Beloved Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Sister, Aunt, Mentor & Friend
A letter from Link to Chip's EFM Friends and Family
Dear EFM Students, Mentors and Trainers, and Friends of Chip Mueller,
This letter is dedicated to the memory of Chip (as most of you knew her), Sara (her real name) and Wanda
(clown name), Mueller. After she left us on November 25, 2004 to join her many friends and companions in
heaven, her sisters, Dinah and Miranda, and I wanted to find way to preserve her memory in a manner that
best reflected who she was. A memorial fund has been established from donations from her students,
friends and family to assist new EFM students with the cost of the program. This fund, although not large,
will provide partial scholarships to EFM students in the Diocese of Southern Virginia, if needed.
Chip was passionate about many things. Two that really stand out in my memory are first her family, and
second her church, especially the Education for Ministry (EFM) Program. Chip had many talents. Some, in
my opinion, she was born with, and others she worked at. She was born with exuberance. She had a
passion for life that was unrestrained and irrepressible. Chip had an intrinsic desire to stay engaged with
the world. She was extroverted, talkative, and her love of life was marked by a copious abundance of joy,
energy, and a giggle that made everyone around her feel good. One could always tell when she entered a
room. You didn¹t have to see her because her laughter and giggle preceded her.
So with that kind of natural talent, what did she have to work at? First was group dynamics. When she
became Director of Adult Ministry at our church in 1980 she discovered that there were some problems you
just couldn¹t giggle away. To acquire skills needed to lead groups, deal with difficult situations, and
persuade unwilling people to do what she felt God was calling them to do; she embarked on a series of
leadership training programs in the early 1980¹s called MATC (Mid-Atlantic Association for Training and
Consulting). Each one focused on different leadership skills and when she completed the program, these
skills, when added to her natural exuberance, made her a mighty warrior of God indeed.
Second was EFM. Why EFM? She heard about EFM at one of the MATC events and decided to give it a try.
As in many of her forays into new things, I took it with her. As Adult Ministry Director at our church she soon
had three separate EFM groups enrolled. After completing the four years of EFM we both noticed, in
subsequent years that many of the graduates assumed leadership roles in our church and the diocese.
Chip also noticed that these same graduates were able to clearly articulate the connection between their
lives and their faith. She was convinced that this was due to Theological Reflection process. Not everyone
shared her enthusiasm for Theological Reflection but when she became a mentor of her own EFM group,
this was never a negotiable part of her EFM group¹s life. Chip would also encourage anyone exploring a
possible call to ordained ministry to take EFM. She believed this was important for two reasons. First to
increase their knowledge of the bible and second to enhance their ability to connect their lives with their faith
and articulate their calling to the various groups of people they would meet with during their discernment
process.
In the years that followed, Chip became the EFM Coordinator for our Diocese and served in that position for
12 years. In the mid 1990¹s she was invited by the EFM program director, The Rev. Ed deBarry to become an
EFM Mentor Trainer. After Chip mastered the Basic Mentor Training program she was invited to lead Mentor
Training in other areas such as Design Skills and Experiential Learning. Chip¹s work for the church was not
limited to EFM.
She was actively involved in many other programs such as Disciples of Christ in Community (DOCC),
Servant Leader Formation (in our diocese) and others. However, EFM was her primary love and discipline.
She continued her work as an EFM mentor and Mentor Trainer until her untimely death from Lung Cancer on
Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2004. A friend remarked at the service celebrating her life that Chip was
one of the few people who could observe two holidays at the same time, Thanksgiving and Easter.
