From Your Interim Pastor...Rev. Kathy  Vineyard

PRAYERS OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN AVAILETH MUCH…Paul’s words have guided my life since seminary days when future direction was uncertain, Greek was, well, “all Greek to me” and a bewildering world of possibilities awaited us upon graduation from the Master of Divinity  program. The more difficult perspective was the loss of close friends with whom we spent every waking moment eating “hockey pucks” in the refectory, worshipping every morning in the chapel, attending that 8 am Greek class and   other proscribed courses of study and studying in Erdman Library until it closed at midnight. The Princeton Seminary class of 1977 was our family and about to be separated.

 The same is true of every call we PTS alumni would encounter in the past 34 years since graduation. My last Sunday in the pulpit of Grace Presbyterian Church is, ironically, the 34th anniversary of my ordination. Another departure is on the horizon and you will all be very much missed. Grace has been my family and, in a very real sense continues to be as we have “tied the knot.” The Pastoral Courtesy Guidelines of Grace Presbytery provide wise counsel on the separation of pastors from their congregation. Those guidelines are available at gracepresbytery.org/forms. Thank you for being the warmest and most loving church family God has provided. Thank you for engaging faithfully in ministry shared this past 18 months since my arrival. Thank you for being an authentic witness to Jesus Christ in this community.

 Our family will soon be seeking a different congregation with whom to worship and to work. The Vineyards leave this particular church with prayers for your future as well as our own to provide the new pastor with a clear field for creating bonds. Prayers have brought Grace Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Thom Lamb into a new relationship.  God has blessed this congregation with a joyful new connection with the Lamb family. Welcome to the new pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church! Prayers availeth much…thanks be to God!