Past and present coming together

by Dick Otterness

edited by Bob Terwilliger, fall 2023

I’ve always believed a primary pastoral role is helping others discover and pay attention to signs of grace from God that fill their everyday lives, sometimes leading to new or deeper faith in Christ, and to respond to what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the cost of discipleship. In my life, this awareness often occurs with hindsight. Lately, I have been recalling grace received through mentors and teachers in the past. I am sure some have been unaware of their influence in my life. Howard Hageman, Norman and Mary Kansfield, Bill and Lynn Hanousek, and Doug Walrath are just a few who come to mind. Certain pastors and Sunday school teachers have also had great influence in shaping my life, even to this day.

I am grateful for an amazing variety of opportunities in my work through the RCA, as pastor of three congregations in Upstate New York, as a regional synod executive, and with my wife, Carolyn, as a mission partner primarily working in Hungary and Ukraine on race relations and ministries of reconciliation between estranged ethnic groups. You can imagine how much passion I feel for the nation of Ukraine now. Most of our life together has been driven by Micah 6:8, as well as a sense of Jesus’s preferential regard for marginalized people too often ignored by institutions and local congregations. Carolyn and I often felt that we were working on things abroad that the RCA worked on domestically without pursuing active dialogue about our common interests and experiences where we could possibly learn from one another. This needs to improve.

Life changed dramatically when we retired in 2018, moving from Budapest, a city of nearly 2,000,000 people, to a township in the remote Northwoods of Wisconsin with a population of 616 souls. We had plans for retirement, but Carolyn died in late 2020 from cancer. I never knew how deep my capacity for grief is. My health was diminishing too. I needed a kidney transplant to stay alive. Finding a qualified donor was a huge challenge. Several people offered to be tested, including a number of RCA colleagues. Finally, I had a donor who was a perfect match. My recovery has been excellent, though the side effects of the many medications can be tough.

Past and present have come together in an unexpected way this year. I’ve been reunited with a few classmates and friends from places such as New Brunswick Theological Seminary long ago. I enjoy seeing or anticipate seeing friends like L’Anni Hill, Marcia Westra, and others. As with any of you reading this, over the decades that have passed, we each have a treasure trove of experiences that are good to share.

I am blessed to live in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, south of Lake Superior. In my immediate area, I am surrounded by scores of lakes, wildflowers and other fauna, an abundance of wildlife, old growth trees, hundreds of acres of forest, canoeing streams, etc. I am looking forward to being trained as a master naturalist at a local Discovery (nature) Center affiliated with the University of Wisconsin. I’ll continue to facilitate a Preaching Elder Circle for Albany Synod, and supervise classis congregations as needed. My main interests lie elsewhere, however: renewing old friendships and establishing new ones, continuing wood carving I learned from a Hungarian pastor, supporting Ukraine, and traveling. With our very long, dark winters that can reach -30° Fahrenheit, I am ready to find other places to spend in the winter, however! Any suggestions?

Dick received his BA from Hope College, an MDiv from New Brunswick Theological and Western Theological Seminaries (BLMS), and a DMin from the Divinity School at Colgate Rochester/Crozier Seminary. He served First in Sodus, New York; First in West Glenville, New York; Trinity in Rochester, New York; as the synod executive for the Regional Synod of Albany, and as a missionary partner for RCA Global Mission in Budapest, Hungary, and Ukraine. Dick lives in Northwoods, Wisconsin. rhotterness@icloud.com