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  • Pastor Bekki

Hello people of God!

I’m here at the end of my first week and this is what I can say – being new during a pandemic is hard but I’m glad to be new with you.  I arrived on Monday to find a box of Girl Scout cookies on my desk (which I’ve made serious headway into, thank you very much!) and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers to welcome me.  Thank you!  I’ve had a great many conversations with Janine, orienting me and showing me the ropes with graciousness.  I’ve met a bunch of folks through various zoom meetings and already recorded my first worship service.  I’ve met Dori and can’t wait to figure out how to involve myself with the sweet kiddos who play outside my door every day.  Doris and I are soon to begin planning more in depth for Holy Week.  When you consider that on day one, I wasn’t even sure where my office was, we are making some serious progress!

At times I’ve felt myself in this newness and thought of my stick shift car and the times I’ve accidentally gone from third gear to fifth gear.  The car sputters a bit and no matter how much gas you give it, it takes time to catch up with itself.  That’s about where I’m at.  During this pandemic, I’ve been home every day with my two year old, Elijah.  I took a two year hiatus from pastoring while our family grew and transitioned from Washington State, to San Diego and then the pandemic hit.  So, coming back to work in this pandemic is a big shift for me and my family and taking on a new pastor is a big shift for you, so I ask for your patience as we all catch up with this new reality together.  I can’t promise to be fast but I can promise to be faithful to you as we navigate how to be church together as the world straddles this reality of still being in a pandemic but beginning to open up as folks get vaccinated. 

In fact, I wonder how much of the world feels like an old stick shift, that had to downshift so fast a year ago that it felt that the engine just might burn up and now is trying to shift again and again, sputtering and stalling, speeding up and slowing down, all the while just trying to catch up to an ever changing reality that often feels out of our hands.  What I’m really clear about is that our world has been through a great ordeal as have each of our hearts as we’ve endured this year of lock down.  And so, my priority is to move with mercy and to walk with you to create a wider culture of mercy that will hopefully pour out from our church and into our weary world. 

The gear shift and clutch might be a bit worn, but we’re off folks! And God is with us.  Can I get an amen?!

Peace,

Pastor Bekki