Meet Our Pastor
Blessings to you all in the name of Jesus Christ,
As we begin our ministry together, I wanted to share a bit about myself. My name is Brigid Farrell. I have lived in the Upper Valley most of my life, having grown up in Norwich, graduating from Hanover High School, and calling Norwich my home. I attended Colby College in Maine, have a Masters in Education from Harvard and a Masters in Theology from Union Theological Seminary in NYC. I am also trained in Spiritual Direction and Interim Ministry.
My first vocation was to teaching. I taught at the Marion Cross School in Norwich. I taught everything from Kindergarten to 5thand 6th Grade Social Studies. I spent most of my time as a 1st grade teacher but was also able to serve as an acting and interim principal for a year or so. I spent a year working on School Improvement on a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
My spiritual journey started in the Catholic Church. As I was discerning a call to ministry after 20 years in elementary education, I found my way to the United Methodist Church in White River Junction. After serving in many different capacities as a lay person, I attended seminary and was ordained in the former Troy Conference. I served churches in NY State, Essex Junction and Bradford, VT before being appointed the District Superintendent of the Vermont District in 2009. I served in that capacity until 2017 when I officially retired. But God was not done with me yet. I serve the United Church of Thetford, in North Thetford, VT part time. I also spent about three years as the Spiritual Care Coordinator at Kendal in Hanover during the pandemic.
God works in mysterious ways. When I first was asked to accept this appointment, I said, “No”, as I have a small but mighty church that I was not ready to leave but as I spent some time in prayer and discernment, God’s “yes” continued to work on me. There were details to work out as I felt called to be part of this team and remain with my other church.
As of July 1 I will be your coordinating pastor for the next 7 months. As your CP, I will lead worship and communion with you on the first Sunday of the month, help coordinate a team of both laity and clergy, attend some meetings, and walk with you in this time of transition. This will be a new experience for most of us but with God’s help, it will be a time of spiritual nurture, of strengthening the already strong mission and outreach of the church, and growing into what it is that God has planned for all of us. I am not a stranger to your strong witness to justice and inclusivity, and am delighted to be with you in this interim time.
Please join me in prayer as we begin our work together. Pray that we will continue to move forward in this interim time, filled with the Spirit, growing the God’s love and blessings in order that we might be all that God calls us to be as the people called United Methodist here and now.
Pastor Brigid