An Announcement

Change is a constant in life, and I have news of a big change in mine. But first, some backstory is in order.

In 1990, my lovely new bride and I fled Minnesota to start a life together in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

In seeking a new church to attend, we found Christian Life Center, a nondenominational fellowship in Belle Fourche pastored by Rev. Paul Howard. It became our church home and we made many new and wonderful friends there.

Two years ago, I received word that Pastor Paul’s health was failing and was asked to come preach to give him a week off. I did so, and was invited back again … and again … and again. Late last year, the Christian Life Center board began a process to find a successor to Pastor Paul, who continues to minister in spite of his condition as he has done for the last 37 years. The last week of 2021, the CLC board issued a call for me to become its senior pastor, and I accepted.

Karen and I will be leaving the Nebraska Panhandle as soon as we can sell our farm and locate housing in Belle Fourche. It will be a process taking several weeks, perhaps months.

I came to Sidney in 2004 to work at Cabela’s HQ where I held several roles over a 14-year period. During that time I also returned to school to complete ministerial education and became certified minister in the Assemblies of God denomination. I pastored Dalton AOG from 2009 until 2015. I then took additional classes to become a licensed minister in the Open Bible Churches denomination, and I’ve worked as an interim co-pastor with Bud Gillespie at Immanuel Lutheran at Weyerts and United Church of the Plains in Dalton since late 2018 after the Bass Pro takeover eliminated my job with Cabela’s. Now, with nine years of pastoral experience under my belt, I’ve felt called to put it to use full-time.

Karen and I have been blessed to be part of the Cheyenne County community. We’ve served with the Gurley Lions Club, Community Shepherds in Dalton, and I got to teach science as a substitute teacher at Leyton elementary and middle schools. We’ve met many wonderful people and will miss them dearly.

My first column in this paper appeared in October 2019. Hard to believe that was three years ago. I will continue to write these columns for the next few weeks as there seems to be an interest in what this pear-shaped prognosticator has to write. Whether or not I continue to be a columnist after the move will be discussed by the editor and myself in coming weeks, and will also depend on the kind of workload I encounter in Belle Fourche.

I hope that knowing me through these writings has been largely a positive thing in your life. I know I’ve angered some of you at times, but hope you hear my heart when I say there was never any malice behind doing so. We all anger others at times.

I thank the staff and editor of the Sidney Sun Telegraph for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you, and we will keep you posted on our move as things unfold.