July 1, 2026
Dear People of God of Beautiful Savior, Tucson
Grace and Peace be with you.
A couple of months ago, as I drove along Rodeo Drive in Santa Fe, I noticed that a small circus
had pitched a tent at the fairground. This took me back to my days in Southern California when
my parents and I went to the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus. I remember how big
it all seemed. Not only the elephants, the lions, the clowns, but the trapeze artists truly thrilled
me each time they leapt from the towering platform and let go of the tiny bar in their hands.
If you have ever sat on the bleachers under a big top, you know that there is a point when a
trapeze artist lets go of one trapeze bar and sails through the air aiming to catch another bar
swinging toward them. At that moment the artist is suspended in space, having jettisoned the past
before catching the future. It seems, at once, vulnerable, terrifying, and electrifying. It’s a perfect
example of what’s called “liminal space.” We all encounter these moments. We become
untethered from one secure reality, and we’re on a threshold, waiting and hoping to experience a
new place where we can hold onto life, and anticipate the future. In simple ways, it can be riding
up an elevator or crossing a bridge. Or embodied in life events, like graduations, divorce, a death
of a loved one, or even a retirement.
Yes, I am at that point where I am letting go and swinging into retirement. After 42 years of
work in the church, beginning in the Lutheran Church in America as a missionary to Japan, and
then over 33 years as an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament, I am retiring from my formal
vocation as a called minister of Word and Sacrament. My last Sunday will be worship at
Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Los Alamos, New Mexico on September 6, 2026. After that, my
beloved dog Koi and I will begin our pilgrimage west, visiting friends and congregations I have
served in CO, WY, and MT and WA to arrive at my new spiritual home in Seattle.
In a recent conversation with Bishop Alebouni, I shared with her my gratitude to have had the
privilege to complete my life’s vocational service within the Rocky Mountain Synod, The
Pacifica Synod, The Northwest WA Synod and your very own Grand Canyon Synod, where I
entered into the faith life of Beautiful Savior as your Senior Lead Pastor in 2009 from Seattle.
During our time together, I not only owned a beautiful home, shared countless laughs and meals
with you, but acquired a second pug to share life with me and Sigmund, Otis showed up.
Watching lay leadership grow throughout the congregation and your commitment to the
Missional Leadership Academy of the Grand Canyon Synod were highlights along with
wonderful worship during my time with you. Thank you for being a part of my vocational
calling.
In terms of my years of service as an intentional interim, most recently for BELC, I have said
countless times, God knows exactly what is needed for each one of us as we live out our faith
through communal living. I look forward to honoring that work and the release of my time with
you in a specially designed worship service at 9:00am on the 6 th of September. A zoom option
will be made available. Colleagues from the synod, friends from far and near, and my family of
choice will join me that morning in thanksgiving for what has been, to date, a remarkable
Christian pilgrimage. So, save the date. You are invited to not only the worship service, in
person or on zoom, but also at the retirement luncheon and program to follow at Bethlehem on
Sept 6th.
Faith in God declares that each of us be called away from secure places. And like you, I know
we all want to trust in God’s promises of new life. That new life is always found all around us, in
community, a place where we can be, even when we are in liminal space. Please consider this
your official invitation to come and be, as the church universal gathers in celebration and release.
Meeting you in the in-between. In deepest respect and gratitude,
Pastor Kate and my beloved sidekick, Koi (who refuses to retire!!)
Rev. Dr. Kate Schlechter
Senior Transition Pastor
Bethlehem Evangelical
Lutheran Church
2390 North Rd.
Los Alamos, NM 87544
Phone:505-662-515
Cell:619-916-9630