Dear Grace-filled Family, I really don’t know where the time goes—it feels like only yesterday we were preparing for the busy-ness of Spring, and now we are already looking toward the summer! First, I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported our youth this past weekend at the Shrimp Festival. Even though the weather wasn't exactly "festival-perfect" (though I know many of us were grateful for the much-needed rain), our team showed incredible resilience. Once

Dear Friends, It’s that time of year again-when people across our wonderful city pull out their crustacean-themed housewares, décor, and clothing to celebrate the start of the shrimping season with Shrimp Fest. If you had told me five years ago that I would have shrimp earrings dangling from my ears, I would be very surprised, but now I have TWO pairs to interchange. Whether you love the festive spirit of the parade and the festival or make plans every year t

Dear Grace-filled Family, Since our time together this past Sunday morning, my heart has been full. As many of you now know, my time as Senior Pastor of Memorial is coming to a close, and I have been appointed to serve as the Lead Pastor at Trinity UMC in Gainesville, Florida, beginning this summer. I want to pause and simply say thank you. The news of a pastoral transition is never easy to hear or to share, but the way you have responded has been nothing short of g

Beloved Friends, Today, I am going to take the opportunity to share about one of the many support systems I have that makes it possible for me to do full-time ministry, and that is the Lamb Early Education Center. Many of you may not know this story, but the week that I accepted the appointment to come to Memorial was the same week that I found out I was pregnant with Aidan. It felt too early to tell staff. It felt too early to tell anyone, but as we dropped

Dear Church, Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! I am still so energized with the joy and energy of our Easter Sunday celebrations last week. From the beauty of sunrise at Main Beach to the beautiful music and spirit-filled worship in both the Sanctuary and Maxwell Hall, it was a fabulous morning together. Seeing our church family gathered in such numbers, joined by many guests and neighbors, was a powerful reminder of the hope of the resurrection. Thank you for being pa

Beloved Friends, I don’t like discomfort. I don’t like things that make me sad or upset or are hard to face because they make me feel, well, bad. And I don’t like to feel bad. That’s why I think we are eager to get to Easter morning, to the stone rolled away, to the amazement of the women and the incredulity of the disciples, to the Good News of Christ’s resurrection. We want to fast forward through the worst part to get to the best part. But here I am, wri

Dear Grace-filled Family, Can you believe we are already standing on the threshold of Holy Week? It feels like just yesterday we were marking the start of Lent, and now the journey to the Cross is right before us. This is the most sacred week of our church year, and we have so many great opportunities to observe it well. We kick things off tomorrow, Saturday, March 28th, with our annual Community Easter Festival from 10:00AM until 1:00PM. We are blessed to partner on

Beloved Friends, Pastor Charlie and I continue to read through the Gospel of Luke during this Lenten season and reflect on the life, ministry, personhood and divinity of Jesus. This week, I want to offer some thoughts from Monday’s reading. On Monday, our series guide indicated had us reading Luke 10:25-42. As you start to read, you’ll notice this passage begins with the very familiar, and very challenging, Good Samaritan passage. Charlie and I used this pass

Dear Church: As we continue our journey through this Lenten season, I find myself reflecting on the power of the "normal rhythms" we share here at Memorial. Lent is such a vital time for us to take stock of our faith lives and press deeper into our relationship with Christ, and I am so encouraged to see so many of you engaging with the opportunities we have to do just that. Whether you are following along with our Daily Reading Plan through the Gospel of Luke, joini

Dear Friends, I hope you have been able to join us here at Memorial for one of our Lenten studies or events. There are many to choose from, so you certainly have a variety to fit your needs. While I am delighted to be co-teaching the Wednesday night class at 6:15PM with Pastor Charlie, and I always leave the Midweek Ecumenical Worship services feeling encouraged and pensive, I am especially enjoying our daily study through the book of Luke. Don’t worry, we’re only

A very close friend of mine had an accident recently that resulted in a serious spinal injury. After initial surgery and care in a local hospital, she was recently transported to one of our local rehabs in Jacksonville. Yesterday, I managed to squeeze in a quick visit with her to see how things are. Her progress is slow and frustrating, and she is aware of the very long road she has to recovery. In our conversation, she told me that she has known the closeness of God at eve

Beloved Friends, I have come to love Ash Wednesday nearly as much as high holy days like Easter and Christmas. Our liturgical calendar is gloriously punctuated by days to remind us of our human-ness, our beloved-ness, and our interconnectedness as children of God. The imposition of ashes on each forehead is a symbol of our mortality and our need for repentance and God’s grace. And I find it to be a means of grace to place that small, smudged cross on each of

Dear Church, Back in late 2018, Dr. Joan came to me and asked if I would like to visit the Institute for Worship Studies in Jacksonville with her. She explained that this had been the school where she completed her doctoral studies. I jumped at the chance to spend some time and get to know my new colleague. The day we made the visit, we got to spend time with the director of the Institute, and during our conversation he started to talk about beauty as a means of grace. That

Beloved Friends, Last week, we came together in a time of healing prayer to pray for our community, our country and our world. We are feeling the immense weight of a barrage of bad news. It's a burden too great for us to bear, and many of us are finding that lament is the greatest response we can offer. We lament the loss of lives to violence in any form. We lament the lost relationships of family, friends, and neighbors. But sometimes, our anguish leads us further into anger

“That’s Good.” In my sermon last Sunday, I invited you to become "beauty-spotters" this week. Each time you saw something beautiful, I asked you to stop, take a breath, and then say the words “That’s good!” I have been doing that myself this week, although it has not always been in response to the beauty of creation. After church on Sunday, I made my way to Warren Willis Camp and Conference center in Leesburg, FL, where I was gathering with other members of the Board of O

Friends, I am sure you have heard the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” It is a phrase that we use to express that we all find different things beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. I’m curious what you find beautiful in your life. I could say the obvious- the smiles of my children and my husband- but I’ll tell you I am also keen to enjoy almost anything in nature and things filled with color or sparkle. Beauty also comes in words we read or music we hear or art w

Friends, It was so good to be together this past Sunday as reflected on the "State of the Church." We are entering 2026 in a strong state of health and with a strong foundation, a clear sense of direction, and a shared commitment to ensure that Christ’s love "shows up" in everything we do. Here are three wonderful opportunities for us to help love show up through our worship, study, connection, and service: This Sunday, we will gather after worship to honor and celebrate Mon

As I sit to write this week’s Pastor’s Note, I am very aware that in the USA we have just come through another week in which news headlines have again been dominated by a tragic event which resulted in the loss another young life. My heart breaks for the family who have experienced shocking loss, and for our nation as we continue to try and make sense of these most distressing times we are living in. I have returned again and again to the ancient cry of the Church: " Kyrie El

Beloved Friends, Well, here we are. We made it to a new year, to 2026. I like to name my hopes for the coming year, and this year I have a single phrase: slow and steady. Though I do like to set goals, to fill in a planner, to embrace a fresh start, I also like the idea of leaning into the joy of the Christmas season (we’re only on day 9 of the 12 days of Christmas- time to give out 9 ladies dancing!) and taking things slowly. Our Christmas tree will not be down until at le

Dear Grace-filled Family, I hope your Christmas was filled with the light and peace of Christ! I am still reflecting on the beauty of our Christmas Eve services. It was truly a joy to see our Sanctuary and Maxwell Hall filled with so many faces—both familiar and new—as we celebrated Christ’s birth. I want to take a moment to say a massive, heartfelt thank you to our incredible staff and the army of volunteers who worked so hard behind the scenes. From the ushers and greeters