At
left, SPRC Chair Pete Pellegrino: "We met with Lori Wednesday night and we
believe she will be a good fit as minister for our church."Changing Shepherds--New Clergy Appointment at North Kingstown United Methodist Church
Published Sunday March 30, 2008
--The Rev. Lori Eldredge, associate pastor at Wesley United Methodist Church in Concord, NH, and Cape Cod native, named pastor at North Kingstown UMC, starting in July; Replaces The Rev. Beverly Stenmark, who leaves after 11 years.
--Pastor Lori Eldredge: “It was a joy to meet with the (NKUMC) Staff Parish Relations Committee; I am praying for them, for your pastor, and the congregation in this transitional time. I would ask that you pray for me, and the people at Wesley (UMC) in Concord. Grace and peace to you.”
--Pastor Beverly (January 6, 2008): "In the coming
months, as we continue in ministry together, let us remember that shared
ministry is not about the appointed pastor. It is not even about the
congregation. It is about the living breathing body of Christ and how we respond
to God's call every day."
At
left, SPRC Chair Pete Pellegrino: "We met with Lori Wednesday night and we
believe she will be a good fit as minister for our church."
Peter
Weaver, Bishop of the
New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, has appointed The Rev.
Lorene “Lori” Elizabeth Eldredge—a Cape Cod native who has been an ordained
minister for 15 years—to be the new minister at the North Kingstown, RI United
Methodist Church, starting in July. NKUMC's Staff Parish Relations Committee
Chair Pete Pellegrino
disclosed the appointment to North Kingstown
congregation during the 8 and 10 AM worship services on Sunday March 30. SPRC
members and Pastor Beverly met with The Rev. Eldredge during a committee meeting
at the church on Wednesday, March 26.
The Rev.
Eldredge will move to Rhode Island from Wesley United Methodist Church in
Concord, New Hampshire, where she served as an associate pastor for three years.
At North Kingstown, she will replace The Rev. Beverly E. Stenmark, who
leaves the local Rhode Island church after 11 years to accept appointment as
superintendent of the Mid-Maine district of the New England Conference.
(At left, The Rev. Lorene “Lori” Eldredge, named pastor at North Kingstown UMC starting in July. Lori comes from Wesley United Methodist Church in Concord, NH, where she was an associate pastor. More about Wesley UMC, Lori's current church . At right, SPRC chair Pete Pellegrino announces the pastor change at 10 AM worship on March 30. Pastor Bev in background.
The Rev. Eldredge's Concord, NH church congregation also learned of Lori’s pending move during its worship services Sunday, March 30. The Rev. Stenmark’s appointment to the Mid-Maine district was disclosed in January, setting in motion the search for a new pastor and creating a transitional time for the North Kingstown members and congregation. In making the announcement, SPRC chairperson Pellegrino said, "We hope to have Lori attend one of our worship services before she joins us in July."
Lori’s passion for youth and mission ministry
Pastor Lori says her passion in ministry has been working with youth, children, and mission work that addresses social justice issues—rape and domestic violence, ecological-environmental education, refugee relocation and education, and prison ministry.
The Rev. Eldredge is expected to begin shepherding her new flock and preach for the first time at North Kingstown on the first Sunday in July, about the same time The Rev. Stenmark assumes her new duties in Maine. Pastor Stenmark’s last Sunday at North Kingstown UMC will be June 8th. Lay speakers from the church will conduct Sunday worships during the three-week-period between The Rev. Stenmark’s departure and the arrival of The Rev. Eldredge.
The Rev. Eldredge served on the staff at Camp Aldersgate in Rhode Island while attending the School of Theology at Drew University in Madison, NJ, where she graduated in 1994. Ordained a deacon in 1993 and an elder in 1997, she spent three years in field education with a congregation in Succasunna, NJ. She was appointed to the Northern New Hampshire district after her graduation and served four years as an associate pastor in Manchester, CT, five years as pastor at Mittineague in West Springfield, and three years as associate pastor at Wesley UMC in Concord. This year marks Lori’s 15th year of ordained ministry.
Growing up on Cape Cod in a family of seven, Lori says she enjoys spending time with nieces, nephews and their children. She says her hobbies include sewing, quilting, writing poetry, beading and scrap booking. She also loves gardening and walking the beach.
Spiritual foundation formed at church on Cape Cod
The Rev. Eldredge’s early spiritual foundation was formed in the Eastham United Methodist Church on Cape Cod where she participated in Sunday School, choirs and Methodist Youth Fellowship. Pastor Eldredge says she first felt the call to the ministry in her early high school years, recalling a powerful experience of community and grace at Camp Aldersgate, a United Methodist camp in Rhode Island. She preached her first sermon in Harwich, MA as a high school sophomore and attended youth rallies at the United Nations, taught Sunday School at her home congregation, and was involved in the Lower Cape Youth Cluster.
After graduation from Salem State College with a major in junior high education and history, she taught social studies in the Nauset Regional Middle School in Orleans, MA. Lori was later certified as an ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Language) tutor and worked with refugees from Laos. Her continuing education at various colleges in Massachusetts also allowed her to accumulate enough credits to be certified as a science and math teacher.
Lori’s call to ministry
After 13 years of teaching, Eldredge says she clearly felt the call to ministry and enrolled at the School of Theology at Drew University. “I loved the church, Jesus Christ, and no matter what I did God seemed to be calling me to do more,” she said.
Pastor Lori’s experience in churches of all sizes—serving small family and pastor-sized congregations to larger program-centered churches—makes her a good fit for North Kingstown’s United Methodist Church which has been growing in membership, and added a second Sunday worship service several years ago.
Pastor Eldredge said, “It was a joy” to meet with the North Kingstown staff parish relations committee prior to her appointment. “I am praying for them, for your pastor, and the congregation in this transitional time. I would ask that you pray for me, and the people at Wesley (UMC) in Concord.”
Pastor Eldredge becomes the second female minister to shepherd North Kingstown since it was founded in 1966.
Pastor
Beverly served 11 years at North Kingstown
The first female pastor in the history of the North Kingstown church, The Rev. Beverly E. Stenmark arrived in July 1997 and has been one of the congregation’s longest serving ministers. She brought the congregation together at a difficult time, spiritually leading the congregation through the tragedies of 9/11 and the Station fire. She grew the membership, adding a second Sunday worship service; She helped one young child receive a life-saving liver transplant and another a second chance heart surgery and new life in America (Related story: See Pastor Beverly’s legacy at North Kingstown UMC).
(At left, The Rev. Beverly E. Stenmark, who leaves North Kingstown after 11 years as pastor for appointment as the Mid-Maine district superintendent of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church)
Pastor Beverly was here for the celebration of our church’s 30th, 35th and 40th anniversaries. She celebrated weddings and wedding anniversaries, births and baptisms, and helped the congregation understand the deaths of loved ones. Pastor Beverly was active in the local and state communities, focusing on social justice issues, and was honored by community groups for her work to help stop domestic violence.
In early January when she disclosed in a Sunday meditation she was leaving, Beverly said, "It has been a privilege to be your pastor for such a long period of time and I seek your prayers as I begin to move toward a new form of ministry." (Related: January 6, 2008 meditation)
Pastor Beverly has been a rock of faith for our church and will be greatly missed by a congregation that loves her. Our congregation will be praying for her and Pastor Lori during this time of changing shepherds in our faith journey. Changing pastors can be a difficult time in the life of a church, but it can also bring exciting new challenges and renewals for pastors and congregations. (Related: It's the Season for Pastor Change)
When she arrived at North Kingstown in 1997, Beverly replaced The Rev. Stan Culy who had followed The Rev. Richard Davis in the pulpit. (Related: See the history of NKUMC and its pastors | Also related: NKUMC History Timeline)