Our Pastor

We have great news!
Our Pastor Nominating Committee was offered the opportunity to secure a bridge pastor while we continue our search for a permanent pastor. Rev. Karen Chamis, recently retired as Resource Presbyter for the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse, has agreed to serve us part-time. Karen will fill in the gaps, providing pastoral care and administrative support as well as leading worship three Sundays each month. She has served as our guest pastor several times in this past year, and has had an ongoing relationship with our PNC. We are thankful that Karen will be providing this valuable assistance during our transition process!

Dear JCC folk,

Have you ever had an itch that you just had to scratch?

I’m not talking about the run-of-the-mill mosquito bite, or even the travails of poison ivy, but rather that internal itch that keeps you up late at night?

For the last eight years or so I’ve been a pastor to pastors, and a shepherd for congregations. At the end of 2022, I stepped down from that ministry in order to discern where God wanted me next. It wasn’t that the work I was doing as the Resource Presbyter for Cayuga-Syracuse was unfulfilling – indeed, it was some of the most fulfilling ministry of my career.

Regardless, I knew it was time to step down. Part of my departure was due to the impact of COVID and my belief that the Presbytery needed someone with a different toolbox in this post-COVID world. But the other part? That was the itch.

I’m still not certain I’m being called to serve in the local church. But there is an itch there. The kind of itch that requires copious amounts of calamine lotion. That itch-that-must-be-scratched is one of the reasons our covenant with each other is such a blessing.

JCC is in an in-between time. You’ve done the hard work of having an Interim walk you through your history and have pulled together a great team to search for your new pastor. Those folks have spent hours reviewing resumes and interviewing candidates, but the pool of pastors has diminished greatly over the last few years making the search longer and harder than in previous years.

My work as a Bridge Pastor is to come along side your leadership and to offer a pastoral presence until your new pastor is found. And, because of how God works, ministering with you will help me in my own discernment process. Although I’m not called to be your Called and Installed pastor, I do believe I’m called to do this particular ministry with you.

It seems that whether we are itchy, impatient, exhausted, or frustrated… we aren’t going to go through this alone. God continues to be in the middle of it!

Grateful for you – Karen