Pastor's Letter for October
Ah, Welcome Autumn!
Don’t you just love this time of year? The trees are exploding with color and pumpkin spice smells and tastes are everywhere providing a feast for our senses. The weather begins to get cooler and our hearts grow
warmer with the anticipation of the many celebrations that await us in the Autumn months. I’m happy to be here with you to observe them all.
And one of the great things about this time of year is that nature has a
lesson to teach us all. As the weather cools and the leaves change color and then fall from the trees – nature shows us that it is a beautiful thing, a good thing, the right thing to let some things go from our lives. Leave what should be left behind from past, behind us. Celebrate the colors of our lives and how variety makes everything more interesting. Breathe in the smells of change and let it make you feel better – and then be a better person because of it. Ah, welcome Autumn – help to make us new again!
October brings us the beginning of the celebrations yet to come.
From World Communion Sunday to Harvest Home to Laity Sunday to Reformation and our fun-filled observance of Halloween – our goal is to meet God in the midst of worship with one spirit focused on love and grace. There is no better time for you to come to church in person or join us on YouTube.
Please take a moment or two to read about what is planned for these worship experiences, for they include the sharing of our time and talent and treasure in special ways. We are invited to donate our treasure to the Neighbors-in-Need special mission offering on World Communion Sunday. We have the opportunity to donate shelf food items from our own cupboards or grocery store shelves to local food banks to be dedicated on Harvest Home Sunday.
You’re welcomed to join me, sharing your time and talent in leading worship together on Laity Sunday. And on Reformation Sunday, we will practice re-forming ourselves on the outside by dressing in Halloween costumes to help us envision being able to re-form ourselves on the inside for the sake of our relationship with Jesus. Everyone is encouraged to participate in that worship hour where fun and fellowship and faith will abound.
October is one of the best months of the year. There are hayrides and pumpkin patch games and corn mazes and even scary ghost adventures. It’s fun and festive and full of good things to do and see and experience. So, let us engage in all it has to offer us with joy and thanksgiving and praise and hope – and let us do so with gratitude for all that God provides for us in this beautiful season of autumn. May blessings and love and grace abound in your life, Pastor Susan
About Our Pastor
This is our pastor, Reverend Susan Hanson,
She was ordained in the United Church of Christ at her home church, St. John's UCC in Lansdale, PA on January 9th, 1994 in the middle of a winter weather event of snow and ice. That storm didn't stop their celebration that day - and she hasn't stopped serving in the ministry since then – no matter what. We like that about her - and you will too when you get to know her.
Pastor Susan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development from Florida State University; a Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary; and a Master of Arts
degree in Pastoral Counseling from Moravian Theological Seminary.
And she completed her certification as a Reiki Master in 2013 – the same year she came to our church. She's also participated in specialized training through the United Church of Christ to serve as an intentional interim minister to churches while they are in transition from one settled pastor to the next.
Early in her thirty year career as an ordained minister, it became her calling to assist churches during these times of transition, taking her to twelve different settings in local churches, as well as chaplaincy positions in nursing home facilities. She'll tell you that she “has seen it all, heard it all, been through it all” with the people she's met – and even so, she still likes people and loves working with them in ministry settings.
That love is what brought her here to St. Vincent UCC – her “lucky number 13” setting as she likes to call it. When she arrived, it was to serve as a temporary supply pastor while we were in transition. But, we liked each other so much, we decided to just stay together on a permanent basis. In April, 2018, Rev. Hanson was installed as our settled pastor.
Our pastor believes that ministry is something we all do when we strive to be like Jesus and follow his ways. Her job, as she sees it, is to help all of us be the heart and hands and voice of Jesus in our own time and place and in our own way – so that we will do good; make a positive difference; and leave the world a better place for us having been here. She says, “That's the way real ministry happens – one gracious thought, one good word, one act of kindness - one moment at a time”.
Susan and her husband, Doug, who is also an ordained pastor at St. Peter's Pikeland UCC, live in Chester Springs. They have three grown children – their daughter Laurabeth and son Eric live in the local area. Their daughter Lindsay and her husband Charlie live in Alabama where they're raising the two grandchildren of whom Pastor Susan will be happy to show you pictures and tell you how wonderful they are – just like any other proud grandparent.
Come, join us – and meet our pastor. If you are looking for a worship experience which makes you feel good for having been here – then, come and meet us. We worship together every Sunday to share the spirit, the light, and the love of Jesus and become empowered to take it with us when we go back out into the world in which we live and for whom our ministry really matters.