Laurie Bosman
Laurie and her husband, Ruud, moved to Newport in the fall of 2022 after selling their home on Warwick Neck. Shortly thereafter Laurie had the good fortune of meeting Della at a social gathering and being introduced to Emmanuel.
Raised in a devout Catholic home, from a young age Laurie had difficulty reconciling her Christian beliefs with Church dogma. Born a quiet “Why” child always put her at odds with the nuns, priests and ultimately the community. This led to her leaving the Church. This was a huge decision because it was considered
excommunication and, as such, created an “othering” which shaped much of her adult life. Throughout her adult life she has considered herself spiritual, but not religious. The Emmanuel Episcopal Church felt familiar in its physical structure and liturgy but delightfully unfamiliar in its practice of the values Laurie espouses.
Laurie is a wife, mother, adoptive parent from the Rhode Island foster care system and a grandmother of two delightful young adults. She practiced law in Massachusetts (commercial real estate) and Rhode Island (general
practice) and spent a year as Counsel (contracts) for a New Jersey corporation. She has served on the Board of the Wheeler School in Providence and Adoption Rhode Island, as a CASA volunteer in New Jersey, and as President of the Weavers Guild of Rhode Island. She lived and worked in England throughout her 20’s. She is also a Veriditas trained Labyrinth facilitator.
She has thoroughly enjoyed her years of retirement pursuing her love of reading, fiber arts, cooking and the outdoors. She and Ruud have spent much of the last 14 years living aboard their sailboat, Blue Pearl. In 2018 and 2019, they joined the World ARC rally and sailed Blue Pearl around the world, an adventure that opened
her to the beauty and fragility of the earth, the similarities and differences of peoples around the world and the presence of God in each and every moment when one lives simply and close to nature. Laurie and Ruud plan
to spend their time between Newport and northern Florida where they are renovating a home.
Laurie has gained a lot from her quiet involvement with Emmanuel Church. She is especially drawn to Emmanuel’s presence in the community. In a country such as ours, she believes that everyone should have access to safe housing, healthy
food, medical care and the ability to live, love and believe as they choose. Her only condition would be that one’s beliefs be expressed with kindness and respect for differences. As a life-long learner, she would love to expand her knowledge of religion and Scripture. Her current “project” is a study of the women mystics.
