Dear Rotarians and Friends,
I had the opportunity to attend Pastor John Heidgerd’s farewell service on Sunday. I am a huge fan of his work and wanted a chance to celebrate it in some way.
I had the opportunity to attend Pastor John Heidgerd’s farewell service on Sunday. I am a huge fan of his work and wanted a chance to celebrate it in some way.
(John was recognized with a Paul Harris pin at our June 5 meeting.)
John and I joined the Souderton-Telford Rotary Club around the same time, and I sat with him often, eager to hear about the plans he had for making Emmanuel Lutheran Souderton’s Community Church. He had so many ideas for ways to serve others even as so many churches and community organizations were cutting back on services as COVID greatly limited attendance. I listened as he shared stories about starting the Emeal ministry and creating connections with organizations like Head Start, Along the Way, Hands In Service (HIS), Garden of Health, Worthwhile Nonprofit, Help to Help and Healthy Niños.
I asked John about his membership engagement plan, understanding that many churches were developing strategies to increase the number of people attending so they could continue to operate. He explained that his focus was on serving the community and if that led to an increase in membership that was okay, but membership was not his primary goal. He talked about that a little in his farewell message, recommending that we always be generous and watch what happens after that. Throughout his life he found that when he made decisions out of love and caring for others that the support needed never failed to appear.
I have thought a lot about the keys to John’s success in bringing the community together and what I can learn from his work. He talked a lot about each of us being beloved and how we can in turn love others. What really stands out to me is the way John so freely talks about his love of others and demonstrates that love in his actions. It is truly a fire that burns within him and warms anyone nearby. He invites us all to join him in his work and so many of us have taken him up on it, recognizing that John is in the unique position to see and respond to needs that people have that we may not be aware of. The chorus of the closing hymn of the service said it all:
So carry your candle run to the darkness
Seek out the hopeless confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle and go light your world
Take your candle and go light your world
And,
So carry your candle run to the darkness
Seek out the lonely the tired and worn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle and go light your world
Take your candle and go light your world
(Several Rotary Members attended the service on Sunday, June 8, 2025 - not all are represented in this photo. Thanks for including this special service in your plans!)
I stopped to see John on my way out of the church and all I could say was “Beautifully done.” It may not have been clear at the time, but I meant all of it, his care for the community, his service to others, his leadership, his optimism, his love of his children and the children in the church, and the partnership with his dear wife, showing all of us what can be done if we choose to work together in the spirit of generosity and love.
The service was deeply moving and I was not ready to go home immediately afterwards. I remembered the announcement Sarah Bergin made on Thursday about Care & Share Thrift Shoppes moving into the old Harleysville Mutual Insurance building (click here to read more) and I decided to drive out to see it, envisioning that development as a great example of lighting the world, as encouraged in the closing hymn. I could only see the outside, but the building is exquisite, one of the nicest in the area in my opinion. The thought of using that property to support some of the community’s most vulnerable residents is heartwarming. It communicates strength, history, respect, value and love for all people and offers great promise of expansion to serve as many people as possible. Visiting the site cheered me up as I thought about Sarah Bergin’s current role in the community as the Executive Director of Care & Share and upcoming transition to President of our Club on June 25th. I look forward to supporting Sarah’s work as she expands her roles.
In Rotary
Kate Hoath
President