Kathe Rhinesmith

We are excited about these three distinguished members contributing to that commitment substantially", Board Chairman Kathe Rhinesmith of Chatham commented.

Board Service More Than Just Volunteerism For Chatham's Rhinesmith
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Kathe RhinesmithChatham's Kathe Rhinesmith, who is stepping down as chairman of the board of Hospice and Palliative Care of Cape Cod.
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For Kathe Rhinesmith of Chatham, it's 20 minutes of Centering Prayer.

"It's a discipline like any in your life, and it has really meant a lot to me," Rhinesmith says."The fruit of the prayers is not in the prayers but in daily life."

Rhinesmith is sitting in the open-plan first floor of the house she moved into two weeks earlier.The weather is foggy, moody, and a man in yellow foul weather gear is quahogging in Oyster Pond, just below the window.Over to the right is Chatham's skyline, with its three prominent church steeples.The steeple on the left belongs to Rhinesmith's church, The First Congregational Church of Chatham-the place where, eight years ago, she founded a weekly group that practices Centering Prayer every Thursday.

Centering Prayer, a form of contemplative prayer, differs from other prayer in that it involves "20 minutes of silence.You're not trying to get your agenda out there," Rhinesmith says.

Rhinesmith and her husband, Steve, are both the children of Methodist ministers.
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I looked around to see what I wanted to become involved in," Rhinesmith says.After many years of working in education and business, Rhinesmith had developed the kinds of skills that make her an excellent administrator.She serves on the pastoral relations committee of her church; and she serves on the board of the Creative Arts Center on Crowell Road.In 1999 she joined the board of Hospice and Palliative Care of Cape Cod (HPCCC).Her chairmanship ended this month.

Melissa Weidman, HPCCC communications director, called Rhinesmith an "exemplary" chair.
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Under Rhinesmith's leadership the board developed and put into effect a new strategic plan.

A few years ago a friend of Rhinesmith went into hospice care at HPCCC.HPCCC was founded in 1981 and is now, 25 years later, the oldest non-profit hospice providing end-of-life care on Cape Cod.HPCCC serves 120 patients a day in their homes, nursing homes or in the Mary McCarthy Hospice House in Sandwich.In 2000, HPCCC dedicated the facility which was designed by award-winning architect Grattan Gill.The airy, 10-bedroom building emphasizes light and space through its many windows, skylights and balconies.

"Little did I think, when I was at the groundbreaking, that my father would be a patient there," Rhinesmith says.The Rev. Law died in 2002.

Rhinesmith grew up as an only child on Long Island and in Connecticut, where her father had churches.After graduating from high school in Fairfield, Conn., she studied at Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware, Ohio, where she took a degree in 1964 in politics and government.She has a particular love of music, and became so skilled at the organ that she was able to play in church during college summers.