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After 14 years, UU Church of the Palouse pastor heads to North Carolina
The Rev. Elizabeth Stevens will depart after more than a decade marked by congregation growth, service and a new church home.
By Kali Nelson | FāVS News Reporter
Main Points
In 2012 the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse was looking for a new pastor. After the year-long search, the committee found a candidate who stood out to them from the beginning.
“I remember thinking that it would be a really beautiful place to serve,” said the Rev. Elizabeth Stevens, who was that candidate.
Now, she’s getting ready to say goodbye and begin a position as lead minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, North Carolina. The congregation will have a farewell potluck at 11:30 a.m. on June 28, immediately after the Sunday service.
“Saying goodbye is saying thank you, and I have so much gratitude for this community,” Stevens said.
I had my eye on you’
Joseph Erhard-Hudson served on the 2012 search committee that originally selected Stevens and said she had stood out from the first video chat.
“One of the first things she said was ‘I had my eye on you’ and to hear that felt amazing,” Erhard-Hudson said.
The committee was made up of congregation members selected through recommendation from the whole church. Each was given a choice to serve, and Erhard-Hudson said he felt honored to have been called.
“For myself I’m excited for her and for us,” Erhard-Hudson said. “As part of the original search committee her successful and bittersweet goodbye is the end we were hoping for.”
The 2012 committee reviewed about a dozen candidates, conducted video interviews with half of them and invited three to visit in person. Stevens’ first visit focused on the committee alone — touring Moscow, the church and watching her preach from a neutral pulpit — before she was called back for a weeklong visit to meet the full congregation.
What sealed it for the committee was watching Stevens interact with members of another UU congregation that had been struggling to find a pastor.
“It was touching to see her talk to them — she was kind and thoughtful to these people she might only speak to once,” Erhard-Hudson said.
Stevens said the pull to the Palouse was hard to put into words, but it made sense: her father was born in Moscow and the landscape reminded her of her home in New Hampshire.
Building a congregation — and a building
Stevens spent the next 14 years on the Palouse. When asked about what were some of her favorite things she said it was hard to pick.
“We’re incredibly proud of the building and maybe more than the building [was] the lead up,” Stevens said.
She said they had spent a lot of time coming together as a congregation to talk about the choices they had. She said the congregation had spent years practicing listening and building a trust in each other and finding the plan that fit their goals.
The building was finished in 2022, around her 10th anniversary as the pastor. They had a block party to celebrate and installed a rose window designed and made by a congregation member.
Stevens said she remembered for her 50th birthday during the pandemic the congregation had organized to visit her in small groups to wish her a happy birthday. Near tears, Stevens recalled it was something small that had made a large impact on her.
The years had highs and lows, Stevens said, and she was proud of how they had come together in tough times. She spoke about how they have been participating in Family Promise of the Palouse since the Fall of 2012 and once opened their church to a Palouse Choral Society concert that had been rained out of East City Park.
Knowing when it’s time
The average pastor stays for about six to seven years, Stevens said. She does conflict resolution for other congregations as part of her calling and said that anywhere between 11 and 15 years is the sweet spot for staying without causing pains for the congregation to get acquainted with the next pastor.
“I love it here. I love this congregation. There’s a part of me that wanted that 20-year ministry,” Stevens said. “I didn’t feel like I needed to leave, but I did feel the obligation to be open to the call from somewhere else.”
Stevens said she is excited to meet her next congregation. She will be in the state capital and she is looking forward to getting into legislative advocacy.
Erhard-Hudson said he has seen the church go through growing pains over the years, and while he is sad to see Stevens leave, he is delighted for her and the congregation.
“She is a wonderful person and minister and a shining example of what we think our faith is about. I would say her time here was defined by her listening to us and never stopping,” Erhard- Hudson said.
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