New priest to pastor Bigfork church
When Susie Merrin felt called to the ministry in 1970, women weren't being ordained in the Episcopal Church.
On Oct. 15, Merrin will finally answer the summons of 35 years ago, as the 54-year-old Montana native will be ordained into the priesthood at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Bigfork.
Merrin is the new priest for the church, replacing the Rev. Carolyn Cuhr, who left in June to serve at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Missoula.
Merrin recently completed three years at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va.
Before that, she spent 12 years as a vocational deacon with St. Peter's Cathedral in Helena. She worked with people on the margins of society, such as the homeless and people with AIDS, and with food bank programs. She was a Volunteers In Service to America supervisor, working with the United Way to increase housing opportunities in the Helena area.
Merrin believes she received a divine signal to join the priesthood while serving as an assistant military chaplain on a German Army base in 1996. Three chaplains from denominations that do not ordain women told her she should consider becoming a priest.
"It was a very moving experience and I took it to heart," Merrin said.
Merrin started her military career with the Women's Army Corps in 1975. She is in the process of retiring as an assistant chaplain on reserve.
She went to college at the University of the South, an Episcopal school in Sewanee, Tenn. It was there that she became a member of the Episcopal faith after being raised as a Methodist in Sheridan, Mont.
She came back to Montana to earn her degree in education at Western Montana College in Dillon, going on to teach high school English and history for a few years.
Later with the Army, she worked as an electronics technician, in military intelligence and with a military history detachment, spending four years on active duty and 17 years as a reservist.
Moving from the deacon duties to the priesthood gives Merrin the chance to emphasize more than good works and to share her passion for the inner spiritual disciplines.
One of her main focuses at St. Patrick's will be on the practice of prayer. Though she officially took up her post on Sept. 8, she has already begun holding a regular 8:30 a.m. prayer time at the church five days a week.
Group-centered contemplative prayer brings people together, Merrin believes. It "helps people in the modern world reconnect with the divine. It's a spiritual speed bump that causes you to slow down."
Merrin finds comfort and strength in group rituals of prayer. She would like to introduce a monthly Evensong service to the church, a tradition where the words of prayer are sung.
Creating a prayer labyrinth is another goal. A maze-type structure, formed on a canvas or in a natural environment, adds a physical component to prayer as worshipers make their way through the labyrinth.
"It's fascinating because it's very much like real life," Merrin said. "You have a goal to get to the center, and you find yourself veering off to the side. You have to make room for other people on the path. Sometimes you're in the center alone, other times there are lots of people around you."
Merrin also would like to see some area churches participating in the rituals of the Taize movement, a worship that uses simple rites and music that are almost chant-like, usually rotated through a number of churches.
"We are different congregations and denominations all with different ideas of approaching God and Jesus," she said. "But this is a way to recognize that we are all Christians, that we are one in the spirit."
Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.