Guest Preacher – Rev. Jean Morrow

Dear friends at First Central Congregational Church,

             I feel privileged to be joining you on Sunday for worship and feel as though I already know you.  I have been a good friend and colleague of Scott Jones and Katie Miller for years and have the delight of having Katie just down the road from me as she serves the Vermillion, SD UCC church.  Please let this note serve as an introduction.

To give you a snapshot of my educational background, I have a BS in English, with minors in Political Science and American History, and also a MS in Higher Education from Iowa State University. For the first half of my adult life, I served in the Student Affairs divisions at several universities, mostly in Residential Life.  While serving as the Dean of Students at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, I answered a call to ordained ministry, which moved my family and me to Berkeley, CA so that I could attend seminary at Pacific School of Religion.  After ordination in the United Church of Christ, I was fortunate to serve two progressive UCC churches in South Dakota: Brookings UCC and Spirit of Peace UCC in Sioux Falls.  I retired in January 2019.

            Currently, I serve as the board chair for South Dakota Faith in Public Life, an organization of interfaith leaders who seek to create collaborative dialogue to give voice to diverse religious perspectives committed to compassion and justice.  I have recently resigned from the board of South Dakota Voices for Peace, an organization that provides legal services to unaccompanied immigrant minors and also supports and empowers voices in the immigrant community at large.  I remain an active and committed volunteer related to issues of bodily autonomy as it relates to reproductive justice and the LGBTQ+ communities.

I am an entertainment junkie, loving musical theater, movies, books, podcasts, and music of all kinds! I enjoy playing the piano and messing around with watercolors.  I share my home with a chatty cat (Meep), while living vicariously through my daughter and son-in-law, Jack and Lizzie Mahoney, who live in Connecticut and are expecting a baby in August…my first grandchild!

Again, I am delighted to join you on June 22^nd.   My sermon title is “Jezebel: The Danger of a Single Story.”  She is a side character and antagonist in the prophet Elijah’s story and has been flattened into just a few, brief negative characteristics.  Through her story, we will reconsider the complexity, breadth and depth of human lives, including our own.

Looking forward to meeting you and hearing your thoughts on June 22^nd!

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                Rev. Jean Morrow