August 3, 2022
I am not a fan of change. So it is with no amount of reluctance that I write these reflections about a change in our church.
Nat Bartels was hired almost exactly three years ago, July of 2019, “as a permanent, part-time employee” whose ministry title was “Organist/Accompanist”. This past Sunday was her last Sunday as a member of our Church Staff, though she will be “filling in” at least one more Sunday in August. By the time I met Nat in 2020, she was more than just a musician. She was functioning as our church’s music director and played a vital role in creating congregational song opportunities and special music for our prerecorded worship services. The efforts she made to record individuals and patch their voices together into an ensemble can only be described as heroic. Her musical abilities, her liturgical sensibilities, her Lutheran piety, and her delightfully eclectic aesthetic have all made her a joy to work with and a colleague to celebrate. She has been generous in sharing her musical friends with us, as her accompanists and replacements, even has she has been generous in her ministry among us for these past three years.
Nat is now headed to Andrews University in Scotland to pursue a PhD in English. Though that sounds a bit flat, or even thin, for a person as rich as Nat, it should come as no surprise that Nat’s approach will be multidimensional and multidisciplinary. Nat’s research will include literature, music, the history of art and artists in Britain, and religious and theological studies. This research will also include Richard Wagner and Oscar Wilde. This sounds a bit more like the Nat that we know than simply “PhD in English,” doesn’t it?
As a one who has run a doctoral program, I know how rare it is to have a spot in a program held over from one year to the next to accommodate a student, but this was done for Nat, a sign of how much Nat’s proposed research and Nat’s abilities are valued by the committee at Andrews. Congratulations Nat, along with no small amount of pride in you, we offer prayers for you, and enthusiasm with you. Celebrate the privilege of this opportunity well.
But our musical transition contains both loss and gain. I am delighted to inform you that Jurhee Hong has been hired as an interim “Organist/Accompanist/Choral Leader” beginning September 1 and ending December 31, with the opportunity to extend this role in an interim or permanent role if we both feel this would be an appropriate thing to do. Jurhee found our church as the only church that would allow her to practice on its organ. This led her to be our substitute organist on October 31, Reformation Sunday, 2021. As a Postlude that day, Jurhee played Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D” , which was the perfect transition from Reformation Sunday to “Trunk or Treat.” Jurhee has returned to play in our worship services since, which she considers a gift to her, even as it is a grace to us.
Of course, Jurhee was looking for a place to rehearse organ, because she was already an accomplished organist. Jurhee has a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Social Science and Music with a concentration in Organ Performance. Along with her formal education was a good deal of experience playing in churches. After graduation, she left her native Korea to study at the Manhattan School of Music where she completed both a Masters in Music and a Professional Study Certification in Organ Performance, and for both she merited the President’s Award. With training in organ, piano, choral conducting, and liturgical accompaniment, Jurhee brings us a wealth of resources.
Jurhee will not begin until September 1 as she and her husband are expecting their first child on August 8. Her mother has already arrived from Korea in anticipation of helping with the transition from a couple to a family. Prayers for them all in the days ahead are most welcomed.
We have been blessed to have Nat with us for the past three years, and look forward to Jurhee being with us for at least the next few months. We thank God that our church has been so blessed with the musicians we have had and will have. It truly is a reason to sing God’s praises.
Pastor Todd