Pastor shaves head as a reminder to pray for sick parishioner
5/12/1998 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. NOTE: Kaye's last name is withheld by request. UMNS is trying to obtain a photograph of the Rev. Scott Mendez-Andrews. By Robert Lear* As the Rev. Scott Mendez-Andrews travels about his three-point parish in the southwestern corner of North Dakota, his glistening, freshly shaved head is a call to prayer.
About 500 miles away across the Black Hills, in a Denver clinic, a parishioner lies in isolation seeking new strength in a yearlong battle with cancer.
In early May, Mendez-Andrews said goodbye to Kaye with prayers and a hug. A woman in her 40s, she and her husband are continuing a fight that once held some promise of success but now calls for renewed effort.
That same afternoon, the pastor found a news clipping he had saved telling how a class of fourth-grade boys had shaved their heads to show support for a classmate who lost his hair during successful chemotherapy treatments for cancer.
"As I explained to the three churches I serve, until Kaye comes home I will not have any hair on my head," Mendez-Andrews said. With that, his light brown hair was shaved off.
The action, he said, has two goals: "First, to remind myself to pray for Kaye; second, to remind others to pray for her as well."
The response was overwhelming, he said. Some of the parishioners were in tears on the Sunday when he announced his plan.
Within a week, "some amazing things had happened," he said. Now, all three congregations in his parish "have rallied around on their own." His parish comprises Hettinger United Methodist Church, which Kaye attends, Hettinger United Church of Christ and Reeder United Church of Christ. The churches range in size from 26 to 87 members.
One church has organized a pancake supper with a goal of raising at least $1,500 to help offset medical expenses. A local bank has begun taking other donations.
A Sunday School class determined that the pastor's shining pate could be rubbed for a donation of $100 -- an offer not yet taken up in Hettinger, population 1,500.
"People on the street have started to say to me, 'I prayed for Kaye today,' " Mendez-Andrews said. "I had no idea that such a simple thing could have such an impact."
There has been little negative reaction. "My wife doesn't like me with a shaved head, but she understands why I did it." His 2-year-old daughter wasn't impressed, either.
How long will Mendez-Andrews keep his head shaved?
"Until the end of the summer when Kaye comes home," he said. Even if the treatments are not successful, he added, "she still will come home."
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*Lear is a retired staff member of United Methodist News Service residing in Wernersville, Pa.
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