WE ARE ASKING YOU, THE MEMBERS OF TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PRESCOTT, AZ TO

LIVE BY FAITH IN CHRIST THROUGH WORSHIP, STUDY, SERVICE AND

LOVING ONE ANOTHER WITH OUR NEW PASTOR WHOM GOD HAS CALLED TO OUR CHURCH

THE PASTOR NOMINATING COMMITTEE OF TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PRESCOTT, AZ HAS THE PRIVILEGE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO…

REV. DR. SUE MARIE BASKETTE

Statement of Faith:

I believe in the Triune God who creates, redeems, and sustains us. God, creating out of compassionate love, continues to seek and save us from aimlessness and sin. Seeking to have a loving, personal and communal relationship Jesus came among us to free us from the grip of sin and death. Through Christ we have the certain hope of life restored and renewed.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the ultimate source of all knowledge, Logos, the ultimate revelation of God’s character. God entered time and space to be among us to teach us, to heal us and to restore our broken relationship. Through this incarnational life we know God can empathize with us as we wrestle with our humanness, our limitations and our inclinations toward sin. Righteousness has come, by way of the in-breaking event of Christ.

I believe that through the Holy Spirit we remain united to Christ; we remain to be challenged, called and empowered to be God’s people. The freedom that is gained through the event of Christ, grants us freedom characterized by love and serving one another. We are called to live an outward expres- sion of God’s plan; we are called to live into the already/not yet present reality of God’s Kingdom. As we serve others in the form and fashion modeled to us by the life and teachings of Jesus, speaking truth in love, working for justice, and living humbly, we participate in God’s Kingdom.

Scripture is the uniquely inspired and authoritative Word of God. It witnesses to God’s faithfulness to God’s people. Scripture, although written in a specific time and place, still speaks to us today and is sufficient in all matters. The study of Scripture is to be pursued with the expectation of new in- sights and God’s help for living in every age.

The sacraments are a reminder to us that it is God who takes the initiative to enter our lives, coming into a personal relationship, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, with each and every one of us. I believe in one baptism, the sign and seal of an inward grace. Baptism embodies God’s faithfulness and our adoption into God’s covenant people. It signifies our confidence that through Christ we emerge to new life. I believe that in a similar way, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is given to us that we might experience Christ’s presence through the power of the Holy Spirit. In the celebration of this sacrament we are lifted and bound to Christ and united with one another. It is at once, a re- membrance of His saving sacrifice, and an experience of the joy and comfort that is found in our common union with Christ, with each other and with the whole of creation.

As one Body, the church, we understand ourselves to be a channel for God’s work in the world. Through the sharing and expressing of the gifts that we have received we demonstrate God’s grace, love, mercy, justice and peace to the world. This sharing is accomplished through our individual lives as well as in and through the collective work, the ministries we do as a community.

Hiking in the Green Mts.

INTERESTS: Biking, hiking and traveling

Celebrating my parent’s 65th anniversary with

my sister.

Formal Education:

2018 Doctor of Ministry Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio Spiritual Transformational Ministry

2003 Master of Divinity Princeton Theological Semi- nary, Princeton, New Jersey

1988 Bachelor of Science in Architecture Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island

1988 Associate, Civil Engineering Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island

Spiritual gifts: Deep listening, active listening; journeying with others as they discover their unique purpose; helping

others discover the balance of their intellectual, spiritual, and physical selves; Discovering new ways to understand and embrace the diversity that God has designed into us; Bridge builder, Advocate, Mentor, Teacher, Lifelong learner

2006-2007 Adjunct Professor UVM Burlington, VT Spirituality, Religion, and Education in the Classroom Decoding Feminism in the Old Testament

2008 Co-Authored - Robert J. Nash and Sue M. Baskette. Teaching About Religious and Spiritual Pluralism in a Professional Education Course. In Miriam Rosalyn (Ed.), Encountering Faith in the Classroom: Turning Difficult Discussions Into Constructive Engagement (182-202). Virginia: Stylus Publishing.

2003-2004 Associate Pastor, part-time Williston Federated Church, UCC Williston, VT 400 members Pastoral Care

1988-1999 Architectural Engineer CONNDOT Newington, CT

Service to the Church:Commissioner to 223rd General Assembly, 2018 Committee on Ministry – Chair, 2015 to present Faith Emmaus Presbyterian Church, Moderator, 2017

Professional Experience 2015 – present Designated Pastor United Presbyterian Pottsville, PA 211 members, Preaching, Teaching, Pastoral Care, and Spiritual Leadership

2017 - present Adjunct Professor, Christian Ethics Alvernia University Schuylkill Haven, PA Adjunct Professor, Foundation of Christian Morality Adjunct Professor, History of Christian Theology

2015 Interim Pastor Diamond United Methodist Hazelton, PA 200 members Preaching, Teaching, Pastoral Care, and Spiritual Leadership

2011-2014 Pastor St. John’s UCC Kutztown, PA 400 members Preaching, Teaching, Pastoral Care, and Spiritual Leadership

2008-2011 Pastor St. Paul’s UCC Herndon, PA 400 members Preaching, Teaching, Pastoral Care, and Spiritual Leadership

2006-2009 Pastor, Part-time United Church UCC Bakersfield, VT 200 members Preaching, Teaching, Pastoral Care, and Spiritual Leadership

2003-2007 Campus Minister UVM Burlington, VT Cooperative Christian Ministry, student-undergrad

SUE MARIE’S LETTER TO YOU:

Hello,

I am delighted to have been asked to write this letter to you because this means that I will be meeting you very soon as the pastoral candidate for Trinity Presbyterian Church (TPC). Before we meet you might like to know a bit about me; who I am and where I come from. I look forward to being able to speak with you personally but in the meantime, this will serve to offer snippets and snapshots for you. Also, please do not hesitate to speak directly with the members of your PNC who have done an outstanding job in this search process and will also be able to share a few insights about me and what drew them to invite me to this candidate weekend. So, who am I? My name is Sue Marie Baskette. I was ordained directly following my graduation with an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary in the summer of 2003. I was what is consid- ered to be a second career student. My first degree and career were as an Architectural Engineer. In my eleven years of serving in this capacity I actively fulfilled the roles of both designer and project liaison.

Over the years of ministry, I have been developing my gifts for spiritual transformational leadership in order to meet the needs of the body of Christ in the 21st Century. With this focus I earned a Doctoral of Ministry in Spiritual Transformational Leadership from Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio.

In all aspects of my life I focus and utilize my gifts as a pastor, trainer, mentor and advocate. I am a

Christian life coach and facilitator of educational workshops trained with Healthy Congregations Inc. Throughout the years I have also enjoyed serving as an adjunct professor at local colleges teaching courses such as Christian theology and ethics. I am a trained advocate for women in crisis and a volunteer rescuer for the Humane Society. Wherever I am, I serve in a role of a spiritual and justice advocate. I love engaging in and facilitating in spiritual journeying, Bible study, movies and discussion groups.

I was born in Baltimore MD and raised in Connecticut. I grew up a ‘country girl’, with my first time living in a town having sidewalks along all its streets being when I moved to a small Pennsylvanian town about eight years ago. I grew up with a deep love for being outdoors. This love continues to fill my heart with some of my best days still being when I get out hiking, biking, skiing, or simply lazing along a sleepy riv-ers’ edge. Ask me about some of my great adventures crossing the country by bicycle as a leader of a youth group or my days of being a tri-athlete.

My family now resides in various locations across our great nation with my eldest sister and her hus-

band living in South Carolina and my other sister and her husband, in Connecticut. My parents, for the ma- jority of the year, reside in Sun City West, Arizona flying back to Connecticut for several months of the year.

There is still so much more that I can and want to share with you about who I am and how it is that I personally live out my life of faith, and yet there is limited space within these pages. But there are many days ahead for us to get to know one another more fully. I am so looking forward to all that we are going to share together as we set ourselves about God’s work, doing ministry together, side by side.

Warmly,

Sue Marie