About Us

PURPOSE STATEMENT: The purpose of God’s Country Cooperative Parish is to help the churches of the Parish in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ by strengthening them through ministering to each other, through fellowship, through sharing talents and resources, and through reaching out to all people by pastors and laity.

November Musings:
Psalm 8:4-7 (Kethubim; “The Writings” traditional Hebrew text)

“When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that
You set in place, what is man that You have been mindful of him, mortal man
that You have taken note of him, that You have made him little less than the
angels and adorned him with glory and majesty. You have made him master over
Your handiwork, laying the world at his feet.”

I am an early riser, up long before the sun. Living in Grand Marais I have the opportunity to head out to either the beach or the ‘point’ and watch the sunrise. It is always kind of exciting to be out there watching and seeing a freighter come over the horizon with all of its lights blazing. It looks like a small village out in the middle of that vast lake.

I have imagined, how when it is dark out on the water and the lake may be raising one of its fits, what it must be like for the sailors on those freighters to see the lights of Grand Marais. Not just the warning light on the point, but the lights of the village sitting there low on their horizon. The other morning when I was out there watching this, the old hymn “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy” came to my mind and especially the refrain,
“Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave! Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.”

As I mused over this refrain, the words of Psalm 8 came to my mind, “You have made him little less than the angels,” and the combining of the hymn and the psalm were striking. We are the ‘lower lights.’ Not that high great light of God that seems not to be seen by all humans, but the lower light that all may see. Or more precisely we are the ones through whom God’s high great light can shine. It can be a dark, cold world and there are many fainting, struggling ‘seamen’ hoping for rescuing and looking for the ‘lower lights along the shore.’ It is our light, as the people of God, which just may light their way and bring them to safe harbor.

Pax,

Paul

Paul J. Mallory PO Box 268, Grand Marais, MI 49839 (906) 494-2653
thevicar@jamadots.com

Katie Peterson: Kathleen E. (Katie) Peterson is a Deaconess and Church and Community Worker with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. Her present assignment is with the God's Country Cooperative Parish in the eastern Upper Peninsula of northern Michigan.

Katie's responsibilities include working with the pastors and laity of the seven church cooperative to work toward a more cooperative spirit of ministry through partnerships, leadership development, and mission outreach. Much of her energy is focused toward helping these communities of faith become more aware of the issues that have an impact on them, and then to work toward change. Her work is also directed toward children and youth, senior citizens, and those who are victimized. Katie works with these churches to respond creatively to the challenges of isolation, poverty, prejudice, social injustice, violence, job loss, and disaster, thereby bringing hope and the love of God to those they serve.

Although beautiful, Katie reports that the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is isolated and communities face the problems which are inherent with such remoteness: no jobs, despair, child abuse, spousal abuse, alcohol/drug abuse, teen pregnancy and feelings of hopelessness. She shares that the seven churches, although spread over 250 square miles, combine their resources, share their faith, and through their active presence, work to bring self-esteem, hope, and faith to all of God's children throughout their vast parish.

Of her call to mission service, Katie says, "I have felt God's presence working through all of my life. Most recently, I have truly seen God working miracles and moving me into new opportunities to serve God through missions."

A native of Ohio, Katie earned a BA degree in gerontology from the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati in 1994, and will graduate in December 2006 with a Masters of Arts and Religion from Memphis Theological Seminary in the field of Christian Education. She was commissioned as a Deaconess with GBGM in October 2001, and in 2004 Katie was commissioned as a Church and Community Worker. Katie's previous assignments with the General Board of Global Ministries were as a US-2 (young adult missionary) from 1998-2000 in inner city Memphis, TN, and as the Church and Community Worker and Deaconess at the East Sub-District of the United Methodist Church in Fayette County, TN from 2000-2006.

Katie is a member of Paradise United Methodist Church in Paradise, MI and also holds associate membership in Trinity United Methodist Church in Fremont, OH.

Kathleen Peterson is available for Covenant Relationship support in the Memphis, West Ohio, and Detroit Annual Conferences.