As it does each year, the Preachers’ Aid Society of New England hosted a lunch for clergy on the day before the Annual Conference session begins.
 
The lunch is a time for fellowship and to recognize those who are marking 50 years of ordained ministry, those transitioning to retirement as well as those who will be ordained in 2018.
 
At the June 13 luncheon, the Preachers’ Aid Society announced it has received the largest single gift in its 186-year history.
 
In April, the Rev. Carl Siktberg of West Springfield, MA, made a gift of $587,338.60 to the society. Preachers’ Aid Executive Director Wes Palmer presented Rev. Siktberg with a plaque. Rev. Siktberg served churches on Martha’s Vineyard and South Hadley-Holyoke before retiring in 1995.
 
Karen Pehrson, chair, and the Rev. Garvin Warden of the Provisional Camp and Retreat Ministries (CRM) Executive Board, appealed to lunch attendees to share their corporate knowledge about the Conference’s camp and retreat centers – most of which have new leadership. A form was available at the CRM display table for people to share knowledge about decisions, events and program origins. Rolling Ridge and Camp Mechuwana will celebrate their 70^th anniversaries this year; Aldersgate is 73, Wanakee, 57, and Covenant Hills, 29 years old.
 
The annual presentation of the Blaine and Lois Taylor Fellowship Award, which honors retired clergy and surviving spouses with significant years of distinguished pastoral service, also takes place at this event.
 
The 2018 Taylor Fellowship honorees are:
 
Rev. Carol Borland from West Glover, VT.  Rev. Borland will be using a portion of the Fellowship to begin a support/educational group for

people like herself with Parkinson’s disease in the northern part of Vermont, where she served most of her ministry. With the remaining funds, she and her husband, Kenneth, plan a trip to Scotland including a cycle tour of Hadrian’s wall.
  

Rev. Sam Johnson of Wells, ME. Rev. Johnson served churches in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and worked at Boston University. He and his wife, Donna, will be using the Fellowship to attend the second Eurasian in Mission Together Consultation in Uzhgorod, Ukraine, where they hope to see some Ukrainian and Russian friends. Rev. Johnson took some time to remember Blaine Taylor and his eloquence in the cause of justice.
 
Rev. Carroll Moore from Nottingham, NH. Rev. Moore served churches in Massachusetts and before he retired

in 2010. He continues to serve two New Hampshire churches in retirement. He plans to travel with his wife, Lora, to Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Russia, and Iceland. He is especially looking forward to seeing Rembrandt’s painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” which is in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
 
The 2018 class of retirees:
Rev. Nancy Behr
Rev. Dianne Carpenter
Rev. Nancy Collins
Rev. Donavee Copenhaver
Rev. Michele Ewers
Rev. Cheryln Gates                           
Pastor Susan MacKay
Rev. William Meyer
Pastor John Morgans
Rev. Richard Smith
Pastor Carol Stevens
Rev. Kirk Thompson
Rev. Chandler Welch
Pastor Deanna West
 
Being ordained as elders in 2018:
Seongmoon Ahn             
Annie Jeanne MacNeal Baker-Streevy
Rebecca Lyn Thompson Cho
Taeseob Cho
Daniel Rocco Randall
Hyosuk Sue Yun
Hyung-Kyu Yi
 
Those with 50 years of ordained ministry were honored; they are:
Jonathan Almond
Robert Almquist
Richard Black
Bayard Herndon
David Hunter
Jeffrey Kress
Theodore Lockhart
Bruce Pehrson
Richard Swan