Celebrating Kaji Spellman - Coming in September to United Church of Christ of La Mesa

The people of the United Church of Christ of La Mesa (UCCLM) announce with great pride the calling of The Rev. Kaji Spellman to serve as their Senior Minister.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Yale Divinity School, Kaji is one of ten United Church of Christ (UCC) Presidential Fellows, a group of clergy supported for having shown “significant gifts and promise” in the church.  In the words of one of her colleagues, she “is emerging as one of the great leaders of the United Church of Christ.”

It is said of her, also, that “As a worship leader, Kaji is an artist.”   Passionate about jazz, music is a major component of her life and ministry.  She has sung professionally and was trained as a violinist.

From a UCC family, Kaji is the granddaughter of the Rev. Edwin R. (Doc) Edmonds, a UCC leader in the Civil Rights movement who stood with Martin Luther King, Jr. as King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial and worked with him in the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Pastoral ministry is not Kaji’s first career.  The skills acquired in the others – product development, marketing, organizing political campaigns, public speaking – have proven, “incredibly helpful” in church work.  Her prayer is that God has given her the grace to integrate those gifts into “a ministry that welcomes people from all backgrounds and affiliations into community.”

Kaji will join UCCLM on September 1, 2013 and preach her first sermon there on September 8.  An Open and Affirming congregation, UCCLM is located at 5940 Kelton Avenue, La Mesa 91942 (619-464-1519).  We invite you to visit our website, www.ucclm.org, to learn more about us and to visit us both now and when Kaji arrives.  Sunday worship services are at 8:30 and 10:00am, Bible study at 6:30pm on Tuesdays.  We look forward to welcoming you!