Beginning October 1st, Irvington Presbyterian begins a new chapter, and we welcome Jane Ann Groom as our interim pastor to lead us forward until we arrive at the next part of our story. Jane Ann is an experienced interim pastor. In fact, she has made working with churches as an interim her mission and her joy. The Session and the Interim Pastor Nominating Committee are excited about working with her as we move forward. She noted, “I attended seminary with no intention to be a pastor……As I have discerned my path, often I chose the transitional role with congregations in conflict and also those that are in the throes of loss of a beloved pastor/grief at change. I continue to learn and grow and value each opportunity in that light.” Jane Ann says that it is her goal to be the next pastor’s best friend (and Drew Paton at South Church affirms that she succeeded there brilliantly), and understands that the interim ministry is about cultivating the soil for future planting.
Asked to tell us more about herself, she wrote the following:
“I was born in Arkansas and grew up in the part of Southeastern Oklahoma that is Choctaw Nation in addition to being known for good reason as “the buckle of the Bible belt.” Bill and I crossed paths in high school as he lived briefly in my hometown, Durant, before moving on. Later in college we were in a play together, THE STAR SPANGLED GIRL, maybe Neil Simon’s worst play ever. We made the long journey to NY in the mid-70’s by way of New Orleans where Bill attended Tulane’s theater graduate school. He emerged with a few job offers and took the one in the theater department at SUNY in Stony Brook. We were thrilled to move to NY. In the years since, I earned an MFA in acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts as well as a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry from the interfaith pastoral counseling doctoral program at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. Ordained in the United Church of Christ, I have served both UCC and Presbyterian churches in urban, suburban, and rural settings as a transitional pastor and as a settled pastor as well as a brief stint as interim Regional Conference Minister for the NY Conference of the UCC. Bill and I have two sons who live in Brooklyn and work in the entertainment industry, Willie, a scenic artist, and Jackson, a scenic industrial with ambition to be a screenwriter. Bill is production designer for film and TV, currently designing THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL for which he has received his 5th Emmy nomination. He won 4 for BOARDWALK EMPIRE. He grew up in a religion that frowned on movies and never even saw a movie till he was in college! Our permanent home is a little cabin in a tiny hamlet in the Catskills and also a small house in Brooklyn. Two manses ago in Dobbs Ferry, I moved in with 3 cats – Buster, Lebowsky, and Ishtar. Into the last manse in Port Chester I came with Lebowsky and Ishtar.
Now I arrive at Irvington Presbyterian Church’s very large and beautiful manse with only Ishtar, my elderly grey feline who is gentle as can be. I am delighted at the idea of being at home with Ishtar in the manse next door to Irvington Presbyterian Church for this interim period. A few things I like: I like to dabble in writing fiction. I love to facilitate guided autobiography groups. I loved teaching theater games at the New School years ago. I am a Centering Prayer teacher as per the Contemplative Outreach organization started by Father Thomas Keating. I believe that the practice of silence in a small group can be one of the richest disciplines to cultivate.”
Jane Ann is passionate about exploring spirituality that brings us together in faith within our Christian tradition, about the joy derived from leading worship, facilitating small groups, contemplative practices, pastoral care, community building and in meetings to do the business of running the church, and about a sense of playfulness that fosters eagerness to explore, willingness to discover and to be creative.
Jane Ann will be spending a good deal of time in the coming months getting to know us as a congregation and individually. When the IPNC went to Portchester to hear her preach, it was very obvious that she knew her congregants very well, and cared deeply about them and their families. The love between her and the congregation was palpable—–what a joyful thing to look forward to. Welcome Jane Ann!!
