Lise Hildebrandt, ‘86 M.Div.

I spent two years in a interim priest role in Fall River, MA, where I played cello with the Fall River Symphony Orchestra, continued practicing taekwondo and volunteered on a CSA farm. With the advent of the pandemic, I was suddenly working alone (for the first 3 months) and living alone without my normal social activities. I had also been eager to return to the Boston area to start developing a church community focused on Creation-centered spiritual practices and climate change work, so after some unhappiness and discernment, decided to move to Boston even before the interim was done. I moved into a Quaker-based cooperative house in Arlington in October, and have been devoting my time to developing this “Green” community. It seems to be taking the form of outdoor gatherings and practices around regenerative gardening and habitat restoration … more to be revealed as the Spirit deems. Meanwhile, I probably need to get a “real job” in an established church … also TBD. 

 

My daughter Becca finished her MSW at Boston College last August and is starting a job at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain. She and her fiance, Cory Smith, will get married this August. Cory is a genetic researcher and wonderful person! Karin (other daughter) and her partner Mike (also wonderful person) both are software engineers currently “working from home.” They decided to “work from home” around the country, and have been making temporary pods with family and friends in NYC, Denver, and Seattle and traveled through the national parks out West for several months. It is rumored that they will return to the Boston area in August. 

 

I saw Peter Panagore in Fall River, when he came to preach there. Elise Feyerherm serves in a church in Brookline, where my daughter lives, so it was great to reconnect with her. And I now live the next town over from my ex, Eric Wefald and his wife Patricia. We get together with our kids and his parents for holidays, so we stay up to date and enjoy doing family stuff together. Hope to see many of you at our, gasp!, 35th reunion this year!