About Pastor Karen
Pastor Karen is now in her fourth year at Brecksville United Methodist Church.  During this time the church and parsonage have both gone through remodeling, there have been many staff changes, and we have continued to pay attention to what it means to live in Christ and serve in love.  Rev. Oehl especially enjoys singing, teaching Bible study, and being involved in different kinds of worship leadership.

Raised as a "PK" (preacher's kid) Pastor Karen went to high school at Shaker Hts. High and college at the College of Wooster, where she met her husband, Chris.  When they were first married, Karen taught at Hathaway Brown School while Chris went to law school at Case Western Reserve University.  They moved to Wooster in 1987 where Chris started as a prosecutor in Wooster's municipal court.  Kirsten was born shortly thereafter, and Maren in 1990. 

Rev. Oehl attended seminary at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio while working on the staff at the Wooster United Methodist Church.  She then served at Marshallville and Easton (a two point charge) and Apple Creek United Methodist before coming to Brecksville.  Chris continues to work as a prosecutor in Holmes County and in his own practice in Wooster.  Their daughter Kirsten has just finished college at Baldwin Wallace and Maren is attending Ohio Wesleyan University.

Beyond the local church, Rev. Oehl is involved in the community through the local interfaith fellowship, in the North Coast District by serving as a clergy mentor and on the Missions Committee, and in the Conference by acting as part of the secretarial staff each year at Annual Conference.  She is also interested and involved in Emmaus and Chrysalis.

Favorite topics of conversation include movies, Jane Austen, cooking, and dogs.

Karen and Chris recently traveled to Costa Rica on a mission trip, and are in the midst of planning their daughter's wedding for this June.  Please keep the family in your prayers as we serve in ministry together!

Been There, Doing That
A headline in today’s paper (July 14) caught my eye; President Obama has announced a new, national HIV/AIDS policy.  I was surprised to learn that this is the first nation-wide policy instituted to combat AIDS.  I was also heartened to hear that the policy contains plans and funding not only for treatment, but also prevention, education, and support for those living with HIV/AIDS.  The president spoke of the justice issue related to the treatment of infected persons.  I found all of this encouraging.  But not new.

The United Methodist Church has been involved in such activities for many years now.  Global health has indeed become one of the cornerstones of UM action and mission in the world.  At the 2004 General Conference the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund was established, a funding arm of the United Methodist Committee on Relief—UMCOR.  Projects to receive funding were identified around the globe.  At the same time, there was recognition that AIDS is also a crisis in the United States.  25% of the funds raised are to be used locally by the conference raising them, wherever that locally is.

I went through and reviewed some of the projects listed as part of this initiative.  They included education, prevention, and treatment.  Many projects include care for widows and orphans left behind in the wake of AIDS devastation.  Some provide education and support for those stigmatized by the disease.  This is even more of a problem in other countries than in the US.  Justice, indeed.  In other words, we are already engaged in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.  But it is a struggle that requires national and international scope.

We read again and again of the way Jesus dealt with the sick.  He did not ask how they became sick, or treat diseases differently.  He touched, he healed, he had compassion.  As in all things, he showed us the way.

The church, by which I mean all Christians everywhere, remains a vital, relevant force for justice and healing in the world today.  While I believe in the strength of this nation, I also believe in the united strength of the followers of Jesus.  We are called, constantly, to be about the business of God in the world.