Announcement from Pastor Jenny

Friday, December 5, 2025

Dear Morningside,

There’s an important update I want to share with you. Before I came to serve as one of your pastors, I took a year and a half off from serving a local church. I learned a great deal about myself and why I had burned out so spectacularly in the season before. I remember saying to the cabinet (the team that appoints pastors) that I’m willing to say yes to serving a local church again as long as I could be an out autistic pastor because I was still figuring out what that meant to me.

Then I came to Morningside. Your love and acceptance and desire to learn about different neurotypes healed something deep in me. I got to be more myself with you in this role than I have in my entire life. Thank you.

I also learned something about myself that’s really hard to admit: The role of a pastor in a local church is not a sustainable space for me as an autistic woman.

I can no longer avoid this truth. It lives in my body, my heart, and my mind. I’ve fought it for decades. I’ve grieved this truth. I’ve tried to outperform this truth. But once I decided to trust God that maybe it was okay to genuinely allow this to be true, the clarity that’s bubbled up has only affirmed this knowing.

As I came to terms with this truth, another part of my call became clear. For my entire ministry, I’ve always been curious about how we translate what happens inside the walls of the church to outside the walls of the church. I’m an innovator at heart and I’ve always wanted to walk with people one on one, in groups, workshops, and retreats as we journey into the hard stories of life, trusting that wholeness and healing always meet us on the other side of our fear. Kind of a hybrid of pastoral care, coaching, and somatic healing work.

There’s such a need for this kind of work especially with our neurodivergent friends. I’m calling it The Gentle Way. I’m hopeful this kind of practice could one day become an extension ministry of the United Methodist Church. You can learn more about it here.

So I have decided that it’s time to make a transition. For my ability to be a source of love in our world. For my well-being. For me.

What does this mean for you as Morningside United Methodist Church?

Just as the many pastors who’ve come before me, I’ll get to add my name to the list of beloveds who’ve walked with you for a season. I’ll be your appointed pastor until the end of June then I will transition into this new ministry. You’ll find out in the next few months who your next pastor will be and they will likely begin this July.

Our Staff Parish Committee will guide us through this process as they work with our District Superintendent, Rev. Wendy Woodworth. There will be space for you to advocate for the kind of pastor and gifts you think Morningside most needs in your next chapter. I’m very confident they will send you one of my amazing colleagues to walk alongside you.

Some will wonder — are we moving? We aren’t going anywhere! We love our home in Keizer and will continue to deepen our community connections.

When it comes to my Open Door Church connections, including youth ministry, we’ll know more about that in a couple months. I love working with our teens and am so grateful to be on the confirmation journey with many of them.

I’m looking forward to being an active part of the United Methodist Church through co-chairing the order of elders, guest preaching at churches, coaching, facilitating retreats, and groups.

I’ve cleared my calendar for this week. If you’d like to talk in these next couple days, send me an email! Want to bring lunch and join me in Herrmann Hall on Tuesday at noon? I’ll be there!

We’re having Church Council on Sunday, December 14 after worship and we can set up a Q&A session for anyone who wants to hear more about the transition. We still have almost 7 months together and I’ll all in to help strengthen you as a faith community in any way we can.

A word about feelings. All the emotions are welcome here. I know some will feel excited for me while feeling disappointed at the same time. I know some might not understand and feel angry. It’s okay. I understand. It all gets to be here.

Our United Methodist world is an interesting one, isn’t it? We attach to pastors. Pastors attach to their congregants. We build trust with each other, we share really profound moments of life, and then change happens. It’s disorienting.

Yet we stand in the truth we’ve been nurturing in our time together. The joy and grief all get to be here. God’s love is powerfully at work within, around, and in spite of us. We’re invited to join in the movement of God’s spirit.

You’ve been Morningside long before I arrived and your story gets to enter a new chapter together. I’ll forever be so grateful I got to be a part of this chapter with you!

I’m looking forward to being with you in worship this Sunday. We’ll talk a bit about all this and we’ll connect in prayer, music, and be the body of Christ together. You are so loved, my friends.

All will be well. May it be so. Amen.

Grace + Peace,
Pastor Jenny

A note from Sharon Cooper

Hello friends,

I want to offer a few words to help us understand the season we’re entering with Jenny’s upcoming transition, and how we as a congregation can walk this together with clarity and grace.

First, nothing is changing all at once. Jenny will continue serving with us fully through June 2026.  This announcement simply marks the beginning of a gentle turning,  a widening of space so that the next shape of her ministry can emerge slowly and thoughtfully.

What’s shifting is the container, not the calling.  Jenny is moving toward a more spacious, therapeutic–spiritual model of care — work that honors her neurodivergent wiring, her nervous system, and her deep giftedness in one-on-one and small-group healing spaces. This is the ministry that she has been moving toward for a long time, and she will walk this transition with us step by step.

As we name this shift, it’s also important to speak briefly about neurodiversity.  Many neurodivergent people carry extraordinary gifts, creativity, intuition, sensitivity, and depth. But the structure, pace, and sensory load of institutional church life can be overwhelming, even for the most capable and devoted leaders. Some flourish inside the institution; others flourish on the edges or outside its walls. That is not a failure of faith. It is simply another way the Spirit moves.

For us, as a progressive church, the invitation is twofold: to create spaces where neurodivergent people can truly flourish if they choose to be among us, and to bless those whose spiritual paths lead them into new forms of ministry beyond the sanctuary.

So as Jenny prepares for this next chapter  slowly, intentionally, and still very much with us for the months ahead we are invited to surround her with gratitude and trust.

And we, as her community, have the opportunity to accompany her with steadiness, with love, and with deep appreciation for the ways she continues to lead us now and in the seasons to come.  

Thank you,

Sharon Cooper
sharon@morningsideumc.org

What happens next?

As we move through this season of transition, we want to share a simple overview of what to expect in the United Methodist appointment process.

Our denomination follows an itinerant system, which means pastors are appointed to churches by the Bishop and Cabinet. This process is grounded in prayer, discernment, and the needs of both the congregation and the pastor.

What’s happening now:

  • Jenny has shared her intentions with our District Superintendent.

  • The Cabinet is beginning their discernment about who will serve Morningside next.

  • Your church leadership is invited to offer input about the congregation’s needs, strengths, and hopes for the next season.

What you can expect next:

  • The Bishop and Cabinet will continue their prayerful work throughout the winter.

  • When a new pastor is appointed, the announcement will be shared with the Staff-Parish Relations Committee first and then with the full congregation.

  • Appointments are typically finalized in early spring, and new pastoral leadership begins July 1.

What I ask of you in the meantime:

  • Continue to pray for the Cabinet, for the pastor who will join Morningside next, and for the steady, Spirit-led life of this congregation.

  • Lean on each other, practice patience, and trust that God is already preparing the way forward.

This process is designed to care for both the church and the pastor. And as always, we’ll continue to communicate openly as things unfold.

Who serves on Staff-Parish Relations?

Nancy McPhail | nancymcphail5@verizon.net, 757-810-0748

Deb Freels

Don Main

Jill Summers

Kathleen Johnson

Vickie Plasker

Susan Garrett