees at the right moment so the current doesn’t overwhelm me, though I still get wet and weary sometimes.

In five years at Grace I’ve led more than fifty funeral or memorial services. Each time I find myself, pants rolled up, wading into the waters of grief, holding out my hand, and helping to guide people to the other shore. This means being with them after a loved one dies, making service plans, and leading a service that both witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection and honors the one who died.

I cannot carry someone through the water. I cannot make the journey from death to the grave easy. It is hard work, and work that must be done by those grieving. My role is to guide them as they carry their loved one.

When a family makes it across the water, I don’t keep going with them. I stay by the water’s edge, which can be hard for others to understand. It’s not that I don’t want to go with them; it’s that I know there will soon be another family coming to ford the river. It may not be the next day or week, but soon someone else in our community will die, and there are others who can walk with a family beyond the shore: friends, family, neighbors.

On November 1, we say aloud the names of saints who are no longer with us. I give thanks for those people I’ve been privileged to know, to love, and to serve as their pastor. In our tradition, saints are not only the dead but the living, and so I give thanks for you who serve as witnesses and inspire me in my faith. It is my privilege to be your pastor.

In Christ,
Catherine

 

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From the Pastor’s Desk: September 27, 2015

Dear Grace Community,

Please be at Grace on Tuesday night for the same-sex marriage program. Dinner begins at 5:45 pm ($7 for adults, $3 for children, family cap of $17), and the program is at 6:30 pm. Childcare is available.

Same-sex marriage is now allowed but not required in the Presbyterian Church USA. This means that each congregation may decide whether or not same-sex weddings are permitted on church grounds. In March, the Grace Session began to address the question about what we would do as a congregation. The Session sets all wedding policies for the church.

In April, the Session held three listening sessions for the church community. The purpose of these gatherings was to share thoughts and questions about same-sex marriage. The Session reflected on these groups and discussed how to move forward in this conversation.

In August, we established a study group to read and discuss two books, Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill and The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage by Mark Achtemeier. The entire congregation was invited to participate in this five week series. Approximately twenty people attended one or more study groups. The two books represent different viewpoints on same-sex marriage and were recommended to us by men who represent organizations with the PCUSA.

These two men are here on Tuesday night to speak and to answer questions. They are Paul Detterman and Brian Ellison. Paul represents the Fellowship of Presbyterians, an organization opposed to same-sex marriage. Brian represents the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, an organization in favor of same-sex marriage. They very much disagree with each other on this issue and yet agree about the value of being in PCUSA together. Their willingness to dialogue and stay in relationship is a powerful witness to church unity.

Our congregation will not be of one mind on this issue, but my hope is that we can learn from these men both about their perspectives and about their commitment to being in a Christian community with people they disagree with.

The gathering on Tuesday is the final step in our Session’s process before voting on a same-sex marriage policy for Grace. The plan is for the Session to make this decision at the stated meeting on November 23. (This is one week later than originally scheduled.) You are strongly encouraged to reach out to any or all of the Session members to talk with them about this issue before the October 19 Session meeting. Session members are listed at the bottom of this letter. Call, email, or write them. Any unsigned correspondence will be disregarded.

As the Session prayerfully considers this decision I ask that you do the same and that you pray for them. See you Tuesday.

In Christ, Catherine

Session Members:

Ron Brown

Cindy Dethloff

Fred Heismeyer

Jerry Juhnke

Maggie McIntire

Don Murphy

Charlene Randle

Sandy Remsberg

Janet Rhoads

Betsy Ross

Sue Steele

Bill Vavra

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