MONTAGUE CENTER — For nine years, Pastor Barbara Turner Delisle has stepped up to the podium at the First Congregational Church of Montague on Sundays to deliver the sermon. But this Sunday marked a turning point for her, as she delivered her final sermon before retirement.
“When you think about it, it’s really amazing that you’ve let me get up here every week for nine years to talk to you about life and love,” she began. Growing a bit choked up, she continued, “Being a minister is really very humbling … It’s been a privilege I’ll never forget.”
At 65, Turner Delisle said she may be leaving ministry in the traditional sense, but feels she’s turning to a different form. In her retirement, she plans to continue living in Hatfield, but will make frequent trips to Florida to help her sister, Cheryl Turner, care for their parents, Barbara and Bob Turner.
“I feel very strongly called to spend more time down in Florida,” she explained. Turner Delisle said she also plans to explore different art forms, sing and do whatever she can do to make affordable health care for all a reality.
The church has yet to find a new pastor, Turner Delisle said, explaining the six deacons will form a search committee to find an interim pastor. In the meantime, she said congregation members will be invited to lead Sunday worship.
Having been a student minister before being selected for the position at the First Congregational Church of Montague in September of 2008, Turner Delisle said the church was the first church where she was the sole pastor. She said she knew right away it was the right one for her.
“The minute I stepped into the sanctuary when they showed me around, it just opened my heart,” Turner Delisle said. “That sanctuary is full of love. It’s wonderful.”
Her goal as a minister, she said, has been to “help people see the interconnection between our style of worship and other people’s style of worship,” while helping the church grow more connected to its community and the United Church of Christ. Turner Delisle said she hopes the congregation discovered there are various practices to connect with God.
“Whatever connects people to their spirit is what I wanted people to do over and over again,” she said.
In turn, the congregation graciously followed her leadership, Turner Delisle said, even when she asked them to consider something in a different light. As the congregation gathered outside the church following the sermon to admire a new, seven-circuit labyrinth and for a reception in Turner Delisle’s honor, the members recounted how she personally influenced them.
“She’s really given us so much love and opened our eyes to so many things,” said Diane Hansen of Montague Center, a member of the congregation.
“She offered us different ways of thinking about worship and incorporated world concerns into her ministry,” agreed Janet Andrews of Greenfield, one of the church’s deacons.
As a church member for five years, Andrews described Turner Delisle as “a guiding spirit” who was eager to “welcome everyone to the church to worship.”
Hansen, knowing Turner Delisle from the start of her ministry at the First Congregational Church of Montague, even recounted how Turner Delisle nursed her back to health following a surgery. Hansen said she would frequently visit members of the congregation while they were in the hospital or in nursing homes.
“You couldn’t ask for a better friend,” Hansen said.
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