About Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald

Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald served in parish ministry for nine years before being called into conference ministry as Area Minister for the Grand West Association in Michigan. She retired in 2023 from that position. Ruth served on the community board for Pilgrim Manor, then a United Church Homes community, and has been an active board member for the Fountain Hill Center for Counseling and Care, and Ele's Place--West Michigan (a healing center for grieving children and teens) all in Grand Rapids. Ruth has two grown children and three precious grandchildren. Travel, hiking, knitting, and reading fill her “spare” time.

Recent Blog Posts

Grace Through Technology

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  October 13, 2022

The dictionary defines “technology” like this:

Words of Hope

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  August 25, 2022

Frederick Buechner died this week. If I correspond with you in matters not related to my job, you’ll see that part of my “personal” signature is a quote from him...

A Hidden Passion Sparked

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  June 16, 2022

In 2008 I traveled to the border lands between Arizona and Mexico. This was a trip required for my graduation from seminary; an “intercultural immersion” experience...

Step by Step

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  May 12, 2022

One step at a time.

Art That Moves Us... To Our Knees

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  March 31, 2022

When I was young, I knew most of the nooks and crannies of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Our family attended a large, downtown church and sometimes on Sunday afternoons..

My Music Life List

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  February 24, 2022

Life Hymn-list One of the blessings of this pandemic time has been the regular schedule of meetings with the “circle” of folks who participate in writing this blog. We..

The Questions A Reader Asks

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  January 20, 2022

Illuminating books. We can read that phrase a couple of different ways. Are books, by their contents illuminating? Do they shed new understanding on life’s experiences..

Look Forward

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  December 16, 2021

When I entered seminary as a 45-year-old adult, I learned a new phrase: “Already, and not yet.” There are many ways that seminarians parse this phrase, but for me, it is..

A Change of Season

By Rev. Ruth D. Fitzgerald  •  October 07, 2021

I’m tired! Are you? I’m tired of this new paradigm that shapes our lives, this global pandemic. It seems that just about everything has been changed a bit in light of..