St. Lawrence Welcomes New Rector,
Reverend Patricia Wolcott Snickenberger

Greetings!

Over the past several months, I’ve had the joy of becoming acquainted with a number of St. Lawrence parishioners—the members of the Search Committee and Vestry, the Wardens and other leaders—while a candidate for your next Rector. I have come to know a group of committed Christians who work long and hard to honor the tasks to which they’ve been called; who enjoy each other’s company and have fun together; and who respect one another’s differences while remaining dedicated to a common mission.

Through the lens of the search process, I have also come to see that these few parishioners whom I’ve met represent the breadth and depth of what makes St. Lawrence Church special: a community of loving, compassionate, energetic, hard working, and faithful Christians! And now, with the search process completed, I am humbled and thrilled to be joining you in a few short weeks as your new Rector.

While on pilgrimage in Ireland a month ago, I came across a prayer I believe is fitting for us as together we begin a new chapter in the life of St. Lawrence Church. The prayer was written by St. Columbanus, who was born in Ireland in 543 and traveled widely as a monk missionary carrying the arts of Celtic Christianity into the heart of Europe. He was a poet, an “exile for Christ”, and towards the end of his life founded monasteries at Luxeuil and Bobbio in Northern Italy.

Though these words were written almost 1500 years ago for a monastic community so removed from our own experience of community, they still ring true as I pray them for our community, St. Lawrence:

I beg you, most loving Savior,
to reveal yourself to us,
that knowing you we may desire you,
that desiring you we may love you,
that loving you we may ever hold you in
our thought.

In the years ahead, we will have challenges to meet and successes to celebrate as we discern and respond to God’s call to ministry and mission. May our prayer be that in the midst of our life together, God will be revealed, and we, God’s people, will know, desire, love, and ever hold in our thought our most gracious, generous and merciful God.

Yours in Christ,

Patti Snickenberger

The Rev. Patricia Wolcott Snickenberger

Education

• B.A. in Sociology from Drake University, Des Moines, IA
  in 1974
• M.S.W. from University of Illinois, Urbana, IL in 1976
• M. Div. From Seabury-Western, Evanston, IL in 1999

Work History

• 1976 – 1984 Clinical Social Worker and Supervisor, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL
• 1984 – 1994 Homemaker in Binghamton, NY
• 1994 – 1999 Seminarian
• 1999 – 2001 Curate at Christ Church, Winnetka, IL
• 2001 – 2006 Associate Rector at Christ Church, Winnetka, IL

Ministry Experience Highlights

• Established Disciples of Christ in Community (DOCC)
  program at Christ Church, leading to increased identification
  and exercise of lay ministry within parish and larger community, and involving over thirty parishioners
• Served on faculty of Preaching Excellence Program through Episcopal Preaching Foundation, June 2003
• Created Adult Parish Forum program on Sunday mornings, topics for which have included grief and loss, creative study
  of scripture, faith and public policy, images of God, sin and forgiveness in contemporary life, and other relevant issues
• Diocesan Commission on Ordained Ministry
• Initiated “Hearts and Minds” anti-racism task force in parish which plans, prepares and presents forums and other programs that address racism
• Serves on New Trier Township Community Crisis Response Team which addresses issues related to youth in the community, e.g. suicide, drug use, accidental death
  

The Snickenberger Family

Front Row: Patti and Tom
Back Row: Daniel, Anna and Amy

Personal

Patti is a cradle Episcopalian who grew up in Batavia, IL. She married Tom Snickenberger in 1983. He is currently an orthopedic surgeon practicing at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago.

They have three children – Daniel, born in 1984, is a junior at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY; Anna, born in 1986, is a junior at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY; and Amy, born in 1988, is a first year student at Colby College in Waterville, ME.

Summer Schedule
Sunday Services:
7:30am - Holy Eucharist Rite I Liturgy
10 :00am - Holy Eucharist Rite II Liturgy
Thursday Service:
8:30am - Holy Eucharist