Rev. Dr. Shelly Petz's book, "Meet You at Nine," was published in April. Rev. Michael Tomson-DeGreeff's book, "Stepping Stones," was published in March. (Contributed photos)
Great Plains Conference | July 29, 2026
Friends since they were in seminary, Rev. Dr. Shelly Petz and Rev. Michael Tomson-DeGreeff were both inspired to publish books at about the same time and became each other’s cheerleaders during the process.
“We've both been working on them for a long time,” said Petz, clergy faith and wellness coordinator for the Great Plains Conference. “We both had books on our computers, and we were a part of a book club together, and I said, ‘Hey, I think I want to write this book that I've had on my computer.’
“Then Michael said, ‘I’ve got one on mine too!'” she said of Tomson-DeGreeff, senior pastor of Topeka Countryside United Methodist Church. “He then actually got his to publication first, and I wondered, well, wait, if he could get into publication, why can't I? And so, It was just a really great kind of back-and- forth, supportive piece, throughout it all.”
Petz’s book, “Meet You at Nine," was the result of six years of reflection from 2012 to 2018.
“It's my own journal writings about my time and meetings with God every day at 9 a.m. God had invited me originally just for a season to meet every day at 9, and so I didn't know what would come or how that would unfold,” she said. “But I entered into it with openness and expectedness, and every day, God met me. I began writing about those experiences and what it meant for my life, and how it has shaped my life, and how it's continued over the years.
Petz said she initially didn’t realize the significance of 9 a.m.
“Over the years, I learned more and more about things in the Bible that happened at 9 a.m. that I was fascinated to learn about later,” she said. “It's also called the third hour. The third hour is when Jesus was nailed to the cross. (It’s) when the daily temple offering occurred, you can read about it in Exodus 29 and Numbers 28. The day of Pentecost, some may remember that's when the Holy Spirit was unleashed in Acts 2, and it was a traditional time for prayer that we can read about in Acts 3. And there are some other ones.
“When I've been a part of different monastic communities, one of the times of they often meet for daily prayer is at 9 a.m. And so, I found after I began this time of prayer that it has been a traditional time of prayer throughout many centuries. That was very intriguing to me,” she added.
Tomson-DeGreeff’s “Stepping Stones: Finding and Following the Way Which Leads to Life” began as a project he undertook while on renewal leave in 2013.
“Stepping Stones” is a collection of 25 brief essays in seven themes: wonder, gratitude, community, prayer, justice, forgiveness and service.
“Basically, it's a collection of wisdom from many spiritual religious traditions,” he said. “I've done a lot of study and reading over about 25 years before I wrote the book. It was just part of my spiritual journey. When I was on renewal leave, I had time where I could really review my favorite writings and scriptures and traditions. And I was able to see some connections and some themes, and so I called those the seven stepping stones.
“It's an amalgamation of scriptures and teachings and wisdom, my own thoughts just kind of blended together,” Tomson-DeGreeff added. “It's rooted in Christianity, but it also transcends that I think of it more in terms of mysticism -- that there's a deep connection just to being human and our relationship with God.”
After Tomson-DeGreeff wrote “Stepping Stones” and adapted it into a sermon series in 2015 when he was pastor at Wamego UMC, “I just put it away and ignored it,” he said. “I made copies for the congregation.”
It was while Tomson-DeGreeff and Petz were in an online book club discussing “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron that both were inspired.
“The point of 'The Artist's Way' is encouraging you to use your creative gifts that God's given you and basically, to stop making excuses, to take a deep dive and deal with your fears and your insecurities. It invites us to ask why we hold ourselves back, and why don't we use our talents and our creativity, and what are all the reasons we give for not doing it,” Tomson-DeGreeff said.
“And so it was really like a safe, graceful space where we were encouraging each other to use our gifts, and so there was a lot of fruit that came out of that,” he added.
Tomson-DeGreeff is preaching a sermon series this fall at his church about “Stepping Stones,” with an accompanying small group study of the essays, answering the questions he asks in each chapter. He is making it available to any church who is interested.
Rev. Dr. Shelly Petz discusses her book, "Meet You at Nine" and embodied spirituality with Rev. Dr. Richard Randolph, retired elder and founder of the Science & Spirituality Institute on his podcast.
Petz said she is considering material related to “Meet You at Nine” for discussions and studies, and that it is already the subject of a book club.
“When I wrote it, my agreement with God was that I will write this, and you take care of the rest because I thought that was going to be it,” she said. “But it's been really fascinating to me to have conversations unfold since it was written, and to see that conversations about meeting with God have people very curious about it. So I've had incredible one-on-one conversations.
“I never imagined I’d talk about meeting with God,” Petz added. “I think there is a deep curiosity about that to be able to share experiences of where does God show up? I am open to any experiences that can talk about that. To be able to talk about that with other clergy and laity, and anybody who's interested is absolutely a part of my interest.”
Tomson-DeGreeff and Petz attended Saint Paul School of Theology at the same time, he receiving his Master of Divinity degree in 2003, she in 2002. He was also her pastor at Hutchinson Trinity UMC from 2020 to 2024.
“Our lives have crossed paths many times in different ways, and that's such a gift and a blessing,” Tomson-DeGreeff said.
“We’ve just had some wonderful, special connections over the years that have kept us in touch,” she said.
David Burke
David Burke is a content specialist with the Great Plains Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. This article is republished with permission from the conference website.
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