On May 29 I celebrated a fairly significant anniversary. In 1988 I was ordained to a ministry of Word, Sacrament and Pastoral Care in the United Church of Canada. That was 35 years ago! It seems like yesterday when my husband, family and friends were with me. He and my parents helped with the laying on of hands. My godparents came and many people from my home congregation were also there. Each ordinand had a table where their church could provide goodies, and people could meet with them.
The next Sunday I was asked to preach and then to celebrate Communion for the first time. They gave me a portable Communion set that I could use to take Communion to shut-ins. I had been one of the first babies baptized there and the first candidate from their congregation. They had student ministers who had been ordained, but never one of their own who grew up in their Sunday School. A very happy occasion!
My first charge was in northern Alberta, about 500 km north and west of Edmonton. They were two lovely little churches and living in a town about the same size as Clinton. I enjoyed my time there, but was glad to get a call back to Ontario after our first son was born. It was wonderful when we were closer to grandparents and the rest of the family. The moving van came on my son’s first birthday after we had been there for three years.
My next charge was south of St. Thomas with two points again. I was living in a hamlet with the other point surrounded by a small village. It was very much a farming community and it was wonderful to live so close to the fields. I had two more children while I was there and I stayed there for nine years before moving to the town of Forest.
Forest is about the same size as Clinton and it is a single point, much like Clinton. I enjoyed being there! The folk put on a passion play called The Promise every year that I was there and my husband and I, as well as our children, all took part. It was a lot of fun! After we were there about two years my husband was diagnosed with a brain tumour which changed all of our lives forever. He passed away after about five and a half years. I moved to my next church about a year after that, so I was in Forest for nine years.
Tupperville is a small village, and its sister church, Lindsay Road is basically a church at a crossroads in the middle of a farming community. I went there to go back to my roots and to find out if I still had joy in my ministry. I did! They were a great group of people who helped me to heal. I became an “empty nester” as all my sons moved away to school or to start their lives. I stayed in Tupperville for nine and a half years.
Now I am here in Clinton! I am enjoying being here, though Covid was a bit of a challenge! The folk here are welcoming and are willing to try new ways of reaching out into our community. Throughout my ministry I have been blessed with people who have helped me to learn and to grow and have been willing to share their lives with me. Thanks be to God!
