I “married into” the Second Presbyterian family over 30 years ago. My husband, Donald (Dingle), grew up in Second Presbyterian Church, just as his father before him. When we were first married, we were busy young lawyers and did not attend church regularly. When our children came along, however, it was a natural decision to attend Second Presbyterian and raise our family here. Our three children are grown now but each of them is a proud graduate of Second Presbyterian Kindergarten (thank you, Miss Sue!). During those early years, I taught the first and second grade Sunday School class, chaired the SPK Parent’s Guild, and served as an officer on the Colin McK. Grant Home Board. I will always treasure the memories of my children growing up in our church.
More recently, Cyndi McLean and I took over the duties of wedding director from Mrs. Pat Garrett. Has it been 12 years already? It has been a great pleasure and blessing to work with our brides and grooms. Some of our brides are church members but many of our brides come from “away.” What each couple has in common is a desire to participate in a service of worship to begin their new lives together. Most often, either the bride or the groom was brought up in the Presbyterian faith. We welcome these couples, their families and their friends to our sanctuary to celebrate one of the most important days of their lives. The value of this outreach to our community cannot be overstated. Each and every wedding guest, from near and far, is blessed by their attendance during these solemn vows. I have been blessed to serve Second Presbyterian in this ministry.
Service in the church has many different faces. Sometimes you serve with other church members, getting to know them better and building relationships, but other types of service gives you contact with people outside of our church, with the opportunity to share with them our faith, warmth and welcome at Second Presbyterian Church.
-Greta
