Anyone who has been involved with Gilroy Presbyterian Church has
no doubt met Lynn Viale. For more than two decades, she has served
the congregation in a number of capacities.
Anyone who has been involved with Gilroy Presbyterian Church has no doubt met Lynn Viale. For more than two decades, she has served the congregation in a number of capacities.
But in September she began using her unique talents to serve the members of the Watsonville Presbyterian Church.
The Viale family began attending the Gilroy church in 1986. Almost immediately after an initial warm welcome, she was asked by the pastor at that time – the Rev. Bruce Rowlison – to use her “gift of hospitality” within the congregation.
“I was amazed that my background in sales, marketing and communication were just the tools (needed for that job),” she said.
During the next 23 years, Viale found herself organizing and facilitating a number of ministries within the congregation. She witnessed a remarkable transition: from 300 members worshipping in a cramped, century-old building in downtown Gilroy to nearly 800 members in spacious, state-of-the art facilities at 6000 Miller Ave.
One of her early endeavors was as director of outreach. She organized a group of volunteers to contact visitors, welcome them to continue worshipping at the church and offer membership classes for them when they felt ready for that commitment.
She was also involved with evangelism classes, which taught how to listen to others’ stories with “gentleness and respect,” rather than the high-pressure tactics often associated with evangelism.
Viale developed a courtyard ministry held in the church’s inviting plaza at the entrance to its campus. Visitors are invited to a welcome table after each service where they are given literature and introduced to members.
Gilroy Presbyterian is known for an active small-group program; sometimes as many as 25 people are active at one time. Viale calls this “an opportunity to do life together,” as people group themselves according to common interests.
The last three years she has served as director of spirituality. This role had three aspects:
– Outreach journey, linking members to activities serving the community
– Spirituality formation, providing retreats, classes on prayer practices and steps to increase faith
– Caring ministries, offering support to those experiencing divorce, grief, health problems, poverty or other problems.
In January, Viale felt God calling her to make a change in her life. As a result, she announced to the Gilroy congregation in August that God had “opened a new door” in her life. Bruce Rowlison, who started her on her journey of ministry 23 years ago, invited her to bring her skills to his present congregation, the Watsonville Presbyterian Church.
Although the membership is considerably smaller than at GPC, it has excellent facilities in downtown Watsonville and is noted for the ways it assists members of the community. Among her goals are to “attract more young families to the church while honoring the wealth of wisdom” of the present membership.
“We will miss Gilroy Presbyterian, but will continue to pray God’s blessing on the church and the community,” Viale said.
To learn more about Lynn Viale’s new ministry in Watsonville, e-mail her at [email protected].
