Andie Raynor’s
Reverence for Life

– By Melanie Cane –

The spirit drives Reverend Andie Raynor.

Born fifth out of six children in Cincinnati, Ohio, she graduated with honors from high school and then entered Denison University. She began as a pre-med student but finished with a B.A. in Religion. “I wanted to be in a helping profession,” she explained. “I just had to figure out what my gifts were and how I could best put them to use.” She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Denison and went on to Harvard Divinity School. “I had no intention of becoming a minister. I thought I would work in a secular role with an organization devoted to social justice issues such as world hunger or homelessness.”

During her second year at Harvard, while doing a field study at a Methodist church, she got goose bumps when she stood to read the “Call to Worship”. She knew her calling had found her, but she spent the next two years struggling to come to terms with what it meant for her life. While still in Divinity School, Raynor worked at the Pine Street Inn, a homeless shelter in Boston. This ignited her passion for crisis intervention, and contributed to her decision to accept a job in Elder Protective Services after graduating.

Raynor decided to pursue ordination because she knew she could no longer ignore that initial “goose bumpy” experience, or the conviction that more women were needed in the ministry. Since then, she has served churches in Westfield, Mass., Ridgefield, Conn., and Mamaroneck.

“I entered these churches with some trepidation. I was young, and didn’t exactly look the part. I found that people needed love and compassion, more than they needed some minister out of Central Casting. They needed inspiration when their faith was shaken, and an ear to listen when they were hurting.” Shortly after becoming ordained, Raynor returned to the secular realm, working at a day program for mentally ill homeless people on the upper West Side of New York, and volunteering at Mt. Sinai Hospital in their Rape Crisis Intervention Program.

Ultimately, she became a hospice chaplain, working as part of a team with nurses, social workers, and doctors, who help terminally ill patients die at home with peace and dignity. “My colleagues dealt with the part of the person that was declining, the body, but I had the unique privilege of focusing on the part that could still grow, the spirit.” As a hospice chaplain, she learned that the dying and their families needed someone who could accompany them on their journeys and be willing to “hold their brokenness and help adjust their hope.”

She and her husband Andrew, music teacher at Midland School, and their two children, Cat and Alex, moved to Rye in 2000. A year later, the community — and the world — was shaken by 9/11. Rye’s Bishop George Packard initiated her into service at Ground Zero, where she became a chaplain to the morgue, blessing the remains of the dead and offering support to the workers. When asked how she provided comfort to these people, especially those who wanted to know how God could let this happen, she said, “There are no easy answers. Most people needed someone who would listen to their stories and their pain.” As a result of her work there, her neighbor, Peter Cotter, Rye’s Volunteer Fire Chief, invited her to be the chaplain for the RFD, a position she still holds.

Five years later, she began to write about her experiences. In April 2007, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She began incorporating this new reality into her book, which became increasingly personal as she confronted her own mortality. She underwent four surgeries and 14 months of chemotherapy. “One of the worst parts of the chemo was losing my hair. Not because of vanity, but because it meant losing my anonymity and privacy. The path to life and health can be very challenging.”

A week after her final surgery, Simon and Schuster offered her a book contract. “The Voice That Calls You Home: Inspiration for the Journey”, her first book, will be released in October. “It’s a collection of essays, a spiritual memoir, about my experiences with the dying, my work at Ground Zero, and my cancer. Despite the topics, a stubborn affirmation of life prevails. Even in the most dire of circumstances, we still have the opportunity to recognize beauty, to be inspired by the tenacity of the human spirit, and to feel connected to something greater.” She hopes the book will provide “comfort and inspiration” to those who are searching, and a positive, affirming path toward understanding and accepting life’s darkest hours.

While Raynor is working on the early stages of book publicity and sketching out her next book, she’s also busy with her family, speaking engagements and the Fire Department. She offers her expertise to those in need of funeral services. It might seem a strange calling, but as she sees it, “Where there is death, there is life, and where there is life, there is the possibility of experiencing mystery.”