Bode bids goodbye: Retiring reverend ‘extremely thoughtful and caring’

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When Reverend Bruce Bode was named minister of Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in 2004, he figured he would serve for about eight years, maybe 10.

He ended up staying for 14.

“I was enjoying my work,” Bode said.

With the extra years under his belt, and about 40 years of doing ministry in his life, Bode, 70, decided last year 2018 was the time to retire.

He gave his last sermon June 10, and was honored with emeritus status.

“(Bode) had a passion for nurturing the community in our spiritual growth,” said Kathy Stevenson, who has been at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship for 30 years and is currently director of family ministry.

“He was extremely thoughtful and caring of the people around him.”

A Washington native, Bode came to Port Townsend from Houston, where he had been doing interim work for two years.

“It was an opportunity to come back to my roots,” he said.

It was also an opportunity for him to be a lead minister, something he had been looking forward to.

During the years Bode has served as minister, QUUF has grown from 213 members to more than 400, with 200 affiliated friends.

“It’s become a pretty sizable congregation,” Bode said. “It’s also welcoming to persons of various religious backgrounds … it’s not just one way; the words ‘unitarian’ and ‘universalist’ imply that.”

It was in college that Bode discovered he was “religiously liberal.”

He grew up on a small dairy farm in a Dutch Calvinist Protestant family, and was set on the path of ministry from the age of 10.

After graduating from Calvin Theological Seminary, he served 22 years as associate minister at an independent, religiously liberal congregation in Michigan, and then went on to serve in Oklahoma and Texas before coming to Port Townsend.

“I landed in the right place,” he said of PT, where he plans on continuing with his wife, Flossie. “Home is still here.”

Bode said the congregation of QUUF in many ways reflects the Port Townsend community.

“Port Townsend is a politically and socially liberal community,” he said. “Quimper Unitarian is an extension of that.”

Stevenson noted Bode was a perfect fit for the community.

“He has a depth of intellect ... that just really resonated with the depth of awareness people in Port Townsend have,” she said.

Bode said he describes the congregation at QUUF as a “can-do” one, noting especially the more than 10,000 hours of volunteer work put into building a new sanctuary.

“The people who come here, come here looking for community, and they have skill to share and time to give,” he said.

Bode provided a place for that community.

“For me (being a minister) has to do with proving a place where people can ground and center themselves to connect with the larger reality, however you define that,” he said. “I often talk about the connection of the part to the whole.”

Along with religion, Bode also is passionate about poetry, and sports.

Some of Stevenson’s favorite memories of Bode are watching him at events and picnics, playing softball with the kids.

“He has a playful spirit. It was very different from his role Sunday mornings,” she said. “I’ll miss his dedication to this place, to the people, to the organization and emotional health of QUUF.”

QUUF plans to bring on a new senior minister by 2020.

In the meantime, Rev. Helen Carroll, an accredited UU interim minister, will serve as interim minister starting in September.

Rev. Kate Lore will continue to serve as the assistant minister during the transition.

As for Bode, he and his wife plan to “go fallow,” and travel for an extended period of time.

“I need to step back, and provide space for a new minister,” he said.

He is ready to say goodbye to his ministry position.

Well, almost.

“In some ways I feel that I’m finally getting the hang of it,” he laughed.