Frog Preacher: New Waterman pastor uses frogs to teach others

Sandi Graber is the new pastor at Waterman Presbyterian Church in Waterman. (Beck Diefenbach – bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com)

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On a corner shelf in the Rev. Sandi Graber’s office sits a group of green creatures, eyes gazing at whoever enters the room.

Graber has been known at different parishes she’s worked at as the “Frog Preacher” because she keeps an endless supply of fake frogs for people to take if they need to be comforted. She was inspired to do this by a magazine article she read about a man who was anonymously given a ceramic frog as he recovered from surgery. A note tied around the frog read “Fully Rely On God.”

This message hits home with Graber as she begins her new role as pastor of Waterman Presbyterian Church – while also recovering from her own hip replacement surgery. Graber has changed denominations over the past few years, and her name was on a “pulpit supply” list with area Presbyterian churches – meaning she would be called to preach at churches on a temporary basis until she landed a permanent position.

Graber, who lives in Rochelle with her husband, Sam, was asked to fill in at the Waterman church in December. Within a few weeks, that call had grown as the congregation asked her to stay on.

Graber explained that the Presbyterian denomination works by the call system, where congregations search out and select their pastors. Her former denomination, which she declined to identify, worked by an appointment system, where church authorities assign pastors to churches.

“This was a whole new experience for me and it was very affirming to have the people have a voice,” Graber said. She said that as the call grew stronger, she prayed, asking God to land her where she was supposed to be.

“Within weeks, my heart decided this is probably where I’m supposed to be,” she said.

But it isn’t where Graber has always been.

About 15 years ago, she began her role in ministry, first as laity staff and then as a pastor. But when she looks back, she has been doing ministry her whole life, she said.

One stepping stone was when she worked for the Department of Children and Family Services for Ogle, Lee and DeKalb counties.

Though she accepted God’s call to be a pastor later in life, she said that others saw it in her before she saw it herself.

When she called a close friend affirming that she had “said ‘yes’ to God,” her friend responded: “I always knew it Graber, it just took you a while to figure it out.”

And she still is figuring out the right path, which she said is a very natural process of one’s faith.

Even when she was between denominations and without a church to call home, “people never stopped turning to me as a pastor,” Graber said, whether it was making visits to hospitals or to people’s homes.

“The fact that God kept opening doors, every time I saw a door or a window, I crawled through and just trusted he was on the other side of it, making the arrangements,” she said.

She accepted the call from Waterman Presbyterian because she felt comfortable “from day one.”

In March, the paperwork was finalized. She used a walker to proceed down the aisle of Belvidere Presbyterian Church, where she was commissioned two weeks after her surgery. And on May 17, a special worship celebration was held at Waterman Presbyterian to welcome the Frog Preacher.

“There were frogs all over,” Graber said. Even the cakes were decorated to that effect.

Graber, who has three grown sons and two grandsons, said her faith started when her parents took her to church and to Sunday school. Church has always been a familiar place, and she said she can walk into any church and worship there.

“Faith changes as we change,” she said. “I don’t ever expect to be done or arrived at a point where my faith has reached its peak.

“It changes over a lifetime.”

Know more

Waterman Presbyterian Church

250 N. Cedar St., Waterman

815-264-3491

www.watermanpres.com