Pastoral Services and Care

2/23/2025 UPDATE: It was announced that Pastor Lane retired for personal reasons, effective 2/22/2025.  This page will be updated as soon as a new pastor is assigned.

Meanwhile, Sunday Services will continue as normal. if you need Pastoral service during this time of transition, please reach out to Chris Ruch, Lay Leader. 

 

 

Pastoral Role At a Glance

The following are excerpts from this article: "Responsibilities and Duties of a United Methodist Pastor"

  • To embody the teachings of Jesus in servant ministries and servant leadership.
  • To give diligent pastoral leadership on ordering the life of the congregation for discipleship in the world.
  • To build the body of Christ as a caring and giving community, extending the ministry of Christ to the world.
  • To participate in community, ecumenical and inter-religious concerns and encourage the people to become so involved and to pray and labor for the unity of the Christian Community.

Pastoral and Leadership Responsibilities

Noted responsibilities and duties (subset from the article) are highlighted below. To accomplish a number of these the Pastor depends on the support of church leadership, committees, volunteers, Lay Leaders, and Lay Servants.

  1. Preaching the word of God, leading in worship, reading and teaching the Scriptures, and engaging others in study and witness
  2. Administering the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper -- and their meaning in life
  3. Accepting those who profess their faith into the church membership
  4. Performing funerals, burials, and memorial services 
  5. Performing marriages, including pre-marriage counseling
  6. Counseling persons with personal, ethical, or spiritual struggles
  7. Visiting in the homes of the church and community, especially among the sick, aged, and others in need -- including hospital visits and transportation for medical appointments when needed    
  8. In a leadership capacity, being the administrative officer of the church and to assure that the organizational concerns of the congregation are adequately provided for: equipping vital leadership, lay ministry, and congregations, ministry strategies and delivery, vision and strategy for the church as a whole, administration of the day-to-day affairs on the church and provisions in the Book of Discipline, and fulfill responsibilities to the District, Conference, and the connectional system as a whole