Our pastor has been with us since June of 2022. She is a native of Fairfield, Ohio, was a fine arts student at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and is a retired United Methodist clergy from the Alabama West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, with seminary work from the Course of Study at Candler Theological Seminary of Emory University, Atlanta, GA. She is also an accomplished artist and painter, having had two solo exhibitions in Pensacola, FL and Mobile, AL, and her work was shown in five galleries from Destin, FL to Mobile, AL. Ministry is a second career for her. She began the candidacy process in 2002 and took a pulpit in 2006 in Selma, AL. All of her appointments until now were in the Alabama West Florida Conference.
From Rev Born:
I cannot remember a time when I did not know God or have an active and vivid experience. The presence of God has always been real to me, but over the years the conception of that presence has changed and been altered as I gathered more information and lived through a never-ending series of loops and curves, the experiences that shaped my faith, and brought about the assurance I continued to utilize. Being called as a disciple and a proclaimer of the Word has been a long journey. The voice of God has been penetrating and emphatic and also silent and distant.
I have always been able to walk through open doors. They are a crossroad experience and I have followed that voice to the best of my ability. This journey has been honed, sharpened, whittled, beefed up, spread thin, and can shrink to the head of a pin. The call is a pliable connection. I am an abstract painter as well as a pre-natal generational United Methodist. I do not remember being called to paint, I just know I cannot be who I am without it. I do not remember being called to be the hands and presence of Christ, but I canot be who I am without it. I accept that the call just is.
I am retired clergy. I thought God was through with me in 2020, but I was wrong. At 72 I am having the most fun and enjoying a ministry and a calling to pastor the people at Hartzell United Methodist Church. I have never experienced this depth in ministry with any congregation. We are growing together and creating a faith community most unique to my experience. We have created a senior center that feels like a home and is an alternative to sitting at home watching television. We break bread together, study, learn, watch tv, play games, and create a place where people are accepted, appreciated, and valued. We take trips together, cry together, laugh out loud and deepen our roots with God and one another.
I am mother to Terrence, mother-in-law to Jennifer, and Grammy to Christian and Parker. Life is very good. It is wonderful navigating the last portion of my life with cherished family and friends. 72 is a different kind of adventure and having a faith community makes it rich and substantial. Grateful, mindful living and a place to call home, nothing better. Love to all!