tHIS WEEK AT  ST.  PAUL'S



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So glad you found us. Best way to learn about us is to come to worship, meet people, and find a group.

It is a great joy to be welcoming back this July our beloved former pastor, Rev. Sheri L. Delvin, as our mid-summer Pastoral Fellow. She will be leading us in worship this summer for two Sundays – July 13^th and July 20^th.  Many of us know Pr. Sheri well, and keep up with her jam-packed life as a busy retiree and grandmother in Modesto, CA. But for those who joined St. Paul’s “post Sheri”, here’s a bit of background:
 
Sheri was born, raised, educated and ordained (at Pacific Lutheran Theological, Berkeley) in the San   Francisco Bay area of northern California.  But she and husband Rick (they celebrated their 52^nd anniversary this year) ended up in the Midwest starting in 1997, when Rick’s job moved them to west suburban Glen Ellyn, IL, and Pr. Sheri was called as associate pastor at Glen Ellyn’s Faith Lutheran.  That was where Pr. Sheri was serving  when, in 2004, St. Paul’s discovered her and joyously called her as our lead pastor.  Sheri and Rick instantly became integral parts of our congregation and avid Evanstonians,  living in a wonderful place a few blocks from St. Paul’s.  We would have been thrilled to have Pr. Sheri with us literally forever, but to everyone’s great sorrow, the 2008/9 financial crisis resulted in Rick’s job prematurely moving them back to California in 2009. 
 
Since their return to California, Sheri and Rick have been blessed to live relatively near their adult children and grandkids – daughter Jen (a 3^rd grade teacher in Modesto, CA) who is mother to Ellie (going into 7^th grade), and son Jesse (a physician’s assistant in Fremont, CA) who is father to Noah (going into 5^th grade).  For their first 6+ years back, Sheri and Rick lived in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Sonora, then in 2016 moved to Modesto to be even closer to kids & grandkids.  After the move to Modesto, Pr. Sheri served a 2-year interim at a little country church in neighboring Escalon, CA, where she and Rick  remain members, and where Sheri serves on the mutual ministry team and occasionally fills the pulpit when the pastor is on vacation.  In recent years, Sheri and Rick have created a multi-generation household in Modesto, moving in together with Jen and Ellie.
 
Sheri recently shared the following description of how she enjoys spending her time:  “I have taken up water color, which I love. I walk every day with my 15 year old terrier, Henry, and tend a flower garden in a little patch of the backyard where I feed the hummingbirds.  During the school year, I’m Ellie’s Uber driver, picking her up and taking her to her various activities.  We enjoy watching our granddaughter’s swim meets and our grandson’s baseball games.  I belong to a book club with a few other ‘church ladies’ which has been fun – I can read all the non-fiction I want! My current favorite is JAMES by Percival Everett.”
 
During her time with us this summer, Pr. Sheri will be bunking in Harvey Wolf’s guest room (HUGE THANKS to Harvey for hosting!).  Please be sure to get back to Evanston on July 13^th and 20^th to give a big “welcome back” to Pr. Sheri and to celebrate her visit with us.    

We are thrilled to welcome Rev. Matthew J. Holmes as our new Pastor of Care & Engagement at St. Paul's.  Currently serving as  an Emergency Department Chaplain at Loyola University Hospital, Pr. Matt served until recently as a  Chaplain and Grief Support Specialist with Advocate Hospice. Pr. Matt is a 2010 graduate of The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and is ordained to Word & Sacrament in the ELCA.  Though he's spent most of his clerical career serving as a chaplain in the healthcare ministry setting, Pr. Matt loves to preach and lead worship, and he's frequently invited to be a guest pastor at ELCA congregations around the Chicago area.

Matt is married to Rachel Wind, a former St. Paul's MIC student and another graduate of LSTC who works in development for the ELCA. They have two children, Hugh (12) and Louisa (9). In his free time, Matt is a paid-on-call Firefighter/EMT for the village of LaGrange Park, and a prolific if rarely published writer. Matt is the author of two published books Breath: 52 Reflections for those who Care for the Dying (Avenida Books, 2017).and coauthor with Rev. Thomas Gaulke of Everyday Armageddons: Stories and Reflections on Death, Dying, God and Waste (Cascade Books, 2023).

Formerly, Matt has worked as a commercial fisherman, nervous bouncer, short order cook, carny and plenty more.

Kurt Westerberg has been privileged to serve as Director of Music at St. Paul’s since 1998, performing on piano and pipe organ, directing the St. Paul’s chancel choir, and arranging music for the choir as well as instrumental and vocal soloists.   He recently retired from the DePaul University School of Music, where he served as an Associate Professor of musicianship and composition and held several administrative posts.  He holds degrees from St. Olaf College and Northwestern University and has been active as a composer of modern classically-oriented music. 

Kurt, soloists, and choir aim for a blend of classical, gospel, and global music to meaningfully enhance the worship experience at St. Paul’s like

Come and Fill Our Hearts With Your Peace featuring soloists, choir, and cello.