The Rev. Charles Peterson has sketched out a mental to-do
list since taking the top post at Trinity Lutheran Church
Downtown. He plans to meet all members of the
congregation to figure out what they want and need from the
church.
He wants to get to know who leads each committee
and the state of the church's finances. He'll learn about
the neighborhood so he can find new worshippers.
He also has to fill a set of mostly empty shelves in his
new office.
"I just really have a very strong feeling -- this is
where I'm supposed to be," he said.
The congregation has been hungry for permanent
leadership. An interim pastor had led Trinity since the Rev.
Paul Heine left in 2006. The congregation spent some time
examining its vision before starting a lengthy search for a
new pastor.
Peterson began in October but will be formally installed
Sunday.
The brick church at 404 S. 3rd St. is rich in history and
tradition but not finances. As many members have migrated to
the suburbs, worship attendance has fallen. In 1990, the
average was 204; now it's nearly 100.
Peterson was hired on "three-fourths" time, which works
out to about 40 hours a week. The hours of the office
manager and custodian have been trimmed, as have committee
budgets.
Despite the troubling trends, Peterson represents a hope
that the church can flourish. In a meeting with frequent
volunteer Nancy Gosnell, Peterson learned a strength of his
new flock -- frequent fellowship.
"It seems like every six weeks, eight weeks, we're
sitting down eating together," he said to Gosnell. "That's a
good thing."
Such little revelations are important as Peterson gets a
grasp on the spirit of the congregation.
"What's our particular calling?" Peterson said. "Instead
of telling them what that is, (my job) is to help them to
uncover as a congregation their particular calling, their
particular identity."
Peterson, 46, who grew up in Illinois, has led churches
in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. He is married to the Rev.
Cheryl Peterson, a professor at Trinity Lutheran Seminary,
and lives in Merion Village.
Before taking the job at Trinity, Peterson had been
commuting back and forth from Milwaukee. He is finishing up
a doctorate in philosophy from Marquette University.
He was matched with the church through the Southern Ohio
Synod in a process he said is "almost like a dating service
or an arranged marriage. There's a lot of growing into
knowing one another."
His strategy for meeting each member was to start with
the most high profile -- like committee leaders -- and the
most immobile and limited, the homebound.
"I think it's really important to meet these folks and
get to know their life story," he said.
A new pastor has to be a historian, learning the
background of the church and the people, said Scott Gibson,
a professor of preaching and ministry at Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary in Massachusetts.
The pastor also should be a shepherd ready to show caring
and compassion, Gibson said. Preaching must be a priority,
because that's where a pastor's authority is established.
Trinity's congregation likes what it has seen so far.
"He's just brought a spark of life back that we needed,"
said Shirley L. Griffin, a 25-year member.
They don't expect him to solve every problem.
The church finances are really the responsibility of the
church council and congregation, said Jason McKitrick, a
10-year member who led the committee that helped select
Peterson.
"We're just looking for him to lead us in worship and be
our spiritual leader," he said.
mheagney@dispatch.com
