By Wendy Beye
The congregation of Roundup First United Methodist Church said a fond farewell to retiring Pastor Dave Bergeson the last Sunday of June and welcomed new Pastor Matt White on July 2. Pastor Matt, his wife Candi, and their sweet little dog Brutus packed up and moved to Montana in a flurry after learning May 31 of their pending appointment to serve congregations in Roundup, Grass Range, and Winnett. Their previous parish was the United Methodist Church in Pavillion, Wyoming, near the Wind River Mountains.
For Candi, the move was a homecoming of sorts. She spent a number of summers staying at the Simms Ranch near Winnett with her grandparents when she was a child. Her relatives no longer live there, but she loves the area and is looking forward to meeting the people her husband will shepherd.
While preaching in Roundup on one of his first Sundays in the pulpit here, Pastor Matt said that if someone had told him 10 years ago that he would be a pastor, he would have been incredulous. He was raised in the Catholic church, then as a young man, left religion in the rearview mirror for 30 years. He eventually moved to Wyoming to be near his father and began attending a Methodist church there after his father passed away. He had only been able to spend a year with his dad but became good friends with the pastor who officiated at the funeral. God tapped him on the shoulder and pointed him toward ministry when he was nominated by the congregation at Pavillion to become a candidate for ministry. He attended training in Deaver, Wyoming, with a class of other prospective certified lay speakers including a fellow named Dave Bergeson. He was diligent in his studies and 7 years ago became licensed to serve as a local pastor. He was appointed to the Pavillion church and has served there ever since, continuing his studies online.
Pastors in all denominations are in short supply these days, and the Roundup Methodist congregation had nearly lost hope that the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church would be able to find a replacement for Pastor Dave. The Grass Range and Winnett congregations were also losing their pastor to retirement and worried about their future. With some trepidation, representatives from all three congregations met with Pastor Matt and Candi in Roundup on May 31. After discovering that he is a warm and caring person who embraces John Wesley’s exhortation to Methodists to “Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, as long as ever you can,” he was welcomed with enthusiasm. (A note to non-Methodists – John Wesley was the founder of Methodism.)
Pastor Matt and Candi are living in the United Methodist Church parsonage in Grass Range. They start their Sundays with an 8:30 a.m. service in Grass Range, drive to Roundup for an 11:00 a.m. service at the United Methodist Church on First Street West, then head north for a 2:00 p.m. service at the Winnett United Methodist Church. That schedule may have to be adjusted once the ice and snow of a Montana winter arrive. The Roundup church livestreams its service every Sunday and has several Lay Servants who can fill in for Pastor Matt when necessary. The Winnett church has the technology to watch livestream services, and the Grass Range congregation is investigating ways to participate in that form of ministry, too.
Pastor Matt is planning to be in Roundup at least one other day each week to enjoy time with people at the Senior Center during lunch and to continue the church’s outreach ministry at Roundup Memorial Hospital Extended Care Unit several times a month. Sheriff Lesnik can expect a request to organize a jail ministry program, too. Spreading the love of Jesus in all three communities, no strings attached, is Pastor Matt’s highest priority. We can all do with a little more love in our lives. Welcome, Pastor Matt and Candi!
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