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08/31/2022 08:30 AM“I always tell people I never imagined working in a church and that God had plans for me. Now I can’t imagine anything else,” says Reverend Jeanette Cooper Hicks. Starting on Sunday, September 11, Jeanette will be the new pastor at the First Congregational Church of Westbrook.
Jeanette says that she’s already been doing some work at the Church but on Sept. 11 she will preach her first service.
“I’ll be the senior pastor, which, in our case because we’re a small church, is the only pastor,” Jeanette says.
As part of her duties Jeanette will be preaching the Sunday service as well as overseeing the music and community activities that reinforce a commitment to “hope, peace, and justice” as she puts it.
“Being a pastor, the duties have changed so much over time,” says Jeanette. “A lot of what we do is trying to get a scope of the landscape and see how the church can be the best version of itself.”
As a way to get that scope of her new community, Jeanette will be introducing herself to residents every Wednesday at weekly “Java with Jeanette” drop-in coffee chats every Wednesday morning from 8 to 10 a.m., at Julie’s Cup of Joe, 1283 Boston Post Road in Westbrook. The first one will be held Sept. 14.
“It’s something I’ve been doing everywhere that I’ve been in ministry,” explains Jeanette.
By going to a local hangout, Jeanette says she’s able to meet large swaths of the town.
“People may never step foot in the church but they’re involved in the community and I met them through that, so they’ve become a great resource for events,” Jeanette says of the people she’s met through the weekly coffee chats.
Jeanette says she plans on holding them from September to December to start just to get to know different people.
Prior to coming to Westbrook Jeanette worked in ministries in Louisville, North Carolina, Massachusetts, as well as locally in Durham and Guilford. While working in Durham, a colleague mentioned that Westbrook had an opening and soon Jeanette was officially in Westbrook.
“The secular word would be it was serendipitous I ended up here, and the religious word would be I was spirit led here,” says Jeanette.
Jeanette says she was intrigued by the church’s commitment to serving the community beyond just those that come to service.
“It very much feels like a church that doesn’t want to be stuck in the ways it once was,” Jeanette says.
As an example of that mentality, Jeanette points to upcoming Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 1 that the church is hosting for the public on the Westbrook Town Green. The event features arts and crafts, food trucks, family activities, music, and a scarecrow decorating contest. Jeanette says the festival, along with service events like the soup kitchen, are “another way for the church to say hey we’re not just that building up on the hill.”
For Jeanette, the ability to connect with others is what makes working as a pastor so special. As people have become so separated and used to communicating via social media, Jeanette gets to interact in-person with people during the biggest moments of their life.
“It’s a privilege to be around people during their ups and downs. I love being with people and being with them during their day-to-day life,” says Jeanette. While some of those moments can be solemn and serious, Jeanette says some can be celebrations or creative request like blessing a house or new business. “I love when people ask me to create liturgy for something unique.”
Of course, it isn’t always easy. Sometimes people have requests for sad occasions and Jeanette says “(i)t can very very hard sometimes and it can be isolating.” To combat the isolation, Jeanette says she’s involved with colleagues and meets with groups as much as possible to share support.
Jeanette grew up in Philadelphia but has lived all over the county.
“My husband and I have moved nine times in 18 years we’ve been married,” Jeanette says with a laugh. “Because of our career and academic life and my husband’s Navy career, we moved around quote a lot,” Jeanette adds.
Those moves included stops in New York, Chicago, Louisville, North Carolina, and New Hampshire. But for the past eight years, Guilford has been home for the family.
In her spare time Jeanette can be found traveling, attending live music show, reading, and spending time outside hiking or skiing. Asked her favorite part of the shoreline area Jeanette replies “I love the fall and I love skiing so I like that we have the change of seasons which in some of the places I lived we didn’t have and I missed. I also love the history and small-town nature of these towns,” Jeanette says.