ST. JOSEPH - This summer the Rev. Melanie Lawrence, pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ, and her brother are climbing several mountains in the Adirondack range in their native New York state. "There are 46 peaks that are over 4,000 feet in that range, and we're going to climb them all," says Lawrence. "I think we have 23 done so far." Life for Lawrence has always been centered on achieving goals - the completion of her bachelor's degree in voice, working as a licensed dental assistant for 15 years before receiving a call to get her master's degree in divinity. But for Lawrence these achievements aren't about personal glory or monetary rewards. They are about ministering to people. Lawrence even saw dentistry as a type of ministry.
"I was licensed to perform anything that wasn't irreversible," she recalls. "I saw it as a way of helping people. Ninety-seven percent of the people there didn't want to be there, and I worked at helping them through it. It was a ministry of sorts, too."
But even though Lawrence says she loved that job, "this thing with being a minister just wouldn't go away."
And so she attended divinity school and then entered the call process. "I interviewed with a lot of churches," she says, "but this one was a call thing. I knew when I read Pilgrim's profile that this was a good possibility for a good match."
Lawrence points out that in the United Church of Christ denomination, a church's whole congregation interviews potential candidates. "I interviewed them and they interviewed me," she says with a laugh about the Lincoln Township congregation. "I knew when I came here for the interview - I'm not sure why - but I knew I would be back."
And so she was. This is Lawrence's third year with the church, and she seems to be bubbling over with enthusiasm.
Her cozy office overlooks a small planting of shrubs and flowers. She talks about the baby bunnies that she sees there every day. She talks about the children of the congregation she is going to take with her to New York to paint a cottage. She has dreams of enlarging the church, though she loves its beautiful brick walls, its soaring ceilings, its large pulpit area, where everything is movable, including the antique carpenter's table that is used for communion.
And she loves talking to her congregation. Even simple stones, such as those collected from the beach and stacked on the floor of her plant-filled office, indicate to her a way of showing God's word.
"I used those in a sermon," she says. "I put 12 rocks on a pew. The text was about Joshua and the Hebrew people crossing the Jordan River. The river was swollen and they waited for three days. Then the priest waded into the water and it parted. God told them to take one river stone for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. I keep them as a reminder of who we are. I try to use my sermons to engage us, remind us where we're from."
Lawrence and her congregation are working on another project to "help remind us of who we are and where we are from."
Taking a cue from the Chartres Cathedral in France as well as the Episcopal Cathedral of Christ the King in Portage, Mich., Pilgrim Congregational has created a labyrinth covering several acres in the lot adjacent to the church.
"I used the concept of labyrinths as a metaphor for life," says Lawrence. "You never know what's around the next corner, but you have to keep going, otherwise you're paralyzed."
Although Lawrence takes credit for the idea of the labyrinth, she praises her congregation for its follow-through.
"I planted the seed," she says, "and it sprouted really fast. Within a short time of my sermon we had this going."
Many people think of labyrinths in terms of the Minotaur famed in Greek mythology, but Lawrence points out that labyrinths also are deeply rooted in Christian history as well.
There are several types of labyrinths. The multicursal maze is one that twists and turns, leading to dead ends and frustration and thus isn't used for church labyrinths. The unicursal labyrinth, according to Elizabeth Tompkins, labyrinth facilitator for the Episcopal Cathedral of Christ the King, is based on the natural patterns of nature such as seashells, the inner ear and the whirlpool pattern in water that creates a vortex in its center. The path into the center is clockwise, unwinding in a counterclockwise direction, so that there is only one way in and one way out.
"The labyrinth is a Christian symbol of wholeness and healing," says Lawrence. "Our church members see this as an outreach ministry. The labyrinth is open to anybody. It's out there in the field; they can come whenever they want. "For some it's just a beautiful walk, for others it's deeply spiritual. It is what it is for each person, and in some way, we simply need to trust God in the midst of this."