From Rev. Dr. Sandy Tice

I have been a Californian all my life. I am the eldest of two LAUSD school teachers and grew up with one brother in Eagle Rock. We read and learned and played outside a lot, but we didn’t go to church. In 1971, I joined a new youth group at Eagle Rock United Pres (as it was called). That experience of faith, community, service, worship, learning, and laughter changed my life. Three years later I was baptized, and confirmed as a disciple of Jesus and member of the Church. That identity has been at the center of my life and given it meaning ever since. I began volunteering as a Presbyterian camp counselor in high school, and loved experiencing what can happen in our love for God and for one another when we step outside ‘comfort zones’ to create temporary community. I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies (my career aspiration was ‘Camp Director’) from San Jose State in 1981 and worked full-time for a Bay Area congregation as youth & children’s director until moving back home to attend Fuller and prepare for ministry as a Teaching Elder. I was ordained in September of 1987. In 1988 I married Rev. Dr. Tom Rennard.

Since then, I’ve served 1 Synod, several churches and 3 Presbyteries. I earned a Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction (SFTS), completed a D. Min in Christian Spirituality (SFTS) and taught as an adjunct at Presbyterian Seminary of the West. I have led retreats, chaired committees, served at GA, lived in Lima Peru, and supported folks preparing for ministry. Living with folks (particularly teenagers) navigating poverty has changed my suburban view of the world and made me attentive to the ways Jesus is present exactly where he said he would be: where he is most needed. This has also led me to ponder the privilege of the faith tradition which saved my life: how (statistically speaking) well-educated, white, and affluent we are. The PCUSA is my Home. I wonder how we might be more creative, justice-oriented and brave, and listen deeply to voices we may not have heard.

Tom and I have a daughter, Bethany, who lives in Brooklyn New York.

In 1991, I was called as Associate Pastor to Claremont and worked for many years with John Najarian. Most recently I was pastor of First Presbyterian Church of San Bernardino, an extraordinarily creative and courageous congregation in a city marked by deep goodness and entrenched poverty. I retired last summer and now live at Monte Vista Grove, with Tom and our dog Charlie. My professional training includes Fuller Seminary (MDiv); SFTS (Doctor of Ministry), Mercy Center (Diploma in Spiritual Direction); some grants (CREDO, Lilly, and Austin Seminary cohort grant); Kaleidoscope Institute (Associate Training); and Association of Nature & Forest Therapy (I’m a Certificated Forest Guide!).

The aspects of ministry I most enjoy are holy conversations where both of us are aware of God’s presence with us; worship creation & leadership; and memorial services (where so often we can trace/discover the evidence of God’s Grace among us.)

I love cooking, handweaving, and long conversations. I also love trees and do much of my praying outside these days, in what John Philip Newell calls ‘the great cathedral of earth, sea and sky’.