February 19th, 2023
Dear Members and Friends of Wollaston Congregational Church,
After a great deal of soul searching and prayer, I have decided that I will retire from parish ministry when I complete this program year with Wollaston Congregational Church in June. This is a bittersweet decision for me. I anticipate more freedom to spend time with my mother in England and our new grandchild in Minnesota, without taking away from my church work. At the same time I feel so sad to leave you all.
These seven years together have been wonderful, I have learned so much from each of you. We have a few more months together and I anticipate talking with each of you one-on-one many times before I depart.
I announced this news during the Sunday worship service on February 19th. It seemed important to frame this in our faith story and WCC’s continued journey and so I incorporated it into the sermon. You can click to download the sermon here: February 19th Sermon.
At the time of the announcement I invited comments and questions. I also acknowledged that this is something that will take a while to process. Know that I will be available to talk things over between now and June.
Our Associate Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Patty Kogut, already knows of my plans. Our Moderator, David Abbott, and I are making arrangements for Patty to join a Zoom meeting with the Stewards. She will help to guide the congregation through the next steps. I will also be available, as needed, to help with discernment as I am not planning to pastor another church after Wollaston.
I have met with a few of you over the past few days. I wish there had been time to meet with you all one on one, but that was not possible. I am deeply grateful for all of you, for the unique gifts you bring to your service to the church. These seven years of ministry are very precious to me.
With deep blessings to you and yours,
Rev. Liz