May 2025

What a last 10 days we've had in Richmond! I graduated from seminary, family came into town, we celebrated for multiple days, we finalized "baby things" at our apartment (my mom finished painting the baby's dresser, we did some of the baby's laundry, and finished packing our hospital bags), and we prepared for our upcoming move.

As I write this blog post, which will probably be my final one for a while, I'm filled with gratitude. I'm thankful for the ways that God continues to work through me and through each of you. I'm thankful for the love of family and friends. I'm thankful for new life growing inside of me. I'm thankful for the professors and students at UPSem who've taught me how to think theologically and pastorally, how to prepare for worship and preaching, how to think contextually about the biblical texts, etc. etc. I'm incredibly thankful!

Below are some reflections on the last couple of weeks. I hope to be able to update y'all about the details of my call in the next month or so (pending "the way is clear" in the Presbytery of my call and pending I have time to write a blog post when I have a newborn!).

Sunday, May 25th

St. Andrew connections --- I first "met" Elizabeth Smith-Bartlett when my dad connected me with her for an informational interview as I started to look at seminaries. I met Elizabeth officially in Summer 2023 when she guest preached at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church. We got to know each other better at the beginning of 2024 and then in Summer 2024 when I did Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) where Elizabeth works as a Chaplain. A few months ago Elizabeth told me that she grew up sitting on the same pew as my grandparents. So when Grandmother came to town for graduation weekend, I figured we should create an updated version of Elizabeth's memory. We enjoyed donuts outside of church and then worshiped together. What a joy to connect with Elizabeth, who was a very involved youth at St. Andrew and who was under St. Andrew and Grace Presbytery's care like I've been.

Pure joy in our connectional church!

Saturday, May 24th

At 37 weeks & 5 days pregnant I graduated from UPSem with a Master of Divinity degree (as a classmate pointed out, a Master of Divinity is 81 credit hours which is no joke!). What a wonderful, exciting, sometimes stressful, challenging, life-changing experience I've had over the last 3 years as a seminarian. Without a doubt my favorite parts of seminary were the field learning experiences and the time spent with classmates and professors --- problem-solving, "what-ifing", imagining life outside of seminary, channeling creativity, discussing the biblical texts, learning Hebrew and Greek, and taking "laps," which was our sacred time in-between classes and studying when we got to just "be" with each other.

This group of gals was alongside each other through the many joyful and stressful times of seminary.

I never understood why, after earning a degree, the partner who earned the degree would say to the other that their partner deserved part of their degree. I always thought "You did the work! Why should the other partner get credit too?!" But now I understand this sentiment. Almost 2 years ago Charles and I entered the covenant of marriage. Almost 3 years ago we moved to Richmond as a couple engaged to be married. Charles picked up his life, comfort, and safety and moved to Richmond alongside me so that I could follow God's call for me to seminary and into ministry. Around 4 years ago I started to feel God calling me to ministry. When I told Charles about this new call, or feeling, his response was "finally!" I'd mentioned to him numerous times that while I enjoyed my job, most of my coworkers felt called to our field. But I didn't feel that same sense of call to my job. So Charles' response of "finally" was all the support I could've ever imagined. Shortly after telling Charles about this call, I began to research seminaries and have informational interviews with anyone who'd talk to me. Then Charles accompanied me on the journey of visiting seminaries and discerning where God might be calling me for seminary and where God might be calling our family. All of this is to say that I feel incredibly grateful for Charles' partnership, our covenant of marriage, our commitment to each other, and Charles' and his family's love and support of this journey. What a profound gift to have Charles at my side and to know that he's alongside me as God continues to work through both of us in new ways.

My "biblical languages sensei," as a friend put it. Dr. Lemma is a gift to UPSem, to the world, and to me. I'm grateful for his encouragement when I thought I was failing the languages, for his support and mentorship throughout my seminary career, and for the love he has for my family and me.

I'm thankful for those who joined us in-person for graduation weekend and those who joined us virtually! Here are the YouTube links to recordings of Baccalaureate and Commencement. 

How neat it is to have your grandmother, aunt, parents, husband, and mother-in-law at your side when you graduate with your Master of Divinity! I certainly wouldn't have gotten here without the love and support of our communities, especially those faith communities who've nourished and helped raise me (FPC Mt. Sterling, FPC Troy, and St. Andrew). The folks of St. Andrew have surrounded me with love, support, and opportunity to learn and practice ministry while I've been under their care. Shoutout to Julie Tolle for being a model liaison and for always meeting me exactly where I am. 

Friday, May 23rd

32 years ago my dad graduated from seminary with my mom, who was about 4-5 months pregnant with me, at his side. What fun it is to hear about that time in my parents' life and then to reflect on the time in our life right now. I know that seminary wouldn't have been possible, or at least it wouldn't have been nearly as fun, explorative, and reflective, without the support of my parents. To be able to call my dad after something in class shocked me, to have my mom understand what it's like to be the spouse of a  future minister, to have your parents visit campus and know your journey intimately because it's part of their journey too --- it's an incredible feeling. Thank you to Mom & Papa for always believing in me, for cultivating my love for people, for encouraging me when I started to feel a call to ministry, and for all the things you've done for my sisters and me that have gone unnoticed and unrecognized. I started every seminary application essay about my family with these sentences: “Living out your calling is a phrase to which I am accustomed. My father is a Presbyterian minister and my mother is a dentist who started a nonprofit dental clinic. I witnessed my parents serving our community and ministering with those in need through their respective callings, inspiring me to seek a job that I love and feel called to do." What a privilege and a gift to have Mom & Papa as my models.

Post-Baccalaureate reception on campus --- we'll miss this beautiful campus for sure.

Sunday, May 18th

The week before graduation I preached at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church (GPPC) at 36 weeks & 6 days pregnant. We're immensely grateful for that beloved community.

I borrowed a stole to wear at GPPC and it's a favorite!

Thursday, May 15th

I realized I haven't taken a photo of campus in a while. Gotta soak up the views while I can. I worked in the library to prepare for the final sermon of my seminary career.

Sunday, May 11th

On Mother's Day we attended a Disciples of Christ church in Richmond (where my former boss' husband is the pastor). Turns out they take Mother's Day celebrations and honoring caregivers very seriously! I hadn't thought of Mother's Day being a holiday to celebrate me quite yet, but many friends and this church felt differently. What a gift it was to worship there.

Saturday, May 3rd

Our "day date" in May included eating at a restaurant that has been on my "want to try" list for 2+ years then making homemade ice-cream at Sweet Wynn's.

I'm not sure how many more times I can say "thank you," so here it is one last time. I'm grateful for each of y'all, for our communities, and for the ways God works in and among us. Here's to Summer 2025 --- the summer we become parents (in just a few days!) and the summer we move as I receive my first call to ministry.

With Love,

Caitlin

 

April 2025

    I'm in the midst of quite a few "endings" and holding space for those feels important to me. This week I'll work my final shift as a PRN Chaplain at the hospital. I'll also work my final internship day at Covenant Woods. Yesterday, I led my final worship and preached my final sermon at Covenant Woods. In a few weeks I'll preach at my internship church, Ginter Park Presbyterian, and say "see you later" to those good folks. In less than a month I'll graduate from UPSem and then in less than two months we'll move away from Richmond. There's a lot of change on the horizon and friends, change is hard! Transition includes many moving parts. Saying "see you later" to incredible learning sites and supportive places includes grief. So I'm sitting in that space for a little bit. I'm enjoying and grieving the "lasts" while simultaneously looking forward to all of the new beginnings that follow.

   I can't share details yet, but I'm currently in the late stages of the discernment process with a call. So "if the way be clear," as Presbyterians like to say, things will become official with this call in the next month or two. And "if the way be clear," I'll start the call in September (I'm thankful for some built-in maternity leave!) and Charles will continue to work remotely. While we're experiencing a lot of endings right now, there is literal new life that'll begin soon. Growing a baby inside of me is an absolute privilege. I feel tired frequently, I always feel hot, and simple tasks like tying my shoes are proving more difficult each day. But what a gift and honor it is to carry this baby girl. When I started to read Scripture yesterday before the sermon began, baby girl began moving all around. It's like she knew it was time for the sermon so she was getting ready for it (although I'm betting she was more excited than most people feel before a sermon begins 🤣).

    Our Richmond endings invite time for reflection, gratitude, and lots of "soaking it up" moments. Our Richmond endings also give space for our new beginnings. Our apartment looks a bit like a storage unit with baby items sprinkled throughout. But we're excited to create a new home once we move knowing that "home" includes many places for us. When asked what Charles is most excited about in terms of becoming a dad, he says it's bonding with our baby girl, taking care of her, and watching her grow. For me, I can't wait to create new traditions as a family of three; to continue traditions we've created for the two of us, which are informed by traditions in our families, but also to create some new ones for our growing family. Ultimately, we feel extremely blessed. We're grateful for the multitude of ways that God continues to work through our lives. And of course we appreciate the continued love, support, prayers, and encouragement from all of y'all.

This final writing period ended up taking me 5 hours but I commend myself for thinking I could be done in 3 hours (ha). By April 8th, I completed my final papers for Theology II and Introduction to Christian Ethics, so I've been done with seminary classes for a few weeks.

My mom, along with Charles' mom, his siblings, our friends, and family celebrated our baby girl with seminary friends at the beginning of April. We're lucky and this gal is blessed with so many folks who already love her.

We went on our last day trip to Charlottesville while we live in Richmond. We visited an apple and peach orchard, checked out a local bakery, and went for a pretty hike. 

Easter sunrise worship service at Hollywood Cemetery. We streamed St. Andrew's worship service live after coming home to take a nap because it doesn't feel like Easter to me without singing "Lift High the Cross."

Last week I participated in my last Board of Trustees meeting at UPSem as the Richmond Student Rep.

Over the weekend we enjoyed introducing more friends to our favorite burger spot in Richmond. Charles and I reminisced the first time we visited Cobra Burger --- it was the evening after my first day of Hebrew class, which was also the same day that Charles and his brother drove the U-Haul from Fairfax and moved us into our new apartment. I enjoyed the burger and company, but I made flashcards throughout dinner and was in pure panic mode about how I knew "nothing!" It's funny how time and perspective change.

Blessings,

Caitlin

March 2025

In 10 days I'll submit the final two assignments of my seminary career. In a month I'll complete my internship at Covenant Woods, a Continuing Care Retirement Community, which has been an incredible place to learn and grow. In less than two months I'll graduate from UPSem with a Master of Divinity. Recently I've spent a lot of time reflecting on the last 3 years. Time has seriously flown by and actually, I'm at a loss for words right now (shocking, I know!) to describe my time in seminary and the discernment process. For now, I'll just share gratitude for all the folks who've supported, encouraged, and prayed for me during this time. Here are some March updates:

At the UPSem Richmond Student Awards ceremony, I received the E.T. George Excellence in Homiletics, Worship, & Public Speaking award. This is a great honor and gift! When I shared this news with my grandmothers, I was reminded that I never posted about another award I received back in December. Last Fall I applied for a scholarship from Grace Presbytery via First Presbyterian Church Fort Worth, TX. In December, I received a notification that I'd received the scholarship, the Karl Travis Excellence in Preaching award. Again, what a gift and this one is especially neat since my dad attended college with Rev. Travis. Perhaps these awards are a sign of my future call to ministry... :)

At the beginning of March, Charles and I spent a weekend in Texas with family and friends and got to witness our niece's baptism. No trip home is complete without spending time with my St. Andrew liaison, Julie. We enjoyed catching up although I missed being at worship or at Super Wednesday with the rest of our St. Andrew family! In mid-March, Charles and I enjoyed a birthday dinner with my mother-in-law in Prince George's County, MD for her birthday. We also attended a faith & justice event through RISC called the Nehemiah Action. I had the privilege of visiting a Muslim mosque for an interfaith panel, the observation of the Maghrib prayer (4th of the 5 Islamic prayers each day), and participated in Iftar, which is the breaking of the fast during the Holy Month of Ramadan. And I preached on the 3rd Sunday of Lent at my internship, Covenant Woods. I closed out the month of March by working a 12 hour hospital shift at VCU Hospital. Chaplaincy is hard, y'all, especially in a trauma setting. I'm grateful for the Spiritual Care team there who does such important work and that I've had the privilege of working there as an intern and a PRN Chaplain.

Charles was able to attend the Student Awards Ceremony at UPSem Richmond last week. Here's a photo of us.  You might notice here that we've been keeping some news close to our chests but since it's now obvious just by looking at me, Charles and I are excited to share that I'm pregnant and we're expecting a baby girl in early-June. We're thrilled, eager, of course a little nervous, and incredibly grateful for the privilege to become "Mom" and "Dad" this year. 

Thanks to my advisor and pastoral care professor who "stood-in" for our homiletics professor in presenting the award to me since my homiletics professor is on sabbatical right now.

UPSem's Annual Tulip Fest was a wonderful event.

During a time in our nation when there's so many unknowns, when the news hurts my heart each day --- and when frankly, I'm struggling to know how to respond, I'm trying to lean into what I'm learning in my Christian Ethics class this semester. Last week in Christian Ethics I presented on Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon who was a professor at UPSem, a womanist theological ethicist, and the first Black woman ordained in the Presbyterian church. In 2012, Rev. Dr. Cannon preached at UPSem's Sprunt Lectures (an annual alumni and community event for which UPSem is known). Dr. Cannon began her 2012 sermon by “calling for the order of the day.” She proclaims that the longtime Presbyterian tradition of “calling for the order of the day” is a “signal that there’s no more time for foolishness…so our lives become a living testimony to the Bible’s injunction to seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.” -Cannon, 2012

So, as God calls us to do in Micah 6:8 and as Jesus emphasizes in the parable of the Good Samaritan, I'm trying to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly...to love my neighbors and all strangers and to "go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37). Friends, I'm grateful to be doing this work, the work of Jesus, the work to which God calls us, alongside each of you.

When I leave pastoral care visits, I usually say "take care of yourself." This follows the question that I've asked during this visit which is "how are you caring for yourself?" So friends, I'll close this blog post in the same way. Take care of yourself. I'm trying to do the same. We've got each other. And God's got our backs.

With Gratitude, 

Caitlin

February 2025

Hi Friends, I don't know about y'all, but February flew by for me. I sat at my computer yesterday and after I read this week's Shield, I realized "Oh no! I only have one day of February left to blog!" So here we are. It's always good to be e-connected with y'all. And I'm excited to be in Denton next week! I'll miss being with y'all at church on Sunday. I'll be worshiping with my family at FPC Dallas because my dad will baptize our niece at her home church that day. But maybe I'll run into you around town while we're visiting 😀 

At the end of January I preached at my internship about our call as God's children and how that intersects with each of our vocations. That hit home for me!

At the end of February I preached about partnership as part of our call as disciples. I preached on the book of Philemon, which is just one chapter. That was hard work --- I wanted to do justice to the text and I also wanted to address the harm that interpretations of Philemon have caused in the USA (in regards to how Christians have used the book of Philemon as an affirmation of enslavement). The sermon seemed to land well with folks. I'm grateful for how God worked through the congregation and through me as we reflected on the apostle Paul's letter to Philemon together. 

*The sermon recording is linked here and starts around 18:00.

During the month of February I also worked two hospital shifts as a PRN Chaplain. Each of the two shifts had a couple of extremely difficult moments and a couple of marvelous moments. Each time I'm at the hospital I'm reminded of what a gift it is to be alive and to be in relationship with each other.

Another big part of February was getting myself organized as the Final Level Student Representative on Richmond's Student Government Association. I coordinated a meeting, sent lots of emails, and am now working with a few other Final Level students to coordinate our Final Level Gift, which is part of the tradition of Final Levels leaving some sort of legacy for the UPSem community. As I continue this work, I'm also preparing for my third and final UPSem Board of Trustees meeting where I serve as the Richmond Student Representative. That meeting is in April so I'm working with my Charlotte counterpart to put together a listening session with students so we can write a report for the Board that {hopefully} represents all students.

Below are glimpses of the month of February as a Final Level seminary student who has just 6 weeks of classes left!

February began with a Saturday lunch hosted by our friend who cooked homemade Southern & Northern Indian food for us.

The following weekend we took our friend out for our favorite burger in Richmond --- Cobra Burger.

We have Chapel every Wednesday on the UPSem Richmond campus. During February, one of our chapels was a Lunch Chapel which centered on the Table. It was a beautiful spread of Mediterranean food and great conversation.

During Spring Break we traveled to Tampa, FL to visit Charles' Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin. We went fishing, relaxed by the pool, walked every day, and watched Charles' cousin play soccer in the state quarter-finals (he scored a goal that helped them win!). We also got to visit friends of ours from Fairfax who live in FL now with their two little girls. 

We enjoyed our long weekend getaway to warmth and family!

We arrived home from FL to snow in Richmond a few days later. We didn't let the snow stop us from attending our first VCU Men's Basketball game last week. This week we went to a VCU Women's Basketball game with the VCU Hospital's Spiritual Care Department. Fun was had by all!

I hope y'all are able to care for yourselves in ways that are most meaningful to you. 2025 brings a plethora of changes for all of us as we witness the work of our elected officials and the impact that so many folks are experiencing.

I hope you're able to find moments of joy and peace amidst all that's going on in our country and world.

With Love & Gratitude,

Caitlin

January 2025

Hi Friends, 

The end of January is near and I feel like this month encompassed multiple months! From experiencing my first water crisis (and unpacking all of the privilege that holds) to working at the hospital to continuing to love my internship to starting my last two classes of seminary to trying to apply for one job/call or do some sort of networking for future jobs/calls every day, January is busy! During January we worshiped at an Episcopal church, a PCUSA church, and I'll preach at my ecumenical job this Sunday. We road tripped to Charlottesville, VA and we head to the Washington DC area for a day trip this weekend.

UPSem Richmond's annual Calvin Ball, which is named after John Calvin, of course. 

This is a photo of some of our Final Level Students, the Class of 2025, which includes students from 5 degree programs and a couple of certificate programs.

The water in our apartment complex shut off before the water on campus. So we walked to campus in the snow to fill up some tap water. Thanks, UPSem!

The Spring semester began with a water crisis in Richmond. We didn't have any water at our apartment for almost 72 hours and we were on a boil advisory for 48 hours once our water returned. The lack-of-water situation was mostly just a nuisance for us. We were lucky to find bottled water at Kroger on day two of the crisis and to have a seminary student's mom deliver water to us from Southern VA. 

The water crisis reminded us of all those, in our country and our world, for whom safe water isn't a reality. Even just our short walk to the pool for water to flush our toilets made us think about all those who walk for miles each day to obtain water. 

All those living in our apartment complex got creative with water-storage containers, which we used to collect pool water so that we could manually flush our toilets.

A student's mom drove 3+ hours from Southern Virginia to deliver drinkable water to UPSem folks.

What a generous woman who provided so much relief to so many of us!

Our friend, Annabelle, also delivered us some water from her bathtub, which she'd been able to fill up, for us to flush toilets.

On January 3rd, I worked my first overnight Chaplain shift at the hospital since the summer. You never know what to expect at the hospital and on this particular night, I had 14 calls from 10pm-8am. 'Twas a busy night!

A quick moment of respite to eat some bacon and tater tots on the 11th floor of the hospital at about 7am.

On New Years Eve we walked/hiked 4 miles to Monticello in VA.

These are the 33 books that I read in 2024. I'm proud of my bedtime routine, which includes reading for pleasure to help me relax, and for the ways I've found balance with school readings!

Peace and blessings to you and yours during this season. I look forward to being in Denton in March for a long weekend.

Warmly,

Caitlin

 

December 2024

We journeyed through the waiting period of Advent and now we celebrate and honor the season of Christmas. Last year I preached on Epiphany weekend and I started my sermon by gauging when folks take down their Christmas decorations --- in my family, we keep using Christmas dishes and keep all of the Christmas decorations out until we celebrate Epiphany. I'm not sure how common this is. Perhaps we follow the church calendar for our family's tradition because my dad is a minister?! Whatever the reason, it's a tradition that my husband and I carry on. So we're still enjoying our Christmas lights, nativity scene, my favorite 80 year old singing Christmas tree (it was my Grandmother's when she was a child), and our friends' and families' holiday greeting cards which hang in the kitchen.

This time of year is one that is typically slow for students. There's a break from classes and deadlines. But this year, I'm not taking much of a break. I worked as a PRN Chaplain at VCU Hospital on Christmas Eve and am doing that a couple more times during break. I worked at my internship 3/5 days of the first week of my holiday break. And our Christmas plans included the day-trip to DC to see family, which is always well worth it, but also an exhausting day because of traffic. I'm also in job-applying mode, which takes a lot of time and energy. But it's an exciting time to discern and learn where God might be calling me!

We hosted family for the first time for Christmas, which was a lot of fun. Charles' Mom came to town on Christmas Eve, we ate dinner, then went to Ginter Park Presbyterian Church's 9pm worship service. We stayed in our pajamas all of Christmas day as we talked with each of our families in England, Grenada, Nigeria, Oregon, Texas, Florida, and DC and enjoyed my mother-in-law's cooking. On the 26th we drove into the DC area and spent the day with Charles' Dad and his siblings. We're grateful for the love of family and friends always, and especially during the holiday season. I know that the holiday season is a particularly difficult time for some folks, especially those who are hospitalized, so we hold them close to our hearts. 

Here are a few photos from December:

Christmas Eve worship service

My first day back on duty at VCU Hospital since August!

After a delicious Ethiopian dinner with Charles and Dr. Lemma, who is a mentor, tutor, and friend of mine from UPSem.

We had a busy December 22nd with baking and preparing to host.

Celebrating the end of our third fall semester of seminary.

At the Board of Trustees meeting in November we had professional headshots taken for the website. I'm impressed with mine and it looks nice (if I do say so myself!) on my updated LinkedIn profile as I apply for calls/jobs.

November 2024

What a joy it was to be in TX twice in November! The first time around I got to attend St. Andrew's Men's Breakfast on Wednesday (thanks for having me!) and Super Wednesday where chicken fried chicken was the meal --- yum. It's always a gift to see the St. Andrew community. I also got to participate in my CPM Final Assessment where they voted for me to be "Certified Ready for a Call." I'm thankful for the support of my liaison, Julie, who was at my side during the assessment, and for my CPM liaison who supported me in many ways including that day. We celebrated with my mom, dad, Lisa, and my grandmother with lunch at Mazatlan after the final assessment. 

Now that I'm "Certified Ready," my Personal Discernment Profile (PDP) is almost ready to be posted in the Church Leadership Connection (CLC) System. Once I post it, I'll be able to apply for church calls. I'm excited to see where God is calling me and to learn about various churches as I go through the process.

My second trip to TX was for Thanksgiving with my husband. Our whole immediate family gathered at my parents' house and I also got to see some of my extended Langford and Culp family, too.

The Charlotte Student Representative and the Richmond Student Representative (me!) for Union Presbyterian Seminary's Board of Trustees. This is on UPSem Richmond's campus. Behind us is the chapel where Charles and I were married last year (Watts Chapel).

Post-CPM Final Assessment with my liaison extraordinaire, Julie

Sun shining brightly in our eyes as we concluded our volunteer shift. UPSem students (and spouses, hi Charles!) partnered with Ginter Park Presbyterian Church to run a water stop at the Richmond Half-Marathon and Marathon. Charles and I volunteered last year, too, and it's a lot of fun.

Day trip to Washington DC for the University of Iowa vs. University of Maryland football game in College Park, MD. I surprised Charles with tickets to the game for his birthday. We saw his siblings, his mom, his aunt, and some friends while we were in town for the day.

Thanksgiving in TX with our whole immediate family and some extended family throughout the week.

Blessings to you and yours as the holiday season begins. Thanks for the continued prayers and support.

Love, Caitlin