Pastor Ruth is installed

I posted this over on the Grace UCC blog, too, but I'm posting here too because my job as search committee chair is now officially concluded.


On a beautiful, if a bit chilly, Sunday afternoon, Pastor Ruth Farrell was installed today as pastor and teacher of Grace UCC. Rev. Dr. Forrest Hoppe, Association Minister, and Rev. Eric Williams, chair of the Association Department of Church and Ministry officiated over the actual installation and the moving message for the afternoon was delivered by Pastor Ruth's father, Rev. Dr. (LTC) Bruce Farrell, a chaplain with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard who recently returned from a year in Iraq. LTC Farrell (yeah, he told me not to call him that, he prefers Chaplain, but he's not writing this blog entry :)) promises that he will be back for a visit with his wife (who was unable to be with us this afternoon because she had babies to deliver this weekend as a midwife in Pennsylvania) in July or September. So, today we celebrate God's blessings as we begin what we all trust will be a long and fruitful ministry together in Lancaster, OH.

Trip to Nicaragua

Folks, my apologies for being rather slow with my posting of late. I will be even slower the next 2 weeks since I will be out of the country and without internet access (oh no, a fate worse than death). I will be in Nicaragua as part of the delegation from the Central Southeast Association of the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ to establish a partnership between our Association and Iglesia Mision Cristiana. Their annual meeting begins on Thursday, 27 March. A delegation from Nicaragua will be in the Columbus area at the end of April and beginning of May for the Spring Meeting of the Association. I've never been to Central America, so I'm excited about the trip (despite the fact that I don't speak any Spanish). I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories when I return.

Search committee duties almost complete

Well, we're almost there. This morning we held a trial sermon at Grace UCC. After the service, the congregation voted overwhelmingly to extend a call to Rev. Ruth K. Farrell and she accepted. As chair of the search committee for the last 10 months, this is a huge relief to me and the rest of the committee and we're all excited about her coming to Grace.

I like this guy

I was browsing some of the blogs I follow and today came across two posts that I enjoyed from a Disciples of Christ pastor in St. Joseph, MO. The first one was an interesting look at Lent from someone who didn't observe it growing up, and only discovered it in seminary. As a UCC PK, I've known what Lent was for as long as I can remember, but that doesn't mean that I always take it all that seriously (hey, I'm human), but this did get me to stop and think for a moment. This year, I'll try to be more serious about my observance of it. The second one was about the movie Juno which I haven't seen yet, but probably will. By most accounts it seems to be a good movie, though in the last day or two, all of the sudden I'm seeing arguments on whether the movie is "pro-life" or "pro-choice" or whether Hollywood is selling out to the "Religious Right" (as if they'd have each other), give me a break. I couldn't help but chuckle at this passage on abortion though (as it largely describes my feelings, though obvious the particulars are his -- and in case you're counting there are at least 5 hands there).

I feel more than a bit conflicted about it. On the one hand, I'm a card-carrying liberal with a lot of white male guilt, so the last thing I want to do is tell a woman what to do with her body. On the other hand, I'm a father, because two women felt very strongly that abortion was wrong for them and made an adoption plan instead. On the other hand, that was their choice and who am I to say what is the right choice for someone else when it comes to such a personal and painful issue? On the other hand, even if I remain unconvinced that life begins at conception or even the first trimester or even beyond that--I'm not sure when it begins, I still believe the potential for life is there. I've counseled couples who grieved over a miscarriage and that grief was real--we did not have a funeral but we did grieve together. On the other hand, so many anti-abortion people are just so arrogant and mean and ridiculous--you want to stop abortion but you're against sex education and birth control! What's up with that? I could go on.

Oh, and finally, I was also amused by a story in today's Columbus Dispatch about the problems being caused by the fact that St. Patrick's Day falls during Holy Week this year (drinking your green beer to excess doesn't exactly seem appropriate during Holy Week).

Search committee

As you may or not be aware, since last April I have chaired the Pastoral Search Committee for Grace UCC. I'm happy to report that it looks like the end is in sight. At last evening's meeting of the Church Council, we set the date of 10 Feb for a trial sermon and congregational meeting. The entire committee is quite excited about our candidate although I'll withhold details about her until the letter has gone out to the congregation other than to say that she is a 28-year-old single woman and, like me, also a PK. It has been a long and very busy year since we began the process in earnest, and I think the entire congregation will be happy to see the new pastor called (and installed).