Pastor John is a committed Christian, believes in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. He preaches Bible based sermons calling all to develop and strengthen their personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

This is the day
that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice
and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Background: Pastor John was born in Portsmouth NH and grew up in Manchester NH, West Hartford CT, and Lake Forest IL. He and his wife have lived in Milwaukee WI, the Chicago area, Cincinnati and now Connecticut. Prior to his going into the ministry, John spent thirteen years in the Publishing Industry working most recently for Conde Nast Publications in New York City.

Personal Motto: People don’t care how much you know. People want to know how much you care.

Ministry Background:

July 1998 Senior Pastor
The United Methodist Church of Branford, CT

July 1996 – June 1998 Associate Pastor
The United Methodist Church of New Canaan, CT

September 1994 – June1996 Seminarian In Residence
The United Methodist Church of New Canaan, CT

Education:

1993 – 1996 Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT
Masters of Divinity, May 1996

1976 – 1980 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Bachelor of Arts - Sociology, May 1980

From our Pastor

Ready or not, it’s back to school time! With all of our back to school activities at home I was reminded of a recent news report about a certain private school that was faced with an unusual and unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips to the mirror, leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove the lip prints and the next day, the girls would put them back.

The principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night. To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror. There are teachers, and then there are Teachers...

Jesus was known as a skillful educator. He was often referred to as Rabbi which John 1:37 translates for us as “teacher.” He went throughout the region of Galilee teaching in the synagogues (Matthew 4:23). Nicodemus acknowledged that Jesus was not just any teacher, but a teacher who had “come from God” (John 3:2).

Teachers and other educators are special individuals. They dedicate their lives to equipping their students for the future, often at great sacrifice. Teachers can’t teach however unless they have students! Is that a bit too obvious?

As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be students of Jesus Christ. He can’t teach, unless He has students. We can’t be students unless we sit at His feet in prayer and study and learn from Him. He is always willing to teach, but we need to be willing to learn.

Over the next several months there will be many opportunities to study in small group settings here at church and in the homes of many parishioners. Sunday school classes begin for all ages on September 14 as well. These studies are meant to help you grow in the faith. It has been said that you are either growing or dying. If you are stagnant, you are actually dying. I encourage you to participate in a study and continue to be a student of the master teacher – Jesus Christ. He might just have something worthwhile to teach you.

Peace,

Pastor John

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This page was updated on 08/25/2008