St. John’s UCC Announces Death of Longtime Rev. Sue Bertolette

Tony Di Domizio | North Penn Now•

Rev. Dr. Sue Bertolette, a beloved and pious community leader who retired this year from leading St. John’s United Church of Christ in Lansdale, passed away Thursday at age 66 after a long battle with cancer, according to Manna on Main Street and the church.

St. John’s UCC Associate Pastor Rev. Adelaide Stong wrote on the church’s website:

Beloved St. John’s members and friends,

It is with deep, deep sadness that I write to you to let you know of the passing of our beloved Rev. Sue Bertolette. Early this morning, surrounded by loved ones and covered by the prayers of many, she entered into eternal rest and fullness of life, held, body and soul, in the loving hands of the one who created her.

Manna on Main Street Board of Directors Chair Bruce Michelson wrote a Facebook post Thursday in memory of Bertolette:

At Manna on Main Street, we are heartbroken by the passing of Rev. Sue Bertolette. Manna was founded at St. John’s UCC in 1981, one year into Rev. Sue’s tenure as a pastor there, and for the subsequent 41 years she has been a great friend and tireless ambassador for Manna and our neighbors in need in the greater North Penn community.

Bertolette had been with St. John’s UCC for 42 years, coming on board as an associate pastor in June 1980. Bertolette was also a local religion columnist in The Reporter for 18 years. Read her last column here.

Near the end of her column, Bertolette summed up how relieving our heaviest burdens — our thoughts we cannot let go of — can bring peace of mind.

“At some point in our lives, we must all confront the chains that bind us and others,” she wrote. “(They) prevent us from being all that God created us to be and from all that God created us to do.”

Stong said their church community had been journeying with Bertolette throughout her cancer ordeal and her time on hospice.

“The loss is still great and the sadness profound,” Stong wrote. “Rev. Sue held you, the members and friends of St. John’s, close to her heart.”

Stong encouraged her brethren with a post on St. John’s UCC’s Facebook page:

“My friends, hope in God’s promises is what sustained Rev. Sue until the end and what she gracefully and faithfully stepped into as her body left us this morning. It is that same hope and those same promises that we cling to now, knowing that we do not do so alone and, as Rev. Sue always said, ‘trusting that God has hands large enough and strong enough to hold each one of us.’ May it be so as we grieve and remember.”

Those who wish to pay respects to Bertolette can do so Thursday, Aug. 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at St. John’s UCC, 500 W. Main St., Lansdale, and again on the morning of Friday, Aug. 12 from 9 to 10:30. A memorial service begins at 11 a.m. in the church sanctuary.

“Beloved as Sue was, the crowd gathering at the church will be quite large,” Stong wrote on the website post.

Bertolette leaves behind her husband of 45 years, Robert G. Bertolette Jr.; a son, John, and his wife Kelly; a daughter, Jenny, and her husband Ryan Young; and grandchildren Ruby and Levi Young.

Within four years of pastoral leadership at St. John’s UCC, Bertolette was bestowed Outstanding Young Religious Leader by the Lansdale Jaycees. Bertolette received her Doctor of Ministry degree at Lancaster Theological Seminary in 1993 and was elected Senior Pastor upon retirement of Rev. John W. Touchberry in 1999.

Bertolette has always been, and remains, committed to her community. She has worked to help secure emergency aid for those in need in conjunction with Manna on Main Street — which had its beginnings shortly after she joined St. John's, serving meals in the basement 40 years ago. And she has served as chaplain for North Penn Visiting Nurse Association Hospice, which she co-founded more than 25 years ago.

St. John’s UCC’s Senior Pastor Search Committee announced an interim pastor will serve alongside Stong, until a new permanent pastor is chosen and installed. St. John’s UCC will also welcome guest pastors, according to its website.