As a mother of two small children and the minister of a revitalized and growing congregation, I am committed to creating an environment for the young ones in our church that honors their presence, delights their senses, and takes them seriously as people of faith. To that end, I have put a great deal of energy into crafting children’s sermons over the last 9 years. During my sabbatical I plan to revise these sermons and make them available on a website, so that pastors and educators can access them and hopefully enrich the spiritual lives of the children in their churches.

I am also part of a small singing group (most of whom are now mothers) called “Missing Rachel.” We would like to connect during my sabbatical to record music for our second CD, with a focus on spiritual music that would appeal to children. I would like to complete these two projects while summering up at our camp in Wayne, ME – a place of peace and tranquility- where we can comfortably reconnect with our family and friends as our children enjoy playing together on the beach. And finally, I look forward to worshipping with my family, rather than up in front of them, at the Wayne community church.