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Elm Street Presbyterian Church |
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Hello, I am taking this opportunity to introduce myself further to you all. My name is Jay Kanerva and I have been called to be your Temporary Supply Pastor for the next several months. I thought it might be helpful to know a little more about me. I am an ordained Presbyterian Minister. I am originally from Cincinnati, Ohio where I graduated from highschool and the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in Anthropology. Yes, not much can be done with that degree so thankfully I felt God’s call to the ministry. I attended McCormick Theological Seminary and graduated in 1995. I then spent several years in Clinical Pastoral Education, Chaplaincy training, in Chicago and Cincinnati. During my last C.P.E. residency I was dating and became engaged to Liz Rolf. We were married in St. Louis, since it is her home town, in 1996. We then moved to the Tulsa area of Oklahoma where she served as a solo pastor of a small town church and then as an interim-pastor of a larger congregation in Tulsa. I served as a Hospice chaplain for 4 years and as an associate pastor for a church for 1.5 years. In 2002 I accepted a position at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, serving primarily as the chaplain for the Cancer and Blood Disease services. I love being a chaplain, but I am also called to serve as a church pastor. Therefore, I am looking forward to being with you all over the next several months. Other personal bits about me and my family: Liz is the Interim Head of Staff at First United Presbyterian Church in Belleville. She is also pregnant with our third daughter. Baby Izabel is due at or around April 22, 2005. Her two sisters are looking forward to meeting her. Our oldest daughter, Emma, is 6 years old. She is wonderful, bright, and very intuitive. Madeline (Maddie) is 3 years old. She is a dynamo, lot’s of energy, bright and sweet. Hopefully, you will have the opportunity to meet my family in the near future I live and work during the week in St. Louis but I can be reached through the church office if needed. I will be preaching and keeping some office hours on Sunday. I plan to have weekly office hours as well but they will vary due to my schedule at the hospital. I invite you to take any opportunity to visit with me so that we can get to know each other. I look forward to serving with you as together we further the ministry and community of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace and Blessings, Jay |