Reverend Beth Grimshaw
I played church in the garage as a child. We caught dried leaves on fire with a magnifying glass to use as incense. Holy holy holy and Onward Christian Soldiers were our two favorite hymns. The brothers next door were my acolytes and we used kool-aide and saltines for the communion elements.
Fast forward five decades I am the Pastor and Teacher at Leslie Congregational United Church of Christ. I have served there for 7 years. On any given Sunday 40-50% of those in worship are under 18 years of age.
Next year I will have been ordained for 20 years in the United Church of Christ. Prior to attending Columbia Theological Seminary I taught vocal music in public school, served as a hospital patient advocate and chaplain and as a Director of Christian Education. I have pastored three churches, in suburban, urban and now rural locations. My calls have been in the area of faith formation and ministry to children families and youth.
in 2009 and 2010 I received grants from the Valparaiso Practicing our Faith project and led 12 Baskets-The Abundance of Youth Practicing their Faith and subsequently wrote the curriculum used for the original project.
A Little Child Shall Lead Us was made possible by a pastoral study grant from the Louisville Institute and was a part of my sabbatical in 2017.
I am eternally grateful for 37 years of love and support from my husband David . My three children Ben, Ashley and Kelsey have been my best spiritual guides and teachers. Now I have the precious privilege of studying with two spiritual masters, my grandsons, Will and James. We live both in Haslett MI and at the parsonage in Leslie with our charming dog Shanti.
Kelsey Grimshaw
I consider myself a creative communicator. I loved having the opportunity to work with my mom to help create this website to share with the world the important work she’s done. Her light has touched so many and I am grateful to have had such a loving role model for a mother. My hope for this website is that it reaches many people and can help inspire and educate all to better understand children and their spiritual growth.
Since graduating from Columbia College Chicago in 2012 with a BA in Film Editing and Post Production I have explored work in several of my creative passions. These include but are not limited to shooting and editing videos and photos, drawing, painting, design, creating logos, websites, and social media managing.
I currently live in Ada Michigan with my boyfriend and our two dogs Taco and Luna.