Thanks, Lauren!

(L to R) Fr. Quinn, Kelsey Aebi, Lauren Abbott

Dear Friends,

For more than 4 years, Lauren Topping Abbott has been with us on staff at St. Peter's. She came on board as an assistant to our Children's Minister, Linda Cooper, and did such a great job in that role that we made her the new Children's Minister when Linda retired. Along with overseeing our Children's Ministry, Lauren has guided the work of our nursery and been the point person on most major events in the parish. She has also served on our strategic outreach team and been important to our work around making Sunday mornings more accessible and more welcoming to guests.

Her efforts in all of these areas have been outstanding! And, it must be noted, she's done much of her work in the context of the pandemic—when we were forced constantly to alter plans and learn new ways of doing things. I cannot tell you how much I have appreciated her good and faithful work. I have also appreciated her kind and generous presence as a staff member. She is always willing to help, always willing to cheer others up, and occasionally, to hide somewhere, jump out, and scare whichever victim is walking down the hall. I have been that victim more than once.

So, it is with a good deal of sadness that I let you know that Lauren has completed a certification program in data analytics and will be pursuing new work in that field in the coming months, bringing her time on staff with us to a close. She will be missed by all of us and by the children to whom she's ministered so well. I have no doubt that she will remain a part of our community, though. So this is a transition and not a "goodbye."

Lauren's last day with us will be Sunday, May 15. If you would like to contribute to a purse for her between now and then, I invite you to give to the church with "Lauren Abbott" in the memo line.

I have convened a small group to begin the work of searching for Lauren's successor. To aid that group in our work, I'd invite you to fill out the survey found here at your earliest convenience.

Please keep Lauren in your prayers as she begins this transition, and please keep St. Peter's in your prayers as we prepare for the next phase of ministry.

God Bless,
Fr. Quinn