Talk about a set-up’it would have been near impossible for Catie Coots to duck the church. Her father and both grandfathers were Methodist ministers. But Coots, who took up her new position as senior pastor at the Palisades United Methodist Church in July, resisted the calling until after she graduated from Scripps College in 1981. She says she was a teenager at Methodist camp when she felt God calling her to ordained ministry. ‘My mother and father were thrilled and got all excited, but then I thought, ‘pressure,’ so I said, well, maybe not.’ Coots went off to college in Claremont, and studied music, but when she graduated, her mother handed her a pamphlet describing a church internship that she thought might interest her. ‘I went and I loved it,’ says Coots, who never looked back. She studied theology at Yale, and graduated from Claremont School of Theology in 1984. Since then, Coots has served as pastor in Westlake Village, Chino and Capistrano Beach among other towns, and before taking over from the retiring John Nagel she served for seven years as District Superintendent of the Santa Barbara District and Dean of the Bishop’s Council. She admits that the job was challenging. ‘I was the trouble-shooter for all the churches in the district, which meant making serious decisions, including having to close churches [due to fallen attendance].’ Brand new to Pacific Palisades (she only knew Gelson’s, Baskin-Robbins and Aldersgate Lodge, which is part of the Methodist Conference), Coots is approaching her new position with the wisdom and patience developed over a 25-year career. ‘It’s important for me to build trust and get to know the congregation,’ she says. Certainly the weekly sermon provides a reliable indication of her spiritual trajectory and leadership style. In preparing her lectures, she reviews the biblical texts for the week and chooses a theme that ‘speaks to me. My addresses have to contain something that is relevant,’ which the Sunday this writer attended focused on the generational divide. The topic was tattoos, which produced an audible disapproval from the mostly elderly congregation. She continued with self-deprecating humor and credible examples, revealing sheepishly that the little five-ring moniker she saw on some of the gold medalists at the Olympic Games was something she would have liked’but don’t tell her mother. ’Sometimes my references misfire, like the Sunday I used a sports allusion that I knew was wrong right away but didn’t know why. It happened to be a football reference and I had gotten the number of players on the field wrong.’ Laughter, Coots asserts, can be such a good way to bond. ‘I only plant the seeds and hope that there will be results.’ The pastor believes that her challenge will be to meet the needs of families and offer a reason for going to church. ‘Pacific Palisades is very much a small town in a larger community,’ she says. ‘This church is a small town within a small town, which limits what we can do somewhat; a bigger church is able to offer more. But not everybody wants to be in a big church. This church holds to the values of this community, which include tradition and continuity. There are multiple generations of Palisadians; many of the adults attended the preschool.’ While pastor in Corona del Mar in Orange County (1998-2005), Coots saw a similar profile to that occurring in Pacific Palisades: home prices skyrocketed and new people with money moved into the community. ‘Twenty years ago, there was also this desire for churches to be trendy with new music. But this church’s values are consistent with the values of the [founder’s] community.’ Coots recognizes that the Palisades congregation is small, but she makes no judgment. ‘This has been a small parish for a long time, and if it doesn’t increase then I’ll do something different.’ Her primary goal will be to reach out and do a better job of connecting with families of the Methodist preschool students. ’Every parent needs somebody who says ‘You’re doing OK.’ Every parent needs support,’ Coots says, and, as she looks across the street and sees the Palisades Elementary schoolchildren coming and going, she would like to be able to offer some support. ‘I want to be able to meet the needs especially of the parents as they are seeing their children off to school for the first time.’ As for the separation anxiety for parents who are sending kids off to college, she plans to start a support group. Coots knows of what she speaks. Divorced, she is the mother of two sons, Bryce, a senior at Cal Poly, and Cory, a senior at Northern Arizona University. While her father accuses her of ‘mothering’ her parishioners, Coots, who has been the first female pastor in every community she’s led, is not disturbed. ‘If the church is organized the way a man thinks, it’s often black and white. I can think of a number of ideas all at once, pulling seemingly disparate threads together to make a point.’ The new pastor marks a renewal for the Palisades church, which has completed significant renovations to the sanctuary, while remodeling the bathrooms and making interior improvements to Tauxe Hall in recent years. Feeling comfortable in the new, uncluttered altar area has liberated Coots, who eschews wearing the liturgical stole and enjoys mingling among the congregants. ’I feel that there is something right about being a leader but also part of the community,’ she says. ‘God willing, I can be a good example.’ Pastor Coots preaches most Sundays at the 10 a.m. worship service, sharing duties with Associate Pastor Chris Fracchiolla, who preaches once a month.
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