Blaine’s Free Church Unitarian ended its annual summer hiatus with a service featuring new part-time pastor Tessie Mandeville on September 10.
Mandeville, who worked as a palliative care chaplain at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center for eight years after moving to Bellingham, first attended Free Church as a guest speaker and enjoyed the calmer pace of the Blaine congregation.
“Blaine is fascinating to me, and I’m trying to get to know it better,” she said.
After growing up in a small, fundamentalist South Carolina community inland of Charleston, Mandeville followed Unitarianism, leading her to congregations in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Oklahoma City and San Francisco.
Blaine has a small-town feeling that she said reminds her of home. She’s excited to not only share her experiences with the congregation of Free Church but also to learn from its nearly 100-year-old traditions that were brought to Blaine by Icelandic immigrants.
On May 1, with seven weeks before the congregation took its annual summer break, Mandeville attended her first service as the new part-time pastor.
“I had thought about waiting until the fall, but they were excited, and I was excited, so why wait when you have folks ready to go?” she said.
Now that the Free Church has kicked off its new year, Mandeville hopes to gradually immerse herself in her new community.
“My biggest goal is to enter this river gently to get a feel for its flow and where it’s going, so we’re moving together,” she said. “I think this first year is all about us being in the river together.”
In addition to her work in Blaine, Mandeville maintains a private spiritual practice and monthly Taizé mediation service on the first Monday of each month at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship.
Free Church Unitarian meets 11 a.m. every Sunday at 1218 Harrison Avenue. More information about services and events is available online at uublaine.org.
Mandeville plans to give about one sermon each month and be at the congregation about two days per week.
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