Kalama United Methodist Church, Crest to Coast Missional District
Greetings,
It is with great joy that I get to announce that I have been appointed to serve Kalama UMC for yet another year. Bishop Stanovsky confirmed this during the reading of orders at Annual Conference for the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church in June. This will be my fourth year serving as a pastor in Kalama and I look forward to a time when the majority of us will be able to return to in-person worship. My wife Cheryl and I live in Vancouver but have been getting to know our way around Kalama and taking in many of its experiences this past year. Prior to being appointed here, I served for five years as pastor at Grays River UMC. For several years prior to that, I served as a lead guitarist in worship bands at Mill Plain UMC and Salmon Creek UMC.
Cheryl and I celebrated our 36th anniversary this year and have two adult children, Kyle and Kate and one granddaughter, Lili. Our son lives in Virginia and our daughter, her husband and daughter in East Wenatchee. We have been blessed to have raised two children who are continuing to make their way and discover new possibilities each day, but of course we also always enjoy it when we have the opportunity to see them in real time rather than thru digital conversations.
I have not always been a pastor. This is a second career for me. My first was in business and management with stays in public accounting, the US Navy, and then in the private sector working for manufacturing and not-for-profits. Ministry is, however, a call that I have acknowledged throughout all of my life and in this, vision and vocation come into line with one another. This is the job that one of my dear friends would describe as “the one I get to do.” I find a lot of that in the DNA of the church itself as well, and we’ve spent the last year talking and learning what it means to live that out in both our individual and communal missions. What I hope that means, in a practical sense, is that we are an overtly welcoming church that actively engages in “host-pitality,” both within and without. We greatly value the relationships we already have in the community at large and are always seeking new ways to share the grace of God with others who have yet to grace our doors.
A predecessor of mine said that Kalama UMC is a congregation in transition, meaning that we may not yet have all the pieces in place. While I would have to agree that is still true, I would not say so in the same sense of the words. Yes, none of us are yet fully who we are meant to be, but we are all living in and growing toward that end. John Wesley who is credited with founding Methodism would not hold that as anything unusual, however, because we are all but on our way toward perfection in Christian love. But have no doubt, we are a loving and accountable community making our way on that journey, and we would love it if you would join us, adding your gifts and graces to the work of the Triune God that is already taking place here and in the wonderful community of Kalama.
Grace & Peace,
Rev. Dean Anderson
