My name is Alan Dennis and I'm the Rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Bridgeport, CT, the church where Kathi spent a fair amount of her time before she moved to this parish. I'm grateful to Bob and this parish for having me come and share in the service today and certainly to the family. I bring greetings to all of you and especially to the family from all at St. John's Church in Bridgeport.
St. John's is a parish that at this point in time mourns Kathi's death. She had many friends there. We want to celebrate her life, and we do, but we also mourn her death. And we are not going to deceive ourselves about that. She was one of a number of saints at St. John's and now she shares that heavenly city which we all will share one day. And so on behalf of the parish, I would like to share very briefly some pictures and some memories. Some of it is my own and some of these memories and pictures I've invited some of the members of my congregation to call me or e-mail me and share some of their pictures and I've put this together in one picture.
Kathi loved her Lord and that love of her Lord was rooted in worship. There is a picture about that. The picture that I have and many of us at St. John's have is Kathi walking up - St. John's Church is a very very huge church. It's almost cathedral like - it seats about 800 people. So if you can have a picture of this huge chancel - Kathi walking up at the time of communion, hymn book in hand, and singing the hymn out with her soul and heart. One of the few people who did that, and so you knew that at the time of the communion, if you heard a voice coming up the chancel you knew it was Kathi. A glorious picture, a wonderful picture. It's a picture that I will not forget. She would kneel at the communion rail, I would be on the end and walking across, the book would be on the communion rail and she would be singing. A picture I will never forget. A picture many of us will never forget. Kathi loved her Lord and that was a picture that said that.
Kathi loved the children and the young people. She spent herself on the children and the young people at St. John's. She served on the Education Committee and spent a lot of time with the Sunday School children and our youth. A picture of Kathi standing in the parish hall after the service with all these children around her - a picture many of us will cherish and love and remember. A picture of Kathi standing after the service with some of the young people around her, being challenged by her quick mind, and she had a quick mind, encouraging them and challenging their youthfulness, a picture I will not forget of young people gathered around her.
Kathi loved music. A picture I have of her sitting at the piano doing a gospel song with a lot of children around her singing. And her thoroughly enjoying it. A picture we will not forget.
On October 13 Kathi sent me an e-mail and I brought it along. Thank God for e-mail. What I would like to do is take some snippets of this. Most of this was printed in our parish newsletter at St. John's. It is one way in which I believe I can bring some of her life spent at St. John's to you and in that way we can honor her memory. And she writes - and I'm just taking little snippets from this - "It is with trepidation and anticipation as well as fond memories that I send you this e-mail to officially sever my relationship as an active member of St. John's, but as in all challenges we are still linked in that great company of saints." She liked that word saints. "A line in a movie I just saw, 'Remember the Titans' referring to the historical character's struggles and triumphs in learning to be black and white together, said something in closing that reminded me of St. John's and the ability of parishioners to overcome racial divide." St. John's Church is perhaps the most diverse congregation in the Diocese of Connecticut and I'm thrilled to serve that congregation. "I will treasure," she says, "that so much more about St. John's. St. John's aspires to be beacon in a city which needs a beacon and which has struggled and triumphed in its own right. St. John's was a beacon to me and my family as we were newly arrived in Bridgeport and we as we continued to adjust to life in Connecticut, St. John's welcomed my grand-daughter into the family of Christ in baptism and my son into the fellowship of disciples when he was confirmed by Bishop Rawthorne. St. John's and the staff and the congregation stood by through some tumultuous personal and professional times and I hold cherished memories and moments in my heart. Although I cannot name every person at St. John's for whom I have enduring affection, I can say that I never felt other than cared for and appreciated. I have over the years asked for prayers from several members and always God honored those prayers for they are strong prayer warriors at St. John's." And then she ends, "It is with fondness, a tinge of sadness but always hope that I say farewell and Godspeed."
In closing, to her children
and her siblings and their families and to her parents, I do not
pretend to understand why Kathi was taken from you and us so tragically.
I'm not even going to try. However, I want to say this. We celebrate
the feast of the Epiphany at this time. We remember the visit
of the Wise Men to the Child Jesus. Think on this. The Wise Men
could not have followed the star if there was no darkness. Kathi
had dark moments in her life, as we all do, but you know what?
She followed the star, especially during the dark days. And so
I feel sad and yet I come here on behalf of people who share that
sadness to celebrate her life too. And endeavor with her to continue
to follow the star, even when we don't understand and even when
it is so dark. Kathi rests with Jesus. I have no doubt about that.
May you hold each other as God holds you. Amen.