Paola Velandia and Daniel Wolf Receive Medical Degrees and Unite in Marriage
Paola Velandia and Daniel Wolf graduated from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine located in Middletown, New York in May 2020. Paola will specialize in obstetrics and gynecology and Daniel will specialize in emergency medicine. Paula and Daniel were married on October 20, 2020 in a small ceremony in Beacon, New York. Paola is the daughter of Marie and Don Nyland.
We Celebrate Paul and Beth Leggett
Rev. Dr. Paul A. Leggett and his wife Beth will retire on December 31, 2020. The session of Grace Presbyterian Church invites you to two events to celebrate their thirty-nine years of service to our congregation and to our community. Please SAVE THE DATES of December 5 and December 27, 2020.
Join our Drive-By Celebration
On Saturday, December 5, from 1–2 p.m., the Leggett family will receive your love, thanks, and well-wishes from their front yard as you drive by. Roll down your windows, display your posters and wave your hands at Paul and Beth! The Montclair Police will direct traffic and keep you moving. No one will be allowed to leave their cars or to drop off gifts. We will send more information about how to line up for the drive-by soon. Only the worst weather will move the drive-by to Sunday, December 6 at 1 p.m. Check the website (www.gracemontclair.org) for updates.
Join Us for Worship at a Service of Gratitude to God on Zoom.
On Sunday, December 27, at 10:00 a.m. we will praise and thank God for Paul’s and Beth’s service to us and to our community. Hear tributes from the community and from members of the congregation. See a slide show with thirty-nine years of photos! Join the coffee hour afterward and offer your “thanks” to Paul and to Beth.
Mail Your Gratitude and Retirement Wishes to Paul and to Beth at Grace Church
Send cards and letters to 153 Grove Street, Montclair, NJ, 07042. We will ensure all of your cards and letters get to Paul and Beth, even if the cards and letters arrive after Paul and Beth move on February 28, 2021.
Sadly, COVID-19 has made many of the traditional ways we celebrate important events in the life of our church unsafe and impractical. We hope these two events will allow our community to express joy for Paul’s and Beth’s time in our midst, sadness that our time together has come to an end, and our best hopes and wishes for them as they enter retirement.
We will also collect your gifts for Paul and Beth (this gift will not be tax deductible) given through the church website (indicate “Paul and Beth gift”) or mailed to the church office.
Feel free to direct questions to the Grace Church office at office@gracemontclair.org or to Rev. Margo Walter at margowalter@comcast.net.
What Happens Next?
When Pastor Paul Leggett retires on December 31, he leaves a big vacancy. Because he has served Grace Church for nearly four decades, the church needs to move carefully and deliberately in filling our pastoral leadership needs. Praise God that we have Pastoral Associate Margo Walter and Director of Faith Formation Nick Wallwork to provide continuity of ministry, as they have for much of the past sixteen months. Our church also has support from the Newark Presbytery’s Ministry Relations Team; the church leadership has been in touch with this team, and they stand ready to help. With the help of the Ministry Relations Team, the Session will contact individuals who could serve as Interim Pastor. We hope to have that person in place within a couple of months. Meanwhile, you can expect the same great preaching and ministry as Margo, Nick, members of Session and other Elders, and guest preachers lead the church in worship.
Once an interim pastor is in place, the Session will work with that person to describe, and discern what the ministry and mission of Grace Church is and should be in the future. Session will look to you, members of the Grace community, to provide input. The Session will prepare a comprehensive document that will be used in the search for new pastoral leadership. In about a year, around January 2022, the Grace Church congregation will elect members of a Pastor Nominating Committee, which will identify and consider pastoral candidates. That work will take another year or two, and, God willing, we will have new pastoral leadership in 2023.
The Session and the Pastoral Staff humbly ask the Grace Church Community to be patient and persistent in prayer for all aspects of this transition. We will also give you ample opportunity to communicate with us in the weeks and months ahead. Thank you!