Pastor's May Letter
A MONTH OF BLESSINGS
The month of May has always been a special time for me. My birthday and Mother’s Day are both celebrated this month – making me feel special and appreciated just for being me. The weather is often as nice as it gets around here in Southeastern PA. Flowers and trees are blooming in abundance. People are getting out more and enjoying the fresh air. Even our pets and the animals in the woods around us seem happier. Yes – for me, the month of May is a good time of the year. It is full of the blessings that God has promised to all of us who love Him.
It's a time to celebrate that God has given us everything – everything we need to be happy. For sure – it has been a challenging year – but it's almost behind us now and peace is waiting for us right around the next bend in the road. Sometimes when we are tested in life – when it ends - we are smarter, stronger, braver, and better because we met that challenge and got through it with God's help. It's easy for God – who sees all, knows all, makes all good things possible.
In the Bible, God is quoted as saying “Behold, I do a new thing!” and then, heaven touched the earth. But, it isn't only God that does a new thing – we can too! And through the things we say and do, we make it possible for “heaven” to touch the lives of the people we love. Yes, it's been a long and difficult year – but now we are being called to do a new thing. To help us get started on this path, I'd like to share with you this list of ten things to remember as we go forward . . .
Folks, we may not know for sure what the future
holds for any of us. But one thing is for sure –
when we put our faith in God,
it will be full of blessings.
Love,
Pastor Susan
About Our Pastor
Reverend Susan Hanson
Reverend Susan Hanson has been serving churches since December 19, 1993, when she delivered her first sermon to her first congregation. Since then, Pastor Susan has served in 12 different settings of churches as an interim pastor and to nursing homes as a chaplain, primarily helping to heal hurting congregations and institutions so they could recover and start anew. Reverend Hanson came to St. Vincent UCC in 2013 - her lucky number 13, as she says - and has been with us ever since. How lucky we are because on Sunday, April 8, 2018, Pastor Susan was officially installed by the PA Southeast Conference of the UCC as St. Vincent UCC’s permanent pastor!
Susan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development from Florida State University; a Master of Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary; and a Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling from Moravian Theological Seminary. She was ordained in her home church, St. John’s UCC in Lansdale, PA, on January 9, 1994.
Susan and her husband, the Reverend Doug Hanson, pastor of St. Peter’s Pikeland UCC, live in Chester Springs. They have a daughter and son-in-law who live in Alabama with Pastor Susan’s two grandchildren, a daughter and a son who live locally, and a Golden Doodle. In addition to meeting new people, Pastor Susan enjoys reading a good book, taking walks in nature, and visiting with family and friends.
In her Statement on Ministry, Reverend Hanson says that “a pastor assists the congregation in living out our call to be the heart and hands and voice of God here on earth in our own particular time and place. We can be assured that all of God’s hopes and dreams for us will be realized when we allow God’s Spirit to work within our own lives, and through us, to help others as we seek to do God’s will in the world. Together, we celebrate that when good people seek to make a positive difference in the world, it is there that real ministry happens.”
Feel free to contact Pastor Susan via email at holylistener@gmail.com or by cell phone at 610.393.6971.