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GOOD SAMARITAN CHURCH
Pastor & Session
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THE PASTOR’S DESK
“For behind all seen things, lies something vaster;
everything is but a path, a portal, or a window
opening on something more than itself.”
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Last Saturday a group of Good Samaritans of every age – from 8 to 80 – visited Cedarkirk, our presbytery’s camp and conference center in Lithia, Florida. (Check out our photos on page 9. Next time, come along! There is something for everyone in this peaceful place among the pines.
It was a wonderful day. We walked down curving dirt paths and looked up at trees bearded with Spanish moss. Thanks to Mickey Moore, we presented our new Good Sam banner, taking its place in the camp’s pavilion with banners from churches throughout our presbytery and beyond. Thanks to Debbie and Lisa, we picnicked on plentiful healthy food after we had sung grace to the tune of “Happy Birthday.” (Fun! You can join us in this prayer before our annual congregational meeting.) At the end of the afternoon, we wandered down to the bank of the Alafia River, where a huge turtle lazily basked in the afternoon sun. The kids wondered when we could come back. Chris Osberg said the day couldn’t have been better. Everyone agreed. As we say at Good Sam, it was “so God”
Before all of this happy wandering, we played together at the ropes course, challenging ourselves with a climbing wall and then a high zip line through the trees. (Why can’t we always see challenges in life as “play”?
To be honest, I’m not wild about heights. I still remember standing at the brink of Niagara Falls as a little girl and feeling as if I would be swept over by the surging water. And edging verrrry slowly to the rim of a viewpoint at the Grand Canyon. And fainting as a teenager when I bravely stood at the open window of the packed aerial tram surging down Mt. Evans in Colorado. (You should have seen the faces of the folks waiting in line to go up the mountain when they saw me carried off!)
Last year at a clergy sabbath retreat at Cedarkirk, I had experienced a zip line for the first time. It was not all that long, though it did traverse the Alafia River (which is more like a big creek – I grew up in Pittsburgh where the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the mighty Ohio River. Now, those are rivers!) I had sat on the edge of a sturdy platform on the river bank and dropped down, letting the line carry me across the water. And it was not all that scary.
So, I thought I could just jump right off this time. Well, on Saturday, we climbed stairs to a 24-foot high small wooden platform – a 24-foot high, small, wobbly wooden platform! Did I say wobbly? I got up there, looked down – and I was scared. Despite all those that had gone before me. I was scared.
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Of course, the Bible is filled with Jesus and other folks imparting God’s Word, “Do not be afraid!” They say that is in the Bible 366 times, enough for us to hear it every day of the year. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” And God is. That is at the heart of the Good News, isn’t it? We are called to be that Good News, that God-presence, for one another. Good Sam has been that for me – and I hope for all of you. So, our Good Sam camp group kept calling up to me words you all have heard in church this past month: “Go on! Get going! Let go, Sue! Let God!”
And so I shall. And so shall we all.
I did finally let go – and loved the soaring, liberating feeling of the wind in my hair as the line safely carried me through the trees and to the waiting ladder and arms of the camp staff. All of life is a teacher. Every moment is a path, a portal, opening to something more than meets the eye, as Saint-Exupéry wrote. Thank you for being my teachers and cheerleaders and friends. Thank you for offering new life to this middle-aged second career pastor. Thank you for the example of your fearless compassion and courage in standing up for the good and true. Thank you for being my companions on this journey of love, reaching for shalom.
February is a celebration of love. Let’s take time to sit down together and talk and remember and share our dreams for Good Sam. It will soon be March – when we will dedicate our Centennial Mosaic and say our good-byes, our blessings of “God be with you.” And God is. You are all “so God.” Always know that. - Sue
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BIO
REV. SUSAN W. SHERWOOD
Rev. Susan Sherwood has served as pastor of Good Samaritan Church for the past seven years and was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament at Good Sam in June 2004. Like Good Sam, Sue has a background in both of our denominations: she was raised and confirmed in the United Presbyterian Church and joined the United Church of Christ when moving to Florida sixteen years ago. Sue has served on the Christian Education Committee of the Presbytery of Tampa Bay and on several committees for the UCC Florida Conference and is currently a delegate to UCC’s General Synod. Committed to interfaith understanding, Sue has also served on the board of Tampa Bay’s Serving the One. She is most grateful for Good Sam’s gift of sabbatical time last summer to pursue her interest in Celtic Christianity.
Sue entered ministry at mid-life after a career in teaching in Michigan, California, and Illinois, working as a master teacher of English in junior and senior high schools. For several years Sue also had her own company, leading workshops and strategic planning for not-for-profit organizations. When she moved to Florida, Sue worked as the Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations Manager at The Florida Orchestra before entering seminary.
While in seminary at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, in Atlanta, Sue served as a chaplain at the V.A. Medical Center and founded the Paul Rice Center for Spiritual Practice at Central Congregational Church. As co-convener of Candler Women, she established the Pearson Resource Center for Women’s Studies, instituted an artist-in-residence program during Women’s Week, and initiated the Candler labyrinth project. With a B.A., magna cum laude, from Michigan State University, Sue then earned a Master of Divinity, summa cum laude, from Candler with certificates in Women’s Studies and Christian Education. She received the Slay Award for the graduate “who exhibits outstanding scholarship and promise for pastoral ministry.”
After seminary Sue traveled in India, lived in an art ashram, and volunteered as a chaplain at the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore. When she returned to Florida after 9/11, she led interfaith programs and workshops in arts and spirituality before embarking on the search and call process and discovering Good Sam.
Sue’s faith is Bible-based, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led. Its foundation is the Original Blessing of Genesis 1: that creation is indeed good and that humankind is made in the image and likeness of our loving Creator. For the realization of shalom, the coming of the “kin-dom” of God “on earth as it is in heaven,” we are called “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with (our) God.” (Micah 6:8) It was Jesus who showed us how – breaking the bonds of systems and beliefs that obscure our true identity as the whole people of God.
Sue loves Good Sam’s warm hospitality and nurture, openness to progressive Christianity, social justice stands, and outreach to “build the Beloved Community.” Sue often quotes Catholic priest Henri Nouwen, who observed that, like the prodigal son, people “all search for the place where they can safely return and be touched by hands that bless them.” Sue knows that Good Sam is just such a place.
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(c)