Katrina Crosses the Street by Amanda Nourse

Think of a person from Concord, educated at Harvard Divinity School (HDS), well versed in theology and with a flair for language. Ralph Waldo Emerson? Good guess, but add a bright, warm, and occasionally mischievous smile, wry sense of humor, and working knowledge of feminist theology, and you have our own Pastoral Associate Katrina Wuensch, the newest member of the OSC ministry staff.

By now, many people have already met Katrina. Still a part time student (3rd year) at HDS, she works 20 hours a week at Old South, participating in weekly worship, Advent communion services, the Caritas committee, Outreach and housing committees, Women Doing Theology, and the Healing Prayer group, as well as attending the Deacons and Church Council meetings, facilitating the Young Adults group, and working closely with Lael on the visitation ministry. In the past 3 months, she's learned a lot about Old South and its workings, but one thing she was already quite familiar with was the Copley Square area. This familiarity is because her parents happened to meet at Trinity Church, right across the street, where Katrina was subsequently baptized, Sunday-schooled, and first introduced to the life of the church.

That of course was quite some time ago, and the journey from there to here has been much more interesting than simply crossing the street.

It started when, as a teenager, Katrina's brother, declaring himself an atheist, stopped attending church. And if he didn't have to go, 14 year old Katrina reasoned, then by golly neither did she. But though it would be ten years before Katrina became interested and active in church again, she retained a personal spirituality, and the subject of religion was never far from her mind. It became her major at Oberlin College, fascinating her, she says, with its ability to address the questions of meaning and life issues. Still not what she considered a "church person", Katrina thought she would probably pursue an academic career as a religion professor, but in her senior year she had a change of heart. She began to feel pulled toward the practical side of her studies — addressing life issues not just intellectually but by working in service to actual people. Still resistant to church as a career, Katrina determined to go into social services or social activism.

After graduating from college, Katrina headed west to Cali-fornia. She wasn't sure exactly what she would do there, but it seemed like a good place. She got a job in a cafe, and began to volunteer at a nonprofit service agency called Friends Outside, a program that ministers to prison inmates through visitation and by providing practical help — anything from helping find a drug treatment program to helping retrieve a towed car. When the coordinator of the program went on leave, Katrina was asked to fill the position, and she stayed there for three years. Although she loved the work she did there, she sensed that the program, helpful as it was, stopped short of addressing the inmates' real, underlying issues. It was these issues — issues of faith and meaning and hope — that Katrina wanted to talk about. So, inspired by a prison chaplain, she charted her course and headed for Harvard Divinity School. There was only one problem with being a chaplain though: Katrina had no idea what denomination she would belong to. She was no longer connected with the Episcopal Church, having rejected its emphasis on hierarchy and creed but still hadn't found a new denominational home.

At HDS though, serendipity took its course, and things fell into place. Katrina started shopping for two things: a church and a field-education placement. "Field-Ed" comes in two varieties: church work or social service work. Since she hadn't found her denomination yet, Katrina thought she should probably stick with the social services for a while. But to her surprise, she felt an unexplainable, incessant pull towards church ministry. She had discussed a possible field-ed placement with an associate minister at North Prospect Church, a UCC in Cambridge, but was still feeling unsure of herself, so she went in to seek the advice of Dudley Rose, the ministerial studies director at HDS. He put it simply: if you feel a strong desire to work in a church, you really must do it. She mentioned the position at North Prospect and Dudley more than approved of the match -- he was senior minister there. And so Katrina served at North Prospect for two consecutive academic years and loved it. Summers provided her the opportunity to pursue her interest in chaplaincy; she spent one serving at a juvenile detention center, and another doing Clinical Pastoral Education at Brigham & Women's Hospital.

Technically, with those three internships under her belt, Katrina has already fulfilled her field-ed requirement. Besides that, she already has a twenty-four hour a day job as proctor to 27 freshmen (and academic advisor to 20 of them) in a Harvard dorm. So what led her to add 20 hours a week at Old South to her already busy schedule? "North Prospect is a small church, very different from Old South" she explained. "I wanted to see what else churches could be like, so I was looking for the other end of the spectrum." She had worshiped at Old South before, so she knew that Old South was big, urban, and active. She called to inquire about internships, and now here she is - at the other end of the spectrum. One big difference she notices is the sheer number of congregants and large degree of lay leadership. In conjunction with all these new faces, she has a request: don't be afraid to remind her of your name occasionally!

Katrina makes a wonderful addition to the staff at Old South. She is tremendously bright, with a winsome personality and a keen appreciation of the absurd. As a minister she cares deeply about language and the need to find language about God that is intimate and inclusive and at the same time authentic and accessible in a worship setting. "It doesn't really work to stand in church and say "Bless us O Serendipitous Creativity,'" she points out. Despite her demonstrated capability as a minister , Katrina considers herself very much a student. She urges feedback from the congregation, saying, "I'm still learning, so don't be afraid to come up and tell me what went well, what didn't . . ." And I say to Katrina: "Welcome! My name is Amanda and I think you're doing great!!" +