July 9, 2026
Dear Members and Friends of Napa Methodist Church,
My first Sunday as your pastor is now in the books, and I count it a great success! Because I am known to be both long-winded and a total klutz, my goals were simple: meet the children and learn their names, navigate the sanctuary steps without a public faceplant, avoid dropping any of the gifts of ministry entrusted to me, read the prayer cards without butchering anyone’s name beyond recognition, and finally end worship within the hour on a Communion Sunday with so many moving parts. Praise God and hallelujah—mission accomplished!
Here is something I had not expected: members of my former congregations in the Midwest, along with family and friends from around the world, tuned in to the livestream. Since Sunday, I have received several emails sharing two recurring questions.
*The first question has been: Why doesn’t your new church have “United” in its name, and why is it missing the cross-and-flame logo? “Hey, Grace, have you gone Global on us?!!”
I have assured everyone who has asked that we are very much a United Methodist congregation. After all, we have a retired United Methodist bishop and three retired United Methodist clergy who have made this their spiritual home. However, I don’t yet know the story behind the congregation’s name and logo. I can’t wait to sit down with our church historian to hear all about it. Stay tuned!
*The second question has been about all the patriotic decorations this past Sunday: the American flag, the bunting in the chancel, the red, white, and blue faux-popsicles tucked into the flower arrangements, and the ribbons decorating the balcony. With the livestream’s steady focus on the chancel throughout the service, it certainly looked as though, for the sesquicentennial, this congregation had gone all out!
That question was easy to answer, thanks to a conversation I had last Thursday with one of our decorators. Our conversation both challenged and inspired me with the conviction that, on our sesquicentennial anniversary, a progressive faith community should claim its place in the American story. I agreed that too often in recent years, flag-waving has seemed to represent only one voice among the many voices that make up our nation. I appreciated the conviction that we should not remain silent and allow only one perspective to define what America is or who belongs.
We, too, are America.
As one of our children said on Sunday when I asked what he loves best about this congregation, “We welcome and accept all humanity.” That is our America!
As followers of Jesus, each of us could have been born anywhere. Yet here we are, planted in this specific nation and moment in history, with a calling to seek the highest ideals of justice, liberty, compassion, and dignity for all people. I don’t know about you, but on Sunday I experienced us reaching back and celebrating those moments in our nation’s history when those ideals have shone most brightly. In another fifty years, may those who reach back find our story an inspiration.
Finally, my transition update: I moved into the parsonage on Monday, July 6. After three weeks of living a rather tough itineracy experience, its time for a Hallelujah!
I am deeply grateful to the hardworking crew who prepared the parsonage for the final details of checking the smoke detectors, lining the shelves, and the labor of love of a deep cleaning which included washing the light globes. In my continuing effort to learn names, I especially want to thank Greta Steinbruner, Liz Kirkaldie, Katherine Proctor, Kevin and Joellen Pope, and Margaret Payne. Thank you!
I now have a coffee-maker, thanks to Debbie Stevens at the Thrift Shop. So if you would like to come to the parsonage and sit in the backyard, and chew the fat about the shenanigans at the World Cup, here’s an open invitation. (Since we are in Napa, I’ll keep checking the thrift shop for wine glasses so you can BYOB!)
Finally, here is some more good news: Don Hitchcock secured a laptop for me, and Sally Archambault graciously stepped out of church retirement to get me all set up with my new email address:
Things are coming together nicely as we move towards perfection!
See you in church—or sooner!
With love,
Grace