I first heard my call to ministry in the Spring of 1972 as a freshman in High School. I promptly ignored it because I didn’t believe I would like it. Then I was sitting in the Choir of my home church, Grand Rapids: Aldersgate UMC via Westgate UMC, listening to my Pastor do a sermon on the Lord’s Prayer and I got struck on the phrase, “Thy will be done.” It was at that moment that I remembered the call from nine years before and decided I needed to “check it out”. I thought if I had misunderstood or God had a different purpose for me, there were enough checks and balances in the process, and I’d get bumped out.
There were challenges, but I kept moving on and the District and Annual Conference let me. Often by the skin of my teeth and sometimes causing me to wonder, but I just kept on “checking it out”. A process I am continuing forty-four years later.
I was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Ammons in 1983 and as an Elder by Bishop Craig in 1886. I graduated from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1984 with my Master of Divinity and received my Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from McCormick Theological Seminary in 2001. I began as an Associate Pastor, and I am concluding this stage of my career as the Lead Pastor. I have had eleven appointments in Michigan and Virginia serving a total of fifteen congregations. I have worked with clergy colleagues and talented laity. Each church offering challenges, frustrations, and satisfactions for which I am grateful. It has not always been an easy road, and I have had losses along the way, but I can also count the gifts God has provided me in the relationships I have enjoyed.
I don’t know exactly what lies ahead for me, but I still have a call and I will continue to “check it out.”
Appointment History
[(FE) D 1983; FE 1986] Mason: First (Assoc) 1984; Frankfort, Elberta 4/1/1989; Cassopolis 1993; Lake Odessa: Central 2000; Battle Creek: First 2007; Medical Leave 2/1/2009; Elsie (¾) 2013; Elsie, Salem 5/1/2014; Leave Of Absence 2016; Virginia Conference, Bruen Chapel 2019; Ypsilanti: First 2021; Mt Pleasant: First 2023.