Goodbye, Jane

Today our church had a celebration to say good-bye to our wonderful interim minister, Jane Sorensen. She has led the First Congregational Church of Bellingham (FCCB) through grief and sorrow to healing and renewal. We knew we would be joining this church before we arrived in B'Ham as it was the only United Church of Christ in town and that is the denomination we hold dear in our hearts. It is a progressive Christian church, where congregants covenant together and make all the major decisions.

Prior to our move, we also knew this church was in transition, as we had kept ourselves updated via their web site. Several years ago, after the sad death of their long term pastor, the search and call committee recommended a wonderful new candidate. He began his pastorate with great hope, but shortly was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease and died quickly. So, the church dealt with two untimely deaths in the period of a few years. Jane had been hired to assist the second pastor for a few months, but soon found herself as lead pastor to a church dealing with much grief.

Jane did an amazing job in her 18 months with FCCB and today the love and respect for her from church members was quite evident. As I listened to the people of this church honor her with care and humor, I felt proud to see how far they have come during some challenging and trying times. Our new minister is on his way, traveling from Boston to start his new life among us. He appears to be bright, talented, and energetic and the excitement of our church family is palpable. We will, however, always remember Jane for her strength of character, fun sense of humor, and steadiness as she guided us to this new beginning. Thanks, Jane. I know you'll never read this, but you'll always be in our hearts.