Greetings!

Having recently moved to Seattle to be the Associate Pastor at Fauntleroy Church, I nevertheless extend a warm welcome and greeting. As one who has quickly come to love both the Fauntleroy congregation and the Pacific Northwest, I sincerely hope you’ll visit us in West Seattle.  Although I have been here several years now, I am still asked frequently “How do you like Seattle?”  The questions stem, I think, from a general wondering about what it's like to be so far away from home, family, and all that's familiar. With that wondering, I am sure, comes a deep caring about how I am doing in the midst of the transition to a new place.

And that's part of what I cherish about being here at Fauntleroy Church: people care deeply about each other. It's obvious in so many ways, ways that go beyond even the countless expressions of welcome that have been offered to me. Although our membership is a couple of hundred strong, we behave like a small community, in many wonderful ways. People call each other with news, stop in with a meal when someone is ill, visit in the hospital, attend worship, weddings, installations, memorial services and (yes, even) meetings in support of one another and out of a yearning to be together in all the ups and downs of life. For me, the beauty of Seattle (yes, I do love the area, even the rain!) really ranks second in importance to the faith-filled, caring folks I have discovered here. But then, I wouldn't have come if I hadn't had a very good "inkling" of that, because, as I have been heard to say repeatedly, I didn't choose Seattle, I chose Fauntleroy Church. Warm-hearted welcomes and gracious hospitality reached all the way to Ohio even before I ventured to the Pacific Northwest and this congregation.

For my husband, Bob, our two daughters, and for me Columbus, Ohio became home in 1987. We had moved to Ohio from Grinnell, Iowa, where Bob worked for UCC related Grinnell College and I served on the staff of the local UCC congregation. Both of our daughters, Kara and Krista, were born at the hospitals of the University of Iowa, home of the "Hawkeyes". The 1987 move to Ohio necessitated a conversion to "Buckeye" support, as Bob went to work for the Ohio State University. Meanwhile, I served as Minister for Church and Education on the Ohio Conference staff of the UCC. While in that position, I got to know well the national setting of the UCC (based in Cleveland, OH), serving on various national committees and boards. And I loved consulting with the local congregations of the Ohio Conference, getting to know folks in all areas of ministry - especially education, spiritual life, youth and women's ministries and retreat and workshop leadership.

Now I take delight in being grounded in a local congregation, in Fauntleroy Church, to be specific. I love the unfolding of the liturgical seasons, the sharing of the joys and struggles of life, and the deepening friendships all that affords. I thank God every day that I was chosen and called to be here and that, in one of those surprising, mysterious movements of the Spirit, I chose to listen.

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