July 10th, 2026 | Pastor Rachel

Dear Beloved Friends,

               You have heard the word “transition” used over and over and over in the last few months as we prepare for Pastor Angie’s arrival. Being good United Methodists who follow the liturgical calendar (the cyclical church calendar that we follow each year), we are well-prepared for preparation. Every Advent, we prepare our hearts and spaces for Christ’s coming to Earth in human form. Every Lent, we meditate on our mortality and prepare to walk for forty days in the desert of deep reflection. We are primed to weather transitions if we have been living into the liturgical seasons.

               But something I find interesting about those seasons, something that we may not always consider, is that we are always, to some extent, in a state of transition. We prepare to welcome the Christ child, and then, hooray! the Christ child is here. Certainly, anyone who has experienced welcoming a child knows it’s not all presents and then life returns to normal. When Christ comes to his final days, is crucified, died, resurrected and ascended those are all transitions that carry with them different feelings and acts for the time.

We have a wonderful new pastor. I am grateful for her leadership, for the wisdom and vulnerability she offered in her first sermon this past Sunday, for her warmth and friendliness. I’ve only just started getting to know her, and I am excited for her to be here. We are in another phase of transition, but we are still in transition. My encouragement to you in the coming months is to allow this part of the transition to be one of hospitality and curiosity. Engage Pastor Angie. Get to know her. Come to her potluck on Sunday at noon in Maxwell Hall. She has a lot of you to meet, so it may take some time, but she is eager to know you all, as well.

This is the part of the transition where we live into the “now” and the “not yet”, and let me tell you, I am excited to see what exciting things there are in store in the future of our life together here at Memorial. See you Sunday for worship and the potluck after!

With grace and peace,

Pastor Rachel