GRANTSBURG—Even with only three Sundays under her belt, Carolyn Saunders, the new pastor at Central United Methodist Church in Grantsburg and Atlas United Methodist Church in Atlas, is already starting to feel at home.

"I love it, it is wonderful," she said of her new churches. "Grantsburg is bigger and has a different personality, it offers a lot of variety."

Atlas, on the other hand, is a smaller congregation, which has its own rewards.

"It's very easy to serve these two churches," she said. With a 9 a.m. worship service in Grantsburg and an 11 a.m. service in Atlas, she even has a little time for coffee and fellowship at Grantsburg before heading to Atlas.

"I see a high level of commitment and a strong base of volunteerism in these churches," Saunders pointed out." They are not self-focused but participate in out-reach programs, strive to stay involved in the community."

The motto of the United Methodist Church is "Open hearts, open minds, open doors."

"Both churches embrace that motto," she said. "It's a nice place to be."

Saunders, who is single and lives with her three cats, got the calling to the church in the mid-1970s after her mother died.

She was a school teacher in Rice Lake at the time.

"My kids were asking about my mom's death. It was the first time a lot of them had to deal with a death," she recalled.

"In answering their questions, it soon became apparent I was being called to teach more than curriculum — to teach life experiences," Saunders continued.

She said her pastor at the time asked if she had interest in serving the church.

In 1978 she entered the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and graduated in 1981.

"My first appointment was at Osceola and Dresser so coming here feels like I'm coming home," she said with a smile.

In the Methodist Church, appointments by the bishop are directed by the "gifts and graces" of each particular pastor and what the church or churches need from their pastor.

Her second appointment was in Schullsburg, in southern Wisconsin.

Because her experience has been in small town ministry, serving two churches is nothing new to Saunders.

Her third appointment, at Christ United Methodist Church in Merrill and the Wildwood Chapel in the country, helped prepare her for her new role.

"It's a very similar situation," she said. "I had the good fortune to serve in Merrill for 14 years."

A typical appointment is six to eight years.

"I say good fortune because with that kind of time, it allowed me to establish good relationships," she added. "It also allowed me the time, not only to get programs started, it allowed me to see them through."