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This month I want to be explicit about the plans for my upcoming maternity leave and let you know what to expect, who to call, and hopefully answer any questions you’ve been wondering about.

Our baby is due February 26th and my plan, unless medically advised otherwise as time goes on, is to work right up until the baby comes.  That said, I have lots of back up plans in place in case I need to leave earlier.

I will be gone for 14 weeks after the baby is born if everything goes smoothly, which puts me back to work in early June.  During this leave, I will not be available. I will miss you, I will likely worship with you online, and I will pray for you daily.  However, during this leave, I will be functioning solely in the role of “mom”, giving myself to this new configuration of my family.  Which means that I will not be back for funerals, for pastoral visits or phone calls, and if the bathroom floods - call Fletcher! The truth is, St. Peter’s is so rich with a completely sufficient staff, and incredible lay leadership that I am not worried in the slightest.

Rev. Bill Radatz will be our resident pastor while I am away.  He will be giving up to 8 hours of his time weekly to provide pastoral care, support the staff and the ministries of our congregation and attend to whatever comes up.  He will preside over worship each week and will preach once a month.  The other Sundays of the month we will hear preaching from our Deacons as well as other pastors and interns in the area.  We even have Bishop Dave Nagler (new member of St. Peter’s) coming to preach and lead worship for us on Easter Sunday!

Pastor Bill’s contact information will be made available when he begins and you can feel free to reach out to him as needed.  I can’t recommend him enough! He has a remarkable pastor’s heart.  He embodies “All Are Welcome” in everything he does, and his ministry experience is amazing - from being a missionary in Peru to working to create Survivors of Torture International, you’ll want to sit next to him at coffee hour and get to know him!

Thank you to our whole congregation for your support and kindness towards my family and I throughout this pregnancy.  From the foresight of our council and staff to get all St. Peter’s employees enrolled in State Disability Insurance so that my maternity leave will be paid by the State of California, to Janine and Brenda for figuring out my payroll for this strange year, to John Smart for his leadership of the council while I am away, to the deacons who will anchor the congregation with nourishing spiritual care, to Pastor Bill and other colleagues of mine who are making it possible for me to step away, to everyone who has helped make plans for worship and ministries to continue without me, to all who have shared in my family’s joy over this new little life that is coming.  Oh, that every person had this supportive and loving community surrounding them in such a time as this!

Gratefully,

Pastor Bekki