She was born with severe scoliosis (curvature of the spine). The 33 vertebrae (joints) of her backbone grew in a curve, a condition which could severely damage the spinal cord running up the center.

At age 7, in her first operation, surgeons scraped bone matter from her hip, placing it between some of the joints to fuse them. When 11, the second procedure fused the rest of the vertebrae and strengthened them with a steel rod placed inside.

In June 2008, Kristen Richardson-Frick became St. Paul’s United Methodist Church’s second lady minister. Though short, she is truly pretty and personable, relishing life with her husband, John Frick, and son, John Edward.

The challenges she faced in youth consumed years and brought worries. But certain blessings always helped overcome them. Her parents, Ed and Reve, (pronounced reevay) Richardson gave their unending support to her health.

Ed, the son of a Methodist minister, took part in every activity the Lexington United Methodist Church offered and saw to it that Kristen became involved in many. One was a citywide youth scavenger hunt that brought in trucks and trucks of food for the hungry.

Accepting 4 feet 6 inches

“There were always challenges to my self-confidence,” she remembers. “Because my spine would grow no more, I had to accept 4 feet 6 as my maximum, and this brought disappointments. I could not go the malls with my girl friends to shop, or take part in all the fun they had talking about clothes.

The year, 13, before I started middle school, became a very difficult time.

“Compensation came from being in the School Academic Bowl, a quiz, and competing in fifth, sixth and seventh grade public speech contests. Also, I edited the Lexington Middle School’s newspaper.

“Then I was appointed to be Junior High Representative to the Methodist District Youth Council, which led to lots of meetings, outings and youth retreats. Going through Lexington High School, I became more and more involved in the youth ministry and during my senior year served as chairperson of the entire S.C. Methodist Conference on Youth Ministry. In these activities, I kept feeling myself working closer to God.”

A great experience

A huge change came in 1993: Wofford College!

Feeling grown-up, Kristen reveled in new and more sophisticated friends and the professors. Joining the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority brought even closer friends and adventures.

“I never dated,” she says. “I don’t know whether my good scholastic marks or limited frame caused this, but all the college clubs and organizations kept life full and interesting.

“One of the greatest experiences came in September of 1995 when I studied advanced French at the University of Rennes for a semester. I lived with a French family, the Mullers, who had four children including a 19-year-old daughter. Her mother, my ‘mother’, fully lived up to the legend of that country’s cuisine, all so tasty that I may have eaten cow tongue and savored it. Several weekends in Paris added more excitement and glamour.”

Growing up under the care of a number of doctors, Kristin came to love biology, finishing Wofford in 1997 with a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in French.

“I planned to start the S.C. Medical College that autumn,” she says. “But just a month before graduation, I experienced a life-changing moment. One morning, while working in the Wofford Foreign Language Department, I had a phone call about an apartment rental in Charleston and suddenly realized that this was not the right course for me. It felt as though I was walking in a dark tunnel with no light at the end; that if I went to medical school, it would not end well and that there had to be another purpose for my life.”

At last! Ministerial school

“My parents didn’t argue against my withdrawing. Moving back home, I worked at a children’s clothing store in Columbia called, “Limited Two” and soon became involved in my church as an assistant youth counselor. The associate pastor, a woman, began taking me under her wing, offering good advice as I tried to find what I should do with my life. Then, in several months, I realized a call into the ministry. My acceptance to the Duke University Divinity School came for the fall of 1998.

“Once enmeshed in the courses and activities there (Blessing of the Animals, Holy Week), I felt a peace and purpose never felt before. Just after graduation. I became associate pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in North Augusta. Another year and I was serving pastor at Wagener Methodist Church. The beautiful, smaller city gave my days a slower pace, and an opportunity for more social life. I met John Frick, a musician from Blythewood, and we began dating, my first serious courtship. His talent had made him first trumpeter in the well-known Second Natures. Every Thursday, he took me to The Vista on Gervais in Columbia for concerts by popular bands: the Catalinas, Tokyo Joe and Men of Distinction. We must have shagged a hundred times to “60 Minute Man” and “Carolina Girls.” Also a Methodist, John was part-time music director for the Beulah (his home) and Oak Grove Methodist churches in Blythewood.

“Five and a half months later we married in the beautiful Duke Memorial Chapel with 45 of our closest friends and family present. Another dear friend, Bishop Will Willimon, performed the service.

“During the six years in Wagener, I added another church, the Swansea United to my ministry. John became its music director. Our son, John Edward Frick, the sixth John Frick in a row, came in 2005.

“My appointment to St. Paul’s here came in June. John became Church Musician at St. Andrews.

Besides interesting new friends, Orangeburg has given us many things we like, particularly access to every kind of store, restaurant and recreation. We love walking in Edisto Gardens while young John feeds the ducks and geese. All the fast food restaurants are a pleasure because I don’t have much time for cooking and John is not kitchen oriented. Prepared dishes that we can heat are such a help.”

The Bluebird shows have become another favorite.

“We laughed straight through “Moon Over Buffalo.”

All these wonderful things have brought us a happiness we hope to share with all our church’s members in the future.

Retired editor and public relations executive Thomas Langford’s column is titled “Some Edisto stories.” Let him know if you have stories to share: 803-534-2097.

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