July 19, 2024 -- Rev. Michael A. Birbeck
Honey, we did it again! My wife Jessica and I were five minutes away from Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. A congregation had asked me to consider saying yes to being their pastor.
Fresh out of seminary, I had considered just about every congregation in our denomination looking for a pastor east of the Mississippi and no further south than the Carolinas. I had already declined an invitation to pastor a church an hour north of Pittsburgh. It was a poor, rural congregation. I can only imagine the sacrifice they made to fly me out to their small church from the Boston area. They were eager for me to say yes, but Jessica and I could not. It just seemed too rural and not the right fit. It crushed me to call them and decline. I felt I had led them on. I felt I had squandered their resources. Maybe I did.
Fast forward a couple months later, I was in conversation with a hand full of congregations, all in urban or solidly suburban areas. We crossed all the rural areas off the list, including Wellsboro. I had interviewed with the Wellsboro congregation several weeks earlier. I did not think the Skype interview went well and did not expect a call back. They called while I was cooking dinner. They asked if they could come and hear me preach at the church I was interning at in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I did not want to burn the onions or whatever I was cooking, so I said, “yes.” When Jessica came home, I told her about the phone call. She said, “What! I thought we decided to cross the rural congregations off the list. I thought we would not lead any other congregation on if we were not seriously interested.”
The pastoral search committee came. After they heard me preach, Jessica and I met with them at a popular diner in Cambridge. We clicked with the search committee instantly, and Wellsboro sounded like a great place to live. However, Jessica’s words kept reverberating in my head, “I thought we would not lead any other congregations on.” As we said goodbye and made our way to the door, I thought to myself, “That was that.” Then Jessica, with her one arm in my arm, tugged my sleave with her other arm, and said, “I think that’s the one.” “What!” I said. That started a couple weeks of serious prayer and discernment.
We got the call, “We want you to be our pastor, but before you answer we want you to check out Wellsboro.” So, there we were on our way to Wellsboro. Twenty minutes away, we saw nothing but trees. At ten minutes, still not much to see. At five, it still looked bleak. “Honey, we did it again!” I said.
Then we made the turn into Wellsboro. The hotel, which was on the edge of town, was not ready for us. So, we walked into town and instantly fell in love. The next day, we met more of the congregation. We loved them too. Back in our hotel room, we prayed and asked the Lord, and said to ourselves, “yes.” This was his call.
Rural ministry may not have seemed the ideal to me back then, but I know God has planted me where he wanted me. I love my congregation. I love my town. I love the ministry the Lord has called me too, even when it is not easy.
Many of us come up with plans for how we think our life should go. Moses contented himself shepherding the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro, when God sent him where he did not want to go. Jeremiah thought he was too young. Jesus took his disciples to places they did not want to go and to mingle with people they otherwise would have avoided.
You never know where God will call you till he calls you. Sadly, many people today do not give rural ministry a second look, but rural ministry settings are just as important to God as the big cities. They need kind, gentle shepherds just as much as anywhere else, maybe even more. Maybe God is calling you to a rural setting. Don’t discount what God esteems precious.
As the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church Wellsboro since 2015, Mike has a passion for wholistic transformation through the Gospel. Mike and his wife, Jessica, have a daughter named Priya. They enjoy travel, the outdoors, their dog, Rocky, and, most of all, spending time together as a family. Jessica is a Registered Nurse and works for the SAFE-T System of Penn State University. Mike received his Bachelor’s Degree in Biblical Studies from Cairn University and his Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to First Presbyterian Church Wellsboro, he served as Pastoral Assistant at First United Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, Ma for two years and Director of Youth Ministry at First Presbyterian Church of Levittown in Levittown, Pa for eight years.
I’m proud of my son-in-law and couldn’t be happier that they found a wonderful congregation in Wellsboro to pastor. May the Lird continue to bless them all - Mike, Jessica, Priya and Rocky. Love, Patti Leupold