A story you need to know about

I've learned a remarkable story in the last few days by reading blog posts by Amy Forbus and some of the stories from the Dallas Morning News to which she has pointed me.

The story is about the Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball, a 50-year old Methodist pastor in Dallas who is dying of cancer. As Amy notes in this blog post, five years ago Kathleen gave birth to a child at the age of 45. Then, two years ago, a trip to the emergency room to see about some abdomina pain resulted in a cancer diagnosis. Tumors were found in her liver and chest cavity.

By all accounts (including this story in the Dallas Morning News), Kathleen is a charismatic pastor with many gifts - from powerful preaching, to growing churches, to demonstrating the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ through her own person. I am told that the consensus by many in the North Texas Conference is that she would have been elected bishop this year if she had been physically healthy enough.

But though Kathleen has battled the cancer with courage (almost never missing preaching and worship in the process), she has now entered hospice care. Amy went to visit her at home in Dallas, which she tells about in this post in the United Methodist Reporter's blog. In addition to Amy's testimony, this article in the DMN tells about the crowds of people who have gathered at Kathleen's house to say farewell, sing, pray, and even have their babies baptized by her. (If you want a sense of her impact on the lives of others, spend a few minutes scrolling through the comments at the end of the DMN news story.)

When I read such stories about fellow pastors, I am awed and humbled. I consider it a real honor to serve in the same order of elders as Kathleen Baskin-Ball, and I hope some day, in some way, to live up to the example she sets for the rest of us. It is an inspiration to serve in a church with a pastor whose life is so filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Kathleen will pass through the veil soon, but that is only a step on the path that will lead to the resurrection of her body, cancer-free, and perfected in glory. I won't be able to meet Kathleen in person on this side of the eschaton, but when Christ returns to make all things new, I will seek her out and embrace her with the love of the Holy Spirit.

May God grant her peace in these days. Pray for her, her husband Bill, and her son Skyler, and her congregation.