The Zone Gathering

Today, we continue our spotlight series on our NCC Hall of Famers. These are folks who have been leading small groups and ministries for a long time, and they have contributed significantly to the discipleship culture at NCC.

Today, we shine the spotlight on Kathryn Parent. Kathryn was kind enough to be friends with my husband Ryan in college, so I was delighted to meet her here in DC. Kathryn began as an apprentice leader several years ago, and she has since led a wide variety of different groups– from sermon discussion to biking to weight lifting. Her wit, gentle leadership style, and genuine love for people are some of my favorite things about Kathryn. In addition to her amazing “official” leadership, she personally blesses our NCC couples and families all the time. Her sermon discussion small group provided free childcare for our Marriage Matters meetings throughout the 2006 season. Awesome!

Today, we talk with Kathryn about life, ministry, and green chemistry.

Photo Courtesy of Paul-Ricardo S. Elbo. 

How long have you attended NCC? What brought you to NCC?
I’ve been attending NCC for a little over four years. I met up with an old college friend, Ryan Zempel, at the Third Place for an NCC event featuring small groups. A few weeks later I attended on a Sunday morning, and that same evening went to Ken Archer’s sermon discussion small group at Anita and Franklyn Cater’s home. I’ve been a regular ever since.

Tell us a little about the small groups and/or ministries that you lead and how that experience has impacted you.
I’ve been involved with a sermon discussion small group, meeting on Sunday evenings most of the time I’ve been at NCC. I really like the opportunity we take to gather for a meal, build community together, and dig a little deeper into the topics, challenges and questions raised in the sermon. The friendships I’ve made with other group members are some of the most valuable relationships I have in DC.

When I became rather burned out in leadership after a couple of years, I took the option offered by the newly launched semester system to lead some activity groups: weight lifting and hiking. Then during the Wild Goose series last year, I sensed the Spirit leading me to talk with Elizabeth Hanna about starting up a NW DC group. When I contacted her, she had been just about to email me! It was pretty cools to plan our group together, and discover God leading both of us toward common goals.

Where can you be found on Sunday mornings?
I attend Union Station, usually the 9:30 service, unless I’m in the nursery for the first shift, or stayed out past my bedtime (10 PM) on Saturday night.

When did you start following Christ and what have been some of the spiritual turning points in your life?
My earliest memory is inviting Jesus into my heart on a sunny morning in the corner of our kitchen, and then going to tell my mom about it. My parents provided and environment of tremendous love, spiritual training, and opportunities to learn and grow in my faith. When I was twelve I went forward at a Sunday morning alter call, to more publically declare my intentions to follow Christ. I went to a Christian high school and college, and really struggled when I entered graduate school and found myself for the first time without a ready-made Christian community. That experience made me very intentional about seeking and building relationships with other believers when I moved to DC.

Tell us a little about your background.
I grew up on a small five acre hobby farm in Northern Idaho, near Coeur d’Alene. My dad is a forester (his dream since 8th grade), and my mom was a high school English teacher until I was born. Besides a full-time homemaker, she home-schooled us K-6th, managed a market garden, and made sure we kept up with our farm chores (probably more difficult than doing them herself sometimes). I have one younger brother who I enjoyed tormenting until he was about twelve and suddenly was bigger and stronger than me (my mother had repeatedly warned me about this). We fought quite a bit as younger kids, but became good friends in high school. Our family is very close, and my parents provide a great model of marriage, parenting (it is in our name, you know), and personal relationships with Jesus. I am a pretty classic nerd, and always enjoyed school, and even studying and tests. I attended George Fox University near Portland, Oregon, and earned a B.S. in chemistry (which I occasionally use to b.s. about chemistry). After working in a research lab for a couple years, I decided to enter graduate school at University of Oregon. After two years, it was clear that a Ph.D. program was not right for me. To make a long story short, I came out to DC to take a six-month contract with the American Chemical Society, and four years later, here I am.

What is your favorite Scripture passage?
That changes with the years, but there are a few that have stayed with me for a long time.

Colossians 1:9-12 (NIV) “For this reason, since the day we heard about you we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”

This encourages me by reminding me of the “umbrella of protection” that I’ve been blessed with by the prayers of my family and friends, and also the wisdom and strength God makes available to me.

Proverbs 27:14 (NIV) “If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.”
Proverbs is full of fun and pithy sayings that make me smile.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV) “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
This passage really encourages me when life gets tough. It is a good reminder that it’s not circumstances that control my success in life, but God’s provision in difficult times.

What are your favorite books?
Where do I start? I’m a big fiction fan, and it’s easier to pick favorite authors: Laura Ingalls, L.M. Montgomery, C.S. Lewis. The Little House on the Prairie books, Anne of Green Gables series, and Chronicles of Narnia are ones first read to me as a child, that I have re-read over and over again. I enjoy Dickens, Austen and Madeleine L’Engel. Recent new books I really enjoyed were Blue Like Jazz and Reading Lolita in Tehran.

What are your favorite movies?
Ever After and The Matrix (how’s that for different genres?)

What is your favorite fast food?
McDonalds french fries

What is something that most people at NCC would not know about you?
When I was five, I tried to pee standing up like my little brother did (it didn’t work very well for me).

Tell us a little about your day job.
I am a Senior Staff Associate for the Green Chemistry Institute at the American Chemical Society. We work to promote a sustainable chemical enterprize by engaging chemists in pollution prevention through the design of safer chemical products and processes. I’m lead on education projects for the Institute, and involved in directing an annual summer school for graduate students, coordinating an annual conference, and managing several student awards programs. Since we’re a small office, I have my hand in a lot of different administrative duties, which makes my day-to-day pretty varied. I also enjoy regular opportunities to travel and give presentations to university students and faculty.

What is your dream job?
I think I might be a lot of fun to run a boarding house or be the housekeeper for a large estate. Being a full-time mom is another job I dream of having some day.

Who is your hero? (besides Jesus or any other member of the Trinity)
I don’t really have a “hero” per se. I’m a huge fan of unremarkable, ordinary people who spend their lives doing reliably and well whatever needs to be done, no matter how mundane. To paraphrase Oswald Chambers, it’s not doing extraordinary things that make you successful, but rather doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well. In high school I worked as a janitor, and my boss was a tremendous example of someone serving God and ministering to His people in very ordinary (and mostly unacknowledged) ways. Mr. Holland in the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus, and my dad and mom are other examples I’ve seen of this principle and practice. Female Biblical characters that especially resonate with me are Jael and Deborah (see Judges – awesome women!).

What do you do in your free time?
Bicycle, read, organize things, do home repair projects, hang with kids (e.g. babysit), and spend time with friends.

In NCC:THE MOVIE who would play you? Who would play Pastor Mark?
Joan Cusack

John Cusack in one of his funny-philosophical roles

What is your favorite Pastor Markism?
“If your keys fall into a river of molten lava, face it, they’re gone.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 at 10:37 am and is filed under News and Updates, Small Group Leaders, Spotlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.