Warden pastor, author to speak about sin, faith

Kate Braestrup, chaplain for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's Warden Service, will speak at 2 p. m. Sunday at Reeds Mills Church in Madrid Township.

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MADRID TOWNSHIP — On Sunday, visitors to the Reeds Mills Church will meet a woman who believes that what once seemed lost forever can be found.

Fourteen years ago, Kate Braestrup, her husband Drew Griffith, and their four children under the age of 9, enjoyed a busy but peaceful existence in midcoast Maine. He was a Maine state trooper, and she was a writer and full-time mom. When Drew was killed in a 1996 car accident while on duty, her world was changed forever.

After months of struggling to move forward and embrace a new life, she decided to fulfill Drew's dream of becoming a minister after he retired. She questioned her own rationale for doing so.

"Anyone with any sense is going to ask a few questions before making a leap of faith," she said.

She took the leap and enrolled in Bangor Theological Seminary and was ordained in 2004. She was hired as the chaplain for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's Warden Service, only the second to serve in the position.

The Warden Service calls her when it is dealing with drownings, snowmobile accidents, search-and-rescue operations and other tragic events.

In March of 2008, Raymond Paine, 49, of Cornville drowned when his snowmobile went through the ice. Wardens recovered Paine's body and Sgt. Kevin Adam and Braestrup had the sad duty of notifying his family.

The job, she said, has been a test of her ability to relate to others whose emotions often remind her of those she experienced 14 years ago.

"It is helpful to have been through a similar event myself," Braestrup said. "Still, the wardens and citizens I work with have inspired and educated me about what it means to respond to loss with love."

The Lincolnville resident has remarried and written two books, "Marriage and Other Acts of Charity," and "Here If You Need Me." Both have been on The New York Times Best Seller List (www.katebraestrup.com). She also wrote about her life for the July issue of Guideposts Magazine.

At the 2 p.m. Sunday service in the 100-year-old church, Braestrup will use her trademark sense of humor as the guest minister.

"I'll be talking about sin," Braestrup said with a laugh. "That's always fun!"

The nondenominational church, originally called the Little Church in the Wildwood, has its own website, e-mail list and newsletter. For more information about services and events, visit www.reedsmillschurch.org.

For visitors traveling north on Route 4, continue 7 miles north beyond Edmunds Market in Phillips. Turn right onto the Reeds Mills Road in Madrid Township and travel another 5 miles to the church. Reeds Mills Road is approximately 15 miles south of downtown Rangeley.