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Partnering Pastors Lead with Trust and Faith

Posted on June 20, 2023June 6, 2023 by ptsblog
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PTS alumnae Kristin Widrich and Sharon Stewart make a dynamic pastoral duo.

Since 2020, the Rev. Dr. Kristin Beckstrom Widrich ’04/’19 and the Rev. Sharon Stewart ’12 have served as co-pastors at Jefferson United Presbyterian Church, a small congregation in Jefferson Hills, Pa. Though they have known each other for over 20 years, neither one would have guessed that one day they would serve a church together. But the Holy Spirit had other plans.

A Providential Phone Call

In late 2019, Jefferson UPC began looking for their next pastoral leader. Early in the search process, someone from the church approached Sharon and asked her why she hadn’t applied for the position. But Sharon, who has been working with the Sudan/South Sudan Mission Network, the Christian Educators in Pittsburgh Presbytery, and is a grandmother, had no interest in a full-time position and had no intentions of applying.

That same day, Kristin—who was nearing the end of her contract as part-time temporary associate pastor at nearby Pleasant Hills Community PC—called Sharon to see if she knew of any part-time openings.

“Sharon immediately got real quiet, which is unlike her,” Kristin remembers. “But the Spirit was starting to plant some seeds in her head.”

The seed germinated into a wild idea they proposed to Jefferson UPC: what if they hired them as co-pastors, both working part-time? Kristin could use her primary gifts of preaching and administration, complementing well with Sharon’s gifts of pastoral care and spiritual formation and discipleship. It was a perfect match for both pastors and the congregation.

A Divinely-Inspired Partnership

Now in their third year as a pastoral team, Kristin and Sharon feel blessed by the partnership and the congregation. “We say every day that we’re blessed to work together,” Kristin says. Part of that blessing comes from balancing each other’s personalities. Sharon calls herself a “mover and shaker” who never runs out of ideas. Those ideas combined with Kristin’s more measured, administrative approach has helped the congregation discover a new energy and vision for what God is calling them to be and do with their community.

“This is clearly the work of the Holy One,” Sharon says. “It’s kind of like we’re just opening the door and asking, ‘Lord, what are you doing here, and how can we participate in what you want to do?” Kristin adds, “We’re constantly astounded at what God is doing.”

Although they have distinct roles and responsibilities at Jefferson UPC, Sharon and Kristin meet weekly to read Scripture together and pray about things going on in the church, their community, and in their personal lives. That has been essential to building and sustaining a high level of trust, which allows them to have honest conversations and address any disagreements before they turn into conflict. “We’ve always made sure there’s plenty of room to be open and honest with each other, to say ‘I’m not sure about that’ when the other person has an idea,” Kristin says.

Modeling Trust and Faith

“We do keep each other accountable and sharpen each other. And we’re not afraid of making a mistake and being confronted about something by the other person,” Sharon says. This is only made possible, they agree, because they trust each other as well as the Holy Spirit leading them.

The way Kristin and Sharon work together also provides a positive example to the congregation. The trust and honesty in their relationship empowers the members of Jefferson UPC to be honest and trusting with their pastors, with one another, and the community. That seed once planted by the Spirit is now blossoming into a beautiful faith community in which all are seeking to recognize the giftedness of each individual.

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Founded in 1794, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is a graduate theological school of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), offering master's and doctor of ministry degrees as well as certificate programs. Participating in God's ongoing mission in the world, Pittsburgh Seminary is a community of Christ joining in the Spirit's work of forming and equipping people for ministries familiar and yet to unfold and communities present and yet to be gathered.

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