Mission Yearbook: Central Presbyterian Church says farewell to its pastor with music

The Rev. Dr. Louise Westfall

The Rev. Dr. Louise Westfall retired from parish ministry after 45 years of faithful service.

How did a congregation bid farewell to a beloved pastor?

In the case of Central Presbyterian Church, located two blocks north of the Capitol in Denver, it was by commissioning a cantata to be written and performed in her honor. The Rev. Dr. Louise Westfall, who recently retired from parish ministry after 45 years of faithful service, was not only the motivation for the composition, but also the subject of it. And, when it was sung during morning worship on Jan. 26 — her retirement Sunday — Westfall was singing alto in the choir, as she did each week.

A cantata was the brainchild of Westfall’s brother, Jack, a longtime Central member and a tenor in the choir, and was quickly advanced by Charis Smith, the church’s director of Music, when she observed composer M. Roger Holland II at an honors choir concert in which her daughter performed. Holland, associate professor of Music and Religion at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, was guest-conducting.

“I’ve been reluctant in the past about programming my own work,” Holland said. “But this particular evening, one of the five pieces I conducted was a spiritual that I had arranged.”

Both his music, and his work with the youth, made an impression on Smith, a professionally trained soprano with a long list of credits. She and Jack, who suggested most of the texts for the project, visited Holland in his office on the University of Denver campus. Then Smith and Central’s choir attended a concert Holland was conducting. The cantata was announced at the choir’s year-end party in May 2024, and the work began immediately.

Over the course of her career, Westfall served five churches — rural, urban and suburban — in Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Colorado. She loved and nurtured each of them, and they her, and they have all given generously to “This is the Day,” named in recognition of her favorite Scripture, Psalm 118:24. “This composition specifically honors Louise,” Jack Westfall said. “But it is intended to honor all ministers — those in my family, whose combined service totals over 125 years — and ministers around the world.”

The cantata, written in four parts, traces the trajectory of Westfall’s life, with each movement representing a season in it. Growing up on the eastern plains in Yuma, Colorado, where her father, Tom, was a second-career pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Westfall experienced the meaning of “beloved community” through her family and her church. She was brought under the care of the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks, where her father was a member, as she followed God’s claim on her life.

The cantata, which is about 20 minutes long, takes on the character of an African American spiritual for its finale. Holland, having worked across genres, came to the century-old Lamont School of Music, after graduating from Union Theological Seminary, to direct The Spirituals Project, dedicated to revitalizing and preserving the music created by enslaved persons in America in the 18th and 19th centuries. The genre is one of Westfall’s favorites.

Though she has retired from pastoral ministry, Westfall will continue to serve the church — within the Presbytery of Denver, as guest preacher when the opportunity arises, and on the Board of the National Ghost Ranch Foundation. She will complete her term on the board of the Colorado Trust, a health equity foundation located in Denver. She hopes for more visits to her son, Paul, his wife, Claire, and their two young children in the Washington, D.C., area.

“I rejoice in the creation of ‘This is the Day,’” Westfall said. “I am deeply grateful for my life in ministry and the God whose presence continues to grace every day.”

Sherry Hester Kenney for the Presbyterian Foundation Click here to read original PNS story)

Let us join in prayer for:

• Ruth Gardner, Vice President & Director, Human Resources, Administrative Services Group (A Corp) 
• Shelley Gardner, Chaplain, Board of National Mission, Presbyterian Foundation  

Let us pray:

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of true friends in faith. Open us to the connections you would put in our paths and make us ready to glorify you in all we do. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.