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January 2010

A new year offers many opportunities for a fresh start, but fresh starts also mean change. Around Memorial, the most noticeable change will be in our pastoral staff.

One of the great delights for me in my first year as your full time pastor has been working with Kristin Gorton in her role here as a pastoral intern. Back in 2004 when I did a brief stint as an interim pastor at McFarland UCC, Kristin was the moderator there. We had also attended the UCC’s Lay Academy together. So I knew a bit about her potential for ministry. I think all of us saw this year how that potential played out as she touched the lives of so many people in times of both joy and sorrow. I know how much Kristin has appreciated all the support you have given her on this stage of her journey and I am sure we will all be holding her in our hearts and in our prayers as she figures out what comes next for her.

But as we are saying farewell to Kristin, we will also be welcoming Leah Lonsbury in to our midst as our newly-called half-time associate pastor. The members of the Search Committee were very impressed by Leah as they got to know her over several months. I think she is going to be a natural fit with us here at Memorial, bringing extraordinary gifts in ministry into our midst.  As I have been getting to know Leah over the last few months, I am growing ever more eager to begin working with her as a colleague in ministry.

Still, these times of farewell and welcoming can be unsettling. We let go with sadness of a bit of the familiar. We mix hope for the future with the anxiety that comes with change. Memorial is a place that has been able to navigate changes big and small throughout its history, and it is a wonderful part of our DNA as a congregation.  So I’m confident that as we settle into 2010, we will be able to continue to grow in ever-widening circles witnessing God’s love and acting out God’s grace and mercy.

One reason for that confidence is the tangible expression of generosity members of this congregation continue to offer.  In the midst of a very tough economic year for the nation and for many people personally, people here have continued to maintain support for the church and for the wider community we serve. You have made wonderfully encouraging pledges of support for 2010. That support enables us to focus on the important parts of our lives as followers of Jesus – deepening our relationship with God, deepening our understanding of life, caring for one another and working to transform the world so it comes closer to God’s vision for the future.

There is a great year ahead. Thanks for being part of it.