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Westminster UCC confers ‘pastor emerita’ title

On Sunday, May 31, Westminster Congregational UCC in Spokane honored its former pastor, Andy CastroLang, with the title “Pastor Emerita.”

Retired pastor Andy CastroLang stands as she is recognized as pastor emerita of Westminster Congregational UCC in Spokane on May 31.

Andy served the church from 2002 to 2022.

With that title comes recognition of appreciation for her preaching, teaching, community and interfaith advocacy, pastoral care and conference leadership roles.

The title is also given in recognition that she no longer is pastor of the church, in keeping with the UCC professional clergy covenant to avoid any tension between a previous and current pastor.

In his sermon that day, Bob Feeny, who has been pastor in the four years since after overlapping several months with Andy, expressed what some concerns might be.

In looking back at a season in the life of the church, honoring a pastor as “pastor emerita” recognizes “20 years of exceptional service, so “there’s something of a triangle between a congregation, their current pastor and their previous minister,” he noted.

Knowing his predecessor means that he is not tempted as some may be to point blame related to any issues.

Bob is aware that in his four years, as it was for Andy in her 20 years, and as it is for church, over the years there have been different versions of themselves.

“We cannot survive in ministry without changing. Relationships change us. Curious people who care about each other tend to keep changing. I know you have changed, evolved and grown. It’s the nature of systems, baked into God’s plan for creation. The story keeps unfolding,” Bob pointed out in his sermon.

What gave him pause in conversations leading to the decision to honor Andy were the following questions:

• “Are we looking back to relive glory days?

• “Are we doing this to protect us from changing?

• “Are we looking at the past or imaging the next 20 years?”

Bob has been reassured when he meets for lunch with Andy that a congregation may feel “cranky” about changing, but “we all need to keep changing and evolving.”

So he believes that what the church needs to recognize in its life is “the church’s willingness to show up and change over and over,” he said.

“Christ calls us to be transformed, and we keep answering that call,” Bob said, seeing that honoring Andy is a time to recover “the historic memory of change” and to realize Westminster UCC always will be “a people in progress, so we honor our history by continuing to change and grow.

“Church works because some of us push, and some of us pull, and some of us keep our feet as firmly planted for as long as we can,” he concluded. “We know there are challenges today, there will be challenges ahead, and the answers are in this room because we stay in the room together.

“We keep our balance by holding onto, celebrating, learning from, being changed by each other as the terrain shifts around us.”

Susan Chamberlin, a member of Chewelah UCC, brought words of greeting from the Pacific Northwest Conference of the UCC on behalf of the Committee on Ministry.

Westminster members Mary Rupert, Lorna Kropp, Doris Holdaway and Alan Borgens read the acclamation of honor.

Excerpts from the acclamation recognize Andy for her “spiciness and infectious energy,” for her modeling welcome and inclusiveness, and for her warm, caring listening.

It also acclaimed her preaching for being based on biblical scholarship, bringing the scripture alive for today, for her joyful welcome at the communion table, for modernizing the chancel by replacing choir pews and rails with open space, for leading the congregation to update its Mission and Belief statements and for creating covenants with people of color and on the environment.

Andy was serving the congregation when it celebrated 140 years, when it decided to stay in its historic downtown building and as it stabilized membership through the COVID pandemic.

In addition, she served the PNC-UCC in various capacities, including as moderator, supporting other Eastern Washington UCC pastors, engaging in the Spokane community through the Spokane Alliance, Planned Parenthood and on other social concerns.

She led the congregation through the process of becoming an Open and Affirming UCC church.

Moderator Rob Sauders and Susan presented a certificate. and Bob led a blessing and laying on of hands.

For information, call 508-624-1336 or visit westminsterucc.org.

 

Pacific Northwest United Church of Christ Conference News © June 2026

 

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