It’s been well over a month since I’ve announced that I’ll be leaving SKUUC at the end of the church year. Church leadership experts talk about this leaving as a time of adjusting to change similar to that of the grief process. It might sound a little silly, like as much as we know we might miss each other, grief seems to focus somewhat harshly on sadness.

But if we remember that the emotions of grief actually run the gamut of the wheel, from bargaining to anger to frustration to acceptance, it might make sense that we’ve had so many varying thoughts about the end of my ministry with SKUUC. As much as I might like to see myself not having some of these same feelings, I acknowledge my own mixture of emotions in leaving.

The gift that we hold is that there is still time for us to continue conversation with each other, to express some of these responses, to talk about what this ministry has meant, to have direct conversations. I have spoken to many of you, and I am grateful for those exchanges. I give thanks for the relationships we have made with each other.

In faith,

Katie