Ministry spans 25 years
by Rhonda Dedyne
As Pastor Jeffrey Heimsoth prepares to leave the congregation he was called to serve 25 years, one constant remains sure and true in a sea of change – God’s steady guidance for His people at St. Peter Lutheran Church-Riley.
“It’s been a process of growth for me and for this congregation during the past 25 years, and God continues to have great dreams for all of us,” St. Peter’s earthly shepherd says, reflecting on a quarter-century of service that began with his installation service July 12, 1987. “It’s good to celebrate what God has done here in this place, look back on all the ways that He has blessed us, and understand that what God wants is bigger and better than we can imagine.”
St. Peter members invite community residents to join with them in their celebration of God’s blessings at Pastor Heimsoth’s Farewell Open House on Sunday, July 15. Pastor Heimsoth and his wife, Nancy, and their family will visit with friends and acquaintances from 3 to 5 p.m., at St. Peter Fellowship Center, located at 8990 Church Road, two miles west of Francis Road.
Those friends along with St. Peter members will undoubtedly recall many happy – and some sad – events during Pastor Heimsoth’s tenure.
“There are all the ‘official’ duties of a pastor – baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals – each reminds us that God wants us to live life and look forward, even in death, without fear.”
Looking back on his years and all those events at St. Peter, the now veteran pastor recalls with wry humor the “young guy” who arrived at the rural congregation in mid-Michigan direct from St. Louis Seminary in his native state of Missouri.
“There was a pastoral vacancy here, and the congregation at that time issued a divine call to a seminary candidate – not a specific individual. I remember telling one of my professors, Dr. Francis Rossow who was originally from Fowler, that I had been called to St. Peter Lutheran Church- Riley, St. Johns, and that I was going to St. Johns. He looked at me and said, ‘No – you’re going to Riley.’ He was right about that.”
As God ordained in that call, St. Peter-Riley was “the absolute right place” for the Heimsoth family, the pastor says.
“I know that God prepared me to serve in this particular place at that beginning point in my pastoral ministry. I grew up in a rural area much like Clinton County; spent time in Chicago during years at Concordia College, River Forest; and taught high school math for three years in the Washington D.C. area before entering the seminary in St. Louis to become a pastor. Those stops in urban areas along the way here to St. Peter allowed me to see what we could be here – not be fearful of change, and at the same time respect the long, rich history of this congregation.”
Just as St. Peter’s founders in 1869 understood, change is inevitable for the growth and development of the Church Body – but it does not always come easily.
“One of the biggest challenges that established congregations face is fear of how newcomers may change their identity,” Pastor Heimsoth says. “The good thing is St. Peter members realized it was the history of standing firm in the faith that drew people here – they wanted to be part of a place like this and its ministry.”
Physical changes to St. Peter are also part of Pastor Heimsoth’s 25 years of service. Construction of St. Peter Fellowship Center in 1997 included a gym/dining room that provided a more spacious area for congregation and community activities, and also classrooms for St. Peter Preschool that enrolled its first students the same year.
“We started with eight little ones, and have continued to grow to more than 20 students today,” Pastor Heimsoth says, adding that the addition in 2003 of the education and office wing connected to the Fellowship Center has been beneficial in the long-standing ministry of St. Peter Lutheran School that’s served congregation and community members since its first class graduated in 1942.
He’s quick to point out that others, not himself, are deserving of praise for St. Peter’s progress. “This is not about me or what I’ve done. The heart of ministry is people following God’s direction.”
At this moment in time, His direction is leading Pastor Heimsoth to another congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church in Monroe.
“St. Peter has been such a blessing to me and our entire family, but God’s plans for this place don’t include me – for St. Peter to continue to grow, I have to go,” he says with a twinge of sadness and some apprehension. “I was placed here by God – and I love these people – but I believe He wants me to be His voice at Trinity. It’s exciting to think about what He has planned for me there, as well as the congregation here at St. Peter – and a little scary – but I trust God’s plan. I know we are all held safely in His arms.”