North Branch pastor gets big welcome home Sunday

By Greg Hunt
A man who has served his church well over his tenure at the North Branch United Methodist Church was given a warm welcome-home after serving his country with the U. S. Navy and Marines the past eight months.
Rev. Chris Kneen arrived in North Branch with his father, Jim Kneen, Sunday afternoon, Sept. 14, after the two drove from Camp Le Juene in North Carolina the prior two days. Kneen was stationed there as a Navy Reserve pastor, counseling and offering services to the Reservists who were also stationed at the base, along with those who were shipping overseas. As the familyís Blazer was nearing downtown North Branch, a large crowd of church folk was assembling in the park, ready to welcome back the Navy pastor.
ìI was totally surprised by this reception, overwhelmed in a very nice way,î said Rev. Kneen about an hour into the welcome-home party. ìIím so thankful to be able to see everybody. It was a wonderful surprise.
ìOne of the things I was thinking taking this all in was how rich I feelñmy family, my church, the town, everything,î said Rev. Kneen. ìI think a lot of the Marines and Navy sailors who I work with donít have all of this. How do you spread this around? How do you bless them with just a portion of what I have? So that was part of the challenge when I was down there was how to help them get some of this because this is so cool.î
The North Branch United Methodist Church jumped on a couple of missions for Camp Le Juene in conjunction with Kneenís military service there. One was the birthday cake mission where church members collected cake mixes, cans of frosting and money so Rev. Kneen was able to have a cake and a card for the Marines he was stationed with, along with him getting a photo of the soldier with the commanding officer, so a birthday wouldnít be forgotten. The church also had a lending library sent down to North Carolina after collecting books, many of which were sent overseas.
ìMy service in North Carolina went very well,î said Rev. Kneen. ìThe big thing we were very aware of when we were leaving the base was that this is still going on. Soldiers and airmen and marines and sailors are still making sacrifices. Itís hard to see it here clearly in the Midwest, but there you see all the equipment and all the people being massed, so this is still going on. They are telling us, ëkeep your bags packedí because this isnít over. But it has been a privilege to serve.î
Kneen is still under full-time orders until January 2004; he will be working with the Naval Reserve during that time out of Fort Snelling.
Cathy Carchedi, a member of the North Branch United Methodist who helped organize the welcome-home event, was pleased that the day worked out great for the pastor of her church.
ìEveryone just jumped right in to help out,î she said.
During the welcome home, a parishioner came up to Rev. Kneenís wife, Sue, and thanked her for letting Chris serve the country. Sue confided to a family member that she is so excited to have another pair of hands back in the house to help raise their four daughters.
ìI always knew single parents had it tough, but these last months really gave me much more awareness to how tough it really is, just keeping up with the daily schedule,î she said.
When Sue was asked what the plans were for the Kneen family that evening after the park celebration ended, she said ìI think we will just go out to eat and catch some of the Vikings game.î
To a Minnesotan gone for several months, those had to be pretty cozy welcome-home plans, as well.

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