Pastor Mary Cartwright is retiring from ministry this summer, after serving at Nashville United Methodist Church for the past decade.
Democrat File Photo
After serving the congregation of the Nashville United Methodist Church and the Brown County community for the past decade, Pastor Mary Cartwright is planning to retire this summer.
She and her husband, Michael, plan to move to Columbus following her retirement in late June or early July.
Cartwright has been a Methodist pastor for 38 years, and about a third of that time has been spent in Brown County. She served in other churches around Indiana before her time at NUMC.
“I love Brown County, it’s a wonderful place to serve,” Cartwright said last week.
She said her church and congregation are different from those she’s served in the past in a few positive ways.
“The congregation is really great,” she said.
“It’s very much a congregation that reaches out to the community, cares for the community, provides space for the community — and it’s a great church, a beautiful sanctuary.”
In addition to her duties to the church, Cartwright also remained faithful to her service to the greater community outside NUMC’s walls for the duration of her time in the area.
She joined the Brown County Habitat for Humanity (HFH) board shortly after she moved to the area and has been there ever since, she said. For two of her nine years on the board, she served as the nonprofit’s president.
“I’ve been very proud of that work,” Cartwright said.
“(HFH) is a really wonderful, worldwide community that I think has helped the community focus on the housing needs.”
She said housing needs are a serious issue in the area, and the work of HFH has made a positive impact for local families.
She is also involved in the Brown County Pastor’s Fellowship, which is a group of local pastors that meet once a month to support one another and organize some ways to help the community.
For example, Cartwright said the fellowship has a small fund they use to help those with emergency housing needs.
From some fundraising events in the community and with the help of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, they have enough money to help put someone up in a hotel for a night or two if they need it, she said.
The fellowship also sponsors the National Day of Prayer, which is Thursday, May 4.
Cartwright described herself as the “convener for the fellowship” for the past few years, but now Pastor Russ Woodard, parish life coordinator at the Catholic church, is going to take over the event once she retires.
Part of the plan
The decision to retire had been planned by Cartwright for a while, she said. She originally announced her retirement in January of this year, and had been thinking of it for a while before then.
“You know, I’m 66 years old,” she said about her decision.
“And my husband retired recently. It’s just kind of part of our plan.”
Before his retirement, Michael had been a professor of philosophy and religion at the University of Indianapolis for many years.
The Cartwright’s plan, however, didn’t account for everything.
Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after she made her decision and set out plans to retire. She said the diagnosis changed the timing of things.
“Unfortunately, I’m discovering that treatment for cancer just takes a while to get through,” Cartwright said.
She recently had surgery to remove the tumor and then reconstruct the operated area following the procedure. She said the surgery went fine and she has been recovering well since.
She said the next phase of her treatment, chemotherapy, will take place at the end of May.
Cartwright said Brown County is a place where “great things happen,”, and that it was an honor to serve the community.
“We have loved Brown County,” she said.
“(Brown County residents) are proud of their community and they care about people in the community, so really it’s been a great privilege, I will miss it terribly. It’ll be hard to say bye to people. But when pastors leave, it’s important to leave and let the new pastor take over.”
Cartwright said she looks forward to maintaining friendships, but “the work is over,” and she will miss that.
“But, at the same time, I have lots of great memories, lots of people who continue to mean a lot to me,” she said.
“And I feel it has been a really good fit — my ministry and the church’s goals and visions for God’s work. I feel I’ve been called here for God, and I’m really grateful for that.”
After officially retiring, moving to a new city, and getting through the last of the cancer treatments, Cartwright plans on remaining active and volunteering in her free time.
She said she is not certain exactly what she plans to help with, but some of her main interests include helping children and continuing work to address housing needs.
“I look forward to making some kind of contribution to the community that we live in,” she said about volunteering.
“One retires from the work of ministry, but we don’t really retire from being Christians or caring about the world around us, so I hope to continue to do that.”
Cartwright expressed many thanks to those she crossed paths with during her time in the Brown County community.
“I want people outside the church in the community to know how much I’ve appreciated their encouragement, and the ways in which they care for each other and the world around them,” she said.
Taking over following the Cartwright’s departure in early July will be Roy Ice. He, along with his wife, Lauren and their son, Kaleb, will be moving to Nashville from Washington, Ind.
Submitted photo
‘So very excited’
Taking over following the Cartwright’s departure in early July will be Roy Ice. He, along with his wife, Lauren and their son, Kaleb, will be moving to Nashville from Washington, Ind.
Roy said via email last week that he is looking forward to starting at NUMC.
“I am so very excited … this is going to be an amazing fit,” he said.
“I get a real sense of mission, caring, loving, and blessing others from the folks I have met so far and in the stories I have heard. I am so very much looking forward to being in ministry with all of the members and the community alike.”
Roy has been serving in churches around Indiana since 1995, when he said he was called to ministry while on a retreat. He said he quit his teaching job following the retreat and started seminary the fall of that year.
He was ordained an elder in 2003 and has been in full-time ministry since.
Roy, Lauren and Kaleb are all looking forward to joining the local community for different reasons.
Kaleb, who enjoys electronics, the outdoors and is, according to Roy, “smart as a whip,” is excited for their new house, starting sixth grade in Brown County Schools, getting involved in local groups and making new friends.
Lauren is a stay-at-home mom with a passion for music and textile arts such as knitting and crocheting, and she is excited to meet the community and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere, as well as check out local shops and the dining experiences Nashville offers.
Roy said Lauren plays the clarinet and saxophone, so she has played in community bands and at church, and has worked at various music venues, including the Dayton Opera and the Evansville Philharmonic.
“She never passes up an opportunity to read and listen to podcasts of all sorts,” Roy said.
“She is quick to laugh, love, and serve others and is a delight to be around.”
Roy said he is anticipating serving the church, being a pastor to the community, getting to interact with the various clubs and groups with his family, as well as the Brown County setting and people.
“I am high energy, high visibility, boundary stretching, and loud,” Roy said
“I am loving, caring, Jesus-following, and a servant of the people. I can do high church to relaxed (come as you are) and anything in between. I am a planner to the extreme but can also fly by the seat of my pants with expertise. I love a good joke, a good story, a good song, or beautiful silence … but I truly find God in the presence of nature. I can’t wait to serve with the good folks of NUMC.”
