This coming Sunday, our new Associate Pastor for Congregational Care, the Reverend Melanie Hardison will be introduced to the congregation! She will be in attendance at the 8:00 a.m. worship service, leading worship at 10:00 a.m., and on hand for the Blessing of the Animals on the front lawn at 4:00 p.m. I hope that you will extend a warm BMPC welcome to her this coming Sunday.
Much of Melanie’s roles and responsibilities are identical to those of previous pastors who have overseen the pastoral care of the congregation, Senior Adult Council, Deacons, Middleton Counseling Center and coordination of the Care Team. In addition, as the church was transitioning from 6 to 5 on the pastoral staff, a realignment of roles brought the Connections Group ministry under her leadership as well, a programmatic and fellowship dimension that Melanie has said further attracted her to Bryn Mawr.
When you meet Melanie, you will soon discover what attracted the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee to her and her candidacy as we engaged a nation-wide search for an individual to fill this role. In addition to her experience and training in pastoral care, she brings a warm and joyful presence, a creative engagement with life and ministry, a love of working on a team with colleagues as well as laity, and a kind and winsome openness.
On a personal note, as I shared with Melanie my retirement plans knowing our overlap on the church staff would be brief, she shared that she is drawn to seasons of transition. She is happy to enter that liminal space that invites discernment, vision and growth which will surely be a blessing as Bryn Mawr enters an interim season between senior pastors.
Grateful for the many ways that this congregation cares for one another and reaches out in Christian love and compassion, I am confident that you will enjoy partnering with Melanie Hardison as she oversees the congregational care of the whole church family.