Loren will be in southern California April 8th through 19th. She will be presenting at the following churches on the following dates:
April 9: Irvine UCC, Sunday worship
April 13: Church of the Foothills, evening service
April 15: Southern California Nevada Pacific Islander Asian American Ministries UCC at 10:00 am
April 18: First Christian Church of Fullerton, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
If you are interested in scheduling a presentation with Loren, please contact Nancy Fowler at fowlernancy@aol.com.
Loren McGrail was appointed jointly by the Common Global Ministries Board of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ to serve a four-year term with the YWCA of Palestine. Loren is serving under the supervision of the National General Secretary of the YWCA of Palestine. Some of her duties include identifying international partners, trust funds, and other relevant sources of funding and support, expanding church relations, especially with churches in the U.S., and with the young people in the church, helping with the preparation of a multi-year fundraising strategy, as well as annual fundraising plan. She is also serving as an ecumenical partner with St. Andrews Scottish Church in Jerusalem, assisting with worship leading and other pastoral duties. These are just a few of her duties.
Loren attended Boston Theological Institute (BTI), 1972-76, Certificate in International Mission and Ecumenism, University of Oregon, 1976, with a B.A. in English Lit.; Certificate for Secondary Language Arts, 1976. She earned the Master of Divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS), 2005. She completed her Clinical Pastoral Education Resident at Hartford Hospital, 2006.
Her work experience includes:
1980 – 82 Barcelona, Spain, English as a Foreign Language teacher
1982 – 84 Paris, France, English as a Foreign Language teacher
1984 – 89 Boston, MA, Language and Literacy Consultant
1989 – 90 Boston, MA, Adult Literacy Resource Center, ESOL Literacy Specialist
1990 – 94 World Education, Literacy Specialist
1994 – 96 Health Education and Adult Literacy Project
1996 – 00 Durham, NC, Literacy South, Executive Director
2000 – 03 Language and Literacy Consultant
2006 – 10 Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, Abbott Northwestern, Minneapolis, MN, Multi-faith Chaplain
2010 First Congregational Church of Grand Marais MN, filled in during pastor's sabbatical
2011 Global Missions, short-term volunteer served with the World Council of Churches
Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel
2011 – 12 Planned Parenthood, Parent Outreach Specialist on a teen pregnancy and prevention grant
2013 – 16 YWCA of Palestine, under the supervision of the National General Secretary.
Loren may be reached at lorenmcgrail@gmail.com and facebook by the same name where she puts up posts about Israel and Palestine. She also continues to blog her sermons and theological writings at: http://agarmentofdestiny.blogspot.com/.
Loren was born July 14, 1953, in Bronxville, New York.
Loren is a member of Wellington Ave UCC, Chicago, IL. She was ordained by the Hampshire Association of Massachusetts in 2007. She has standing with the Minnesota Conference.
She represented Wellington Ave United Church of Christ on the Chicago Presbytery Middle East Task Force and the Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy. She is the founder and leader of Protest Chaplains of Chicago, a multi-faith group that offers area peace and justice groups a critical and protective presence. As part of this work, she also coordinates the Awake to Drones writing group.