“It feels good to be back home”- Rev. Patsy Henry

May 03, 2012

Photo: Rev. Patsy Henry (centre) officially takes over at Harrowsmith- Verona Pastoral Charge at a special service on Sunday April 29

Those were the words Rev. Patsy Henry said following a special service at St. Paul's United Church in Harrowsmith on April 29, when she was officially appointed the new minister of the Harrowsmith-Verona Pastoral Charge.

The service included a statement of purpose from the Chair of the Kingston Presbytery, Peter Scott, numerous prayers from members of both church congregations young and old, and prayerful and celebratory music courtesy of Anabelle Twiddy and the choir, flutist Anne Archer, and nine-year-old Ada Ludlow.

Rev. Henry accepted her official position with characteristic humility and grace. Henry came to the area following an appointment at St. Andrew's by the Lake. Before that she served at Tory Hill Pastoral Charge in the Haliburton Highlands, and at Centenary Pastoral Charge (the Sharbot Lake, Parham and Maberly United churches).

Most recently she has been serving as the supply minister in Harrowmith and Verona since August, 2011 in a temporary capacity after Rev. Lynda Price retired in July 2011. At that time a joint search committee made up of six members of the congregation, three from each church and co-chaired by Dawn Sieben of St. Paul's in Harrowsmith and Hannes Friedli of Trinity in Verona, was set up to find a permanent minister to fill the position. The committee was to advertise the vacancy, interview applicants and then give their recommendations to both congregations.

According to both co-chairs, when it came time for the vote, Rev. Henry won by a landslide. In December she was offered the position, which she accepted and in February her appointment was approved by the Kingston Presbytery. According to Dawn Sieben, there was no question that Patsy Henry was the natural person for the job. “The two congregations got together and came up with a list of the qualities they wanted in a minister and Patsy just had everything we were looking for; she just fit in everywhere. Personally, one of my favorite qualities in Patsy is how she has the ability to take the scripture and bring it to life today,” Dawn said following the service.

Hannes Friedli agreed that Patsy was the right choice. “We came to see that Patsy had a great rapport with members of the church and really liked the way she handled the children’s section of the service which was really very wonderful.”

No one seems more pleased with the outcome than Patsy herself. “It's really feels like coming home and I'm very much in love with these people and have loved every minute of being here,” she said following the service. She spoke about the importance of children. “Children are a sign of hope wherever we hear their voices. I don't know if you noticed but at the end of the service the young ones were dancing at the back of the church while Anne Archer was playing the flute, which was something very special. Children add promise and hope and life.”

The guest preacher at the service was Rev. Eric Barr, and in his sermon he focused on the importance of allowing for change, which though it can be uncomfortable, is something that happens naturally and everywhere in the world around us. “In order to grow both spiritually and in other ways we need to take risks, make changes and be adventurous. The older we get, the more fearful of change we tend to become but we need to remember that we need to make room for change to occur.”