The Rev. Robert Gaestel arrived at beautiful Church of the Angels in Pasadena in 1983, the year President Reagan invaded Grenada and Michael Jackson released his album “Thriller.” He retires on Pentecost Sunday, June 8, which means the Holy Spirit will come down while whisking his spouse, Tracy, and him away to the next season of their vocations — if not for the time being to faraway places, since they recently moved to a new home in Sierra Madre.
As his congregation prepares to say farewell, I was aboard Sunday to preach and preside in a typically beautifully constructed Church of the Angels liturgy. The choir was exquisite, as always, the congregation lively and friendly, with a number of folks identifying themselves as relative newcomers. One couple said they’d been there since 1974, making them perhaps the only members of longer standing than the Gaestel family. It was a special joy to see longtime COA member and Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles leader Richard Henderson. I could not have had a more gracious and diligent volunteer chaplain than liturgy guru Steve Leland.
Since Bob hasn’t had time to add it all up, one has to guess the thousands of his baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and burials, the tens thousands of hours of counseling and advice, all while helping Jesus form successive generations of mature, thoughtful disciples. Tracy and Bob are also pioneers in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which helps children experience their relationship with God while rooting them in the rituals of the church.
A New Jersey native, Bob and his family moved to Orange County when he was in fifth grade. He attended Chapman University and Church Divinity School of the Pacific. He reads widely, often leaving photocopies of articles in the narthex for congregants. A ham radio operator and sport shooter, for many years he served as a volunteer chaplain with the Pasadena police department.
COA hasn’t had a parish administrator for over a half-century, leaving a lot for lay leaders and Fr. Bob to do. As at all parishes after long rectorships, a season of interim ministry will be good for all the angels at Church of the Angels. After that, finding a rector with all Bob’s gifts won’t even be possible.
And yet the vestry and search committee sound reasonably confident that our God in Christ has prepared the rector they will need. My colleagues the Revs. Canon Melissa McCarthy and Thomas Quijada-Discavage and I met with them after church, and a delightful reception that featured homemake blueberry cheesecake, to answer questions and thank them for their faithful and diligent work so far. For now, we trust in God, which has been a cornerstone of Fr. Bob’s ministry.
