I have been asked to introduce myself and tell you what an Associate Priest is. I am a retired priest. I moved to Newport News in 2015 to live near one of my sons, and chose to worship at St. Andrew’s, so I have been here in the parish for the past 15 months. I moved here from suburban Philadelphia.
I
served several small churches, ending with 19 years as Rector of St. Aidan’s in
Cheltenham, PA. When I left there, I was
Chaplain at the Philadelphia Protestant Home, which is a continuing care
retirement community. When I was there,
my husband and I had to find a church where we could worship, and settled at St.
Anne’s in Abington, PA. I entered into
an Associate relationship there, where I assisted into my retirement – I was
there 14 years. It gave me great joy
there to start what became a very vibrant Prayer Shawl Ministry.
I
am a widow with two sons – Matt and his family live in Yorktown with three
wonderful small children. John and his
family (one son) live in Connecticut. I
love being Nana Carolee with these small people. I like gardening, reading, sewing,
crocheting, knitting, and being outdoors and savoring the wonder and variety of
God’s creation. Each of the four
grandchildren has a “special blanket” – a quilt I designed and made just for
them.
An
Associate Priest is someone who is either retired, in a chaplaincy, or a
secular job, who has time to be involved in the ministry of the parish. I have kept a low profile the past year as I
settled here and began making connections in a completely new community. David Perkins asked me to assist in the time
before the new Rector comes, and I am happy to do that. You have seen me assisting with services, and
I am helping with some staff issues.
When our new Rector is on board, we will look again at what role makes
sense for me, but I do want to make St. Andrew’s my church home.
Carol
Chamberlain
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