Katie Hill's fervent Christianity seems well-suited to strong winds and wide-open spaces

When Rev. Katie Hill gets really passionate about what she's saying, her eyes tear up. It can happen several times in a single heartfelt conversation. It's just a fact of life, like the fact that she will go wherever God calls, or that she will find beauty and good people anywhere He sends her.

Hill is the new pastor at First United Methodist Church of Alva. Her past seven years were spent at a church in Bristow, and before that she was in Tulsa. She replaces Rev. Carol Cook Moore, who is the new superintendent of the United Methodist Church's Northern Prairie District.

Hill and husband Brad have been married eight years. Their son, James, will be in second grade this fall. She also has a stepdaughter, Megan, 21, who lives in Arizona – but when she visits this weekend, she'll be getting the full Alva tour.

The Hills moved into the home next to the Methodist church only two weeks ago, and there's still lots of work ahead before they're really settled. Brad, for example, has got job-hunting on his mind – but first he's got to finish unpacking the garage, Hill said, laughing.

In her almost bare office at the church, Hill spoke passionately about the difficulties – and blessings – of transitions, and about her love of northwest Oklahoma's natural beauty, welcoming people and exhilarating wind.

Covid-19 and Change

Hill isn't quite sure what to say of the immediate future – any changes that may be made, for example.

"This year is so different with Covid," she said. "Everybody's going through so much transition already that for a church to get a new pastor and a pastor to get a new church, it's kind of like we haven't talked much about the future because we don't know what it's going to be like!"

Youth and children's programming will be getting attention, but that was already in the works before Hill's arrival.

"But we've got to kind of see how things go. It's hard to have a big event; it's hard enough to have one-on-one kind of stuff," she said. "I think we're all trying to figure out what normal's going to look like, and I think we'll have a few stages of normal until we get to something that's more stable."

What may worry Hill most at the moment is how to be the source of strength and reassurance to congregation members having difficult times.

"I think we're going to have to figure out how to do pastoral care and congregational care from this point," she said. "With the previous pastor, because she already had a relationship with people, calling on the phone was very helpful. She knew who was in the hospital and all of those things. And it wasn't as good as going to visit, but at least that connection could be made," Hill said.

"It's harder now, calling and saying, 'I'm introducing myself as your new pastor, and how are you doing after your surgery?'" she said.

"If we're going to have to do congregational care over the phone or over distance, then finding more ways to connect with people, I think, is going to be very key," she said. "We haven't started those conversations yet, but we're going to – probably this week."

Change means transition, and a whole bunch of change means some serious transitioning.

Fortunately, Hill is a pro at managing transition.

Be Flexible, Be Willing, Trust God

Methodist ministers have always moved a lot, Hill said. "In the '50s, they moved every two years," she said, but that seems to be changing. Today, Methodist ministers' appointments seem to last between five and seven years.

Hill's glad for the change. "If you're there three or four years, you've just gotten to know the town, you've just gotten to know the church, you've just gotten a little bit of connection to be able to build on, and then it's time for a new pastor," she said.

But she also sees a larger benefit.

Moving from one church to another, one home to another, one town to another, one congregation to another – it's a huge transition. Methodist ministers are asked before ordination if they will go wherever the bishop sends them, whenever they are called to move. If they don't commit to do so, then ... well, it may be that Methodist ministry wasn't what they'd been called to after all.

"As a pastor in the Methodist church where transition is a regular part of ministry, transition was something I dealt with very early on. So now, not only those times of transition from church to church but also other kinds of transition have become easier for me," she said.

In this time of Covid-19 when everything seems to be in constant flux, how to cope with transition "is something I think Methodist clergy can help the church to learn," Hill said.

Even without a pandemic, "everyone goes through transitions; transition has to happen whether we like it or not," Hill said. Coping with transition successfully is based in flexibility, a willing heart, and trust in God and God's people, she said.

"We can be ready for it (transition) by being flexible, by being willing and by saying 'Okay, I'm going to be out of my depth, but I'm going to trust that God is there, and that the people of God are there, and we're all in this together," she said.

Transitions Let God Work

Hill finds plenty of inspiration in the Bible on what transition is all about.

"If you look through scripture, it seems like God is constantly working in His people at times of transition, and sometimes it's Him calling them to that transition. He calls Abraham when he is 75 years old and says, 'Move' (she laughed a little, maybe at Abraham's likely astonishment) and then says 'And, oh, by the way, I'm going to make you a great nation. I know it's just you and Sarah right now, but you're going to be the father of many, even though your wife's gone through menopause.' And so God pushes him into that transition and that's where God can work," she said.

"Just a few generations down the road you've got Joseph, who is one of Abraham's great-great-grandchildren," she said, telling the story. Joseph's brother sells him into slavery. Joseph winds up serving someone whose wife tries to seduce him, but the husband has Joseph thrown in jail.

"Even though he didn't do anything wrong, he's rotting in jail for years!" she exclaims. More twists of fate take place, and Joseph winds up second in command of the nation, "taking care of Egypt in the midst of a famine, and through all of those places God is blessing him and using him," Hill said.

"And so Joseph's whole life is transition, and I don't think any of that was God going, 'Hmm, I think you should be in slavery for a while and then I think prison would do you some good.' It's really all of the people and circumstances around him that push him into these transitions." But the transitions gave God an opportunity to bless him in the midst of the difficulty.

"I look throughout scripture, and it seems like it's in moments of transition where God can work, because those are often times when we realize 'I can't do this on my own; I'm out of my depth' and we have to rely on God. Because we realize He's stronger, wiser, and there's no way we can do this by ourselves so we trust in Him. (Transition) makes it easier for us to trust in Him," she said.

Loving It All

Hill was born in Madill, Oklahoma – a town very similar in size to Alva when she was growing up there near Lake Texoma with lots of camping, fishing and hiking. She got her bachelor's in biology education at East Central University, then went to Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.

Her first appointment with the United Methodist Church was to Guymon in the Panhandle. She was there four years, then moved to Goodwell, 10 miles west of Guymon. She was campus minister at Oklahoma Panhandle State and simultaneously led a small country church.

"So I was out in the panhandle for seven years," Hill said. "And I loved it out there. The western part of this state – the people are so friendly and so gracious and so welcoming, and it was really good."

From there, she was an associate pastor at a church in Tulsa, and then she moved to Bristow, which is between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. "That was my last appointment and now I'm here!" she said, grinning.

"Every town has its own personality," Hill said. "Alva is very similar to the town I grew up in terms of size, but northwestern Oklahoma, southwestern Oklahoma – just a different personality."

But different personalities doesn't mean one is worse than another.

"I have loved everywhere I've lived, and I find good people everywhere I go," she said emphatically, a tear or two escaping. "And I find beauty everywhere. You know, when I first moved to the Panhandle, people went, 'But there's nothing out there!' and I was like, 'Yeah, but you can see every sunset and every sunrise.' I actually like the wind, so when people complain about the wind I'm like, 'I love it!'

"I know of people who've moved from the Panhandle to Tulsa or to the eastern part of the state, and they got claustrophobic because there's so many buildings and so many trees and 'I can't see the horizon.' Yeah, I like it out here in the western part of the state. It's great.

"And I'm excited to be in Alva getting to learn what it's like here and how we'll fit in. But my family, we're pretty good at fitting in. We've had practice," she said laughing.