Pastor:  Rev. Dr. Glenn C. Nestlerode

    A Word From Pastor Glenn Nestlerode

      Our congregation has charted a new course and we are setting sail on new adventures.  Take a look at the timeline (elsewhere in the newsletter) which shows the accomplishments and upcoming activities related to our Blueprint for the Future.  It will show you a little of where we've already traveled since June, and it will give you an outline of some "sights" you can expect to see as we journey forward in the months ahead.
      One of the changes is that we have added some new crew members for the next part of our journey.  We have hired Carol Macaulay as our Minister of Worship and Music.  And Carol brings with her two other musical team members (see more in her letter which follows).  Many of you have had a chance to meet Carol at the July Board meeting or the July 17th breakfast.  She is talented, enthusiastic, creative, and a person of deep faith.  Many of us are getting excited about how Carol and her team will enhance our experience of worship and help us to grow spiritually.  I believe you will enjoy getting to know her, and I know she is looking forward to getting to know you better.
      A sail moves a boat forward because it is strong, yet flexible enough to be filled with the wind.  A church moves forward because it is strong, yet flexible enough to be filled with the Spirit. 
   I feel a big breeze coming on.  How about you?

Minister of Worship & Music:  Rev. Carol Macaulay

 Greetings to My New Church Home

      As I write this, the memory of attending my first Edmonds Board Meeting is still fresh and fond.  At that meeting, I smiled with contentment in my heart as I watched the various members being both respectful AND real.  And my soul leaped at the resonance of the Spirit that was clearly present.  It was a wonderful and very hopeful beginning.

      My assignment in writing this was to introduce myself.  However, it occurs to me that I am writing to many who have already read about how God has prepared me for this new position of Minister of Worship and Music – my years at Bellevue Christian as Music Director, my ordination there last year, even of my Exodus years before BCC that included weekly commuting from my position in New York as a professor at the Manhattan School of Music to my seminary in Bothell (where I received a masters degree in counseling, and then in divinity).  And, I am aware that many of you were in attendance when my music team came to join with Glenn and others of you to re-present an Omega Circle Gathering on May 15th; and leading worship is a pretty exposing undertaking – at least as the Circle is conducted.  And so, it seems as if you already know me quite well, based on both the reprint of the “Next Port of Call” article and the Gathering.  I feel as if it is now my turn to get to know you better!  But that’s not my present assignment.                                                                   

      Perhaps the following “nutshell” comes as no surprise – we’ll see.  My faith journey includes growing up in a Baptist church (American, that is), denying God’s existence and/or relevance for 20 years, returning to faith in the midst of divorce, hearing my call to ordained ministry when exploring chaplaincy, and finding my voice when designing Omega Circle worship.  When I was welcomed into the denomination-level Worship Working Group (representing postmodern contemplative worship) even before I was ordained, I knew I had found my faith home.  My career journey is in process.  I continue to teach music as the Director of the Children’s Division of the Academy of Music Northwest – my school-year Saturday job.  I am currently the geriatric chaplain resident at the VA hospital in Seattle, and starting in October I will be the chaplain fellow on the out-patient addictions treatment unit.  Yes, I do find that this makes for a busy schedule; however, designing worship and making music seems to be an ideal complement to assisting troubled patients through their “valley” days.  God shows me one stone at a time on this path – call it “career” or call it “calling” – and I don’t pretend at this point to know exactly where it will lead.

      For now, that path has led to Edmonds, and I am delighted.  That delight comes partially from having formed hopeful impressions based on the Board Meeting and from the spirit of the Gathering; and, my delight also comes from your welcome of my two cohorts – Daniela Landolfi (singer, percussionist, daughter) and Thom McNeil (electric bass and guitar, occasional vocals, friend).  The three of us look forward to settling in to our new church home. 

      I end with one request.  To be honest, it gets lonely up front sometimes.  There’s so much to do – setting up, warming up, breaking down, organizing sheet music, etc.  It gets very easy for us to focus on tasks rather than mingling and getting to know you better.  The best way to assist us with getting integrated is – frankly – for you to ask how you can help.  “Team” is not, as you know, a new word for “committee.”  And the Band is a team – a team in need of many more members than just the ones playing and singing.  And, if help – even on a rotating basis – isn’t a possibility, then seek one of us out to give your honest feedback.  After all, that’s what happens in a healthy home.  I am grateful for the welcome I have already received that allows me to call this “my new church home.”

Rev. Carol Macaulay
Minister of Worship and Music

Administrative Assistant:  Phillip Savage

      A heartfelt thank you for allowing me to serve as your Administrative Assistant.  It is a challenge and a joy.  Never is there a dull day and never are two days the same.

      I have been very blessed by this congregation in your love and support of me.  I have so many of you, who mentor me, send me cards, and several guardian angels that are always watchful over me.  A mere thank you seems so inadequate.

      My prayers are of thankfulness and joy that God allowed me to be a part of Edmonds Christian Church family and to serve you in God's work.

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Last modified: 04/11/07