Methodist Church gets new Pastor

 

July 7, 2021

Reverand Doctor Susan King

The United Methodist Church did not win a monetary lottery; no, we won the lottery of "who we got for a pastor"! As all churches can admit, waiting to find out what your new pastor will be like is a very anxious time. We have met our new pastor, the Reverend Doctor Susan King. She has asked us to call her Sue and has already made a very positive impression on our group. I will relate all her academic achievements, which are undoubtedly praiseworthy but what has captured me is how she has developed her gifts and used them to help others. Sue's prayer is" that God will bless us with fruitful and faithful lives, as God's people in the twenty-first century." She is certainly the living embodiment of that sentiment.

Sue was born on a farm in Wisconsin, the eldest of four. Both grandparents were dairy farmers. She attended the Ithaca school district schools for K to 12. Next was community college at the University of Wisconsin-Richland Center. She transferred to and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 1989. For several years, she managed a research lab for the Center of Limnology on a National Science Foundation Long term Ecological Research site in northern Wisconsin. Following that, she began a STAR EPA grad fellowship with the Water Chemistry grad program at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the University of Wisconsin. It was there her life took another turn as she met her husband, Jim Duffy, who is originally from Great Falls!

By 1999 they had two sons Danny and Tom, who moved with them to Bozeman, where Sue and Jim were faculty at Montana State. Their third child, a daughter Laura, arrived in 2000. At this point, Sue was partly at home, somewhat teaching and also doing research at Yellowstone Park.

Sue believes that God calls us to serve with mind, heart, and spirit. She has done this in a multi-faceted way. Sue has enjoyed being a research scientist and is proud to have helped start Engineers Without Borders at Montana State. She has also loved seeing students and faculty in ongoing work in Khwisero, Kenya. She attended Yellowstone United Methodist Women's School of Christian Mission. It was there she was awakened to combine her love of science with her faith. She has helped people who need access to sanitation and freshwater that we enjoy and has traveled five times to Angola to visit United Methodist people, churches, and projects from 2003 --2008. She has thoroughly enjoyed teaching science and engineering at Montana State Bozeman and Aaniiih Nakoda College, Fort Belknap. She has found mentoring young people in her various positions extremely rewarding. I think it's amazing how she has spread her gifts, enriching so many people's lives.

In 2016, when her husband's job took them to California, she seized yet another opportunity. Sue began seminary at Pacific School of Religion. She attends online seminary classes now part-time as a master's of divinity student. Once more, putting

her gifts to work, she has been lead pastor at St Paul's in Vacaville, California, since 2018 and Community UMC, Knights Landing, Ca. since 2020.

Now Sue and her husband are in Montana; she will divide her time between their home in Great Falls and the parsonage in Havre. Sue will be the pastor not only for us but also for Havre and Chester. A quote from Sue---" Love of God is often expressed in serving God's people. It's one of the things I love about being a pastor. Every day is a new opportunity to help someone. Whether with their questions about life or faith or physical or emotional concerns. I never get bored!"

When we met with Sue, I felt a real hope that our church can become more and better than it is. She has mentioned she wants to become involved with our community of Big Sandy and has expressed the desire to work with other churches. She is full of ideas and a passion for accomplishing God's work. By now, you should see why I claimed at the beginning of this article that we have won the lottery. For those perhaps intimidated by her many achievements, I can assure you she is a very down-to-earth person with personal warmth. She radiated sincere interest in everyone I saw her meet. I hope the rest of Big Sandy will have an opportunity to meet Sue sooner rather than later. She will begin regular services at our church, July 18 at 5:00 pm. Why not drop by for our service and meet Sue King in person!

 
 

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