“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Bonnie and Walt”
“Bonnie and Walt – who?”
Rev. Bonnie Tarwater, a UCC pastor and Dr. Walt Rutherford, a transpersonal psychologist ready to serve a new church community in the name of Jesus Christ— in the name of truth, justice, beauty and love.”
Walt and Bonnie
“Knock, Knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“UCC Church………….. ”
“UCC Church who?”
“I’m sorry what was the name of your church again?”
Dear God,
We ask you for your blessing on the new church we will serve. Please guide us as we seek to find a new community of faith. As we knock, please open doors to service and opportunity. We pray for all churches everywhere and for all religions and all people of faith, for everyone in our holy human family and for all life forms. We seek to inspire and to be inspired. We ask to serve you in the name of Jesus Christ. We are asking, seeking, knocking in faith and in love. We give thanks for all of creation and our part in it. Amen.
Personal qualities and characteristics which commend me for ministry
Enthusiastic and creative, I have been blessed with abundant good health and an excellent education. My warmth and affection for all people is my greatest gift. [I really like people]; all kinds, varieties, ages, background, eccentrics and odd balls alike, and I am dedicated to making EVERYONE feel welcome at God’s table. I know how to throw a great party and how to make church joyful.
As a second career minister who previously worked in the professional theater, I am blessed with excellent communication skills and prefer to preach without notes. As a teacher I encourage people to leave their perfectionist super critical selves at the door in order to create safe and loving community for meaningful bible study and religious exploration. Many people have shared that they think I am a great teacher. Graduate education at Claremont School of Theology and the American Conservatory Theater and continuing as a ferocious reader and student of music, art, theology and the bible keep me lively.
Disciplined, hard working, and dedicated to self honestly and self reflection, I have had enough therapy and maturity to never compromise my need for family life, solitude and self-care. I have started several clergy support groups in every community I have served. As a woman in leadership I feel particularly dedicated to model the ideals of mutuality and collaboration. It is easy for me to admit when I am wrong and to remain dedicated to compromise in conflict. Quick at naming issues and problems in churches, I know how to build group consensus while naming complex group dynamics. My experience as a member of the board of directors of non profit organizations and many different kind of churches contribute to my abilities to be an effective administrator and community organizer anywhere I find myself. As an intuitive and heart centered minister I believe that how we do our work with one another is as much or more important than the end result. I am not interested in living in my head alone and am bored by overly intellectualizing anything. Dedicated to integrating and celebrating the body, mind and spirit in our religion defines me as a worship leader and minister. As an artist and musician I cannot help myself as I offer beauty, color, story, ritual and song everywhere I go.
My dedication and love of family life, children and young people is fierce. [Being inculcated in the social graces of past generations older parishioners regardless of theological backgrounds, instinctually know that I honor their life experience and wisdom]. I have successfully involved the very old and the very young in all aspects of church life and worship, from going to Mexico to build a school, to marching for peace and world hunger.
Strong leadership skills coupled with intense creativity – means that I am predictably an innovative change agent. These qualities along with my deep empathy and feelings of solidarity with those who suffer from injustice and poverty best define me. My new training as an OWL faith based human sexuality trainer has contributed to my sensitivity and passion to embrace all issues related to human sexuality as we challenge the sexual repression and denigration of our time. Traveling extensively around the world and growing up in Asia have contributed to my sense of oneness and community with all people everywhere and my understanding of issues about poverty and the many social inequities of our world.
After my vivid religious imagination my most important quality as a minister is that I am kind. I know how to be kind to everyone, especially “the least of these” and have always developed close relationships with the sick, the dying, shut ins and the mentally ill in every community I have served. My deep faith in the egalitarian radical teachings of Jesus Christ that can help save the world, and wanting to live a life devoted to service and kindness to others is what most influences me. My grandmother Edith Bowen Mac Lachlan directed theater in churches just like I do. She was one of the first women to go to college in the United States at Oberlin College. An opera singer, church organist and music director I feel her spirit with me as a church musician, worship leader and woman in leadership. Many of my Scottish ancestors were Presbyterian ministers and recently I discovered a photo of a Chief Flying Cloud Tarwater on the internet—a Native American who was called the, “Walking Preacher.” His photo on the internet wearing Sitting Bull’s feather head dress and holding his bible delights my religious imagination. I experience the mystery of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene and all my ancestors guiding me on my journey in ministry.