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Celebrating
ministry ...
Balls
Mills church recognizes pastor’s 35 years of pastoral
service
Eric
Long Sun-Gazette Staff
He’s
described as a warm, energetic and very available minister
of the Gospel who seems to have time for everybody.
He also is committed to preaching
the Word and ministering to people in need and is a staunch
supporter of missions.
For 35 years of ministry within the
United Methodist Church, his present church, Balls Mills United
Methodist Church, dedicated an entire Sunday service to the
Rev. Jim Sunderland.
“We took a Sunday and dedicated
it to recognizing his service in ministry,” Tom Newhart,
of the church, said. “He has 30 years of service as
an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and probably
35 years total ministry. We had our district superintendent,
the Rev. Gerald Reist, come and deliver the message that day
and one of the youths in the church was asked to paint a picture
of the church and we presented that to Jim and his family.
We wanted to just basically recognize the things he has done
over the years.”
According to Newhart, that length
of service deserves recognition, too.
“The job is not an easy one,”
he explained. “You get calls at night and calls to go
to the hospital and he has been very good with those things
and is very dedicated to his calling. We also recognized the
contribution of his family — his wife, Janice and his
three children, Philip, David and Julie.”
The message delivered by Reist was
about commitment, dedication and meeting the call with the
help of the family. Sunderland has been pastor at Balls Mills
since 1997, but he received his calling many years earlier.
According to Sunderland, he received
his calling to be a minister at an early age.
“I was really called at the
age of 11,” Sunderland said, reflecting on his service
to the Lord. “When I think of my calling, I think of
Jesus calling his disciples and I think of his reading of
the scriptures in the Temple when his calling was made known.”
Born on Aug. 17, 1946 in Altoona to
James and Minnie Sunderland, he said he was at Asbury United
Methodist Church there, when he had his first speaking engagement,
a 5-minute sermonette on the subject, “Who is My Neighbor,”
based on Luke 10:10, the story about the Good Samaritan in
October 1957.
“It turns out that everyone
is my neighbor,” Sunderland said. He was confirmed in
1958 by the Rev. Joseph Wagner, who taught him about searching
the scriptures and praying and caring for the poor and needy.
His call was reaffirmed in the spring
of 1963, when missionary E. Stanley Jones spoke at First United
Methodist Church in Altoona.
“He asked the youth that were
there that if any who had heard a calling to the ministry
were willing to serve to stand up, come forward and receive
our call if you were willing to go,” Sunderland said.
“It was moving, to accept your call like that, in front
of everyone ...”
The next year he was working as an
associate register for convocation of ordained ministry in
Johnstown and served for two years in rural ministry in Kentucky
before beginning his pastoral ministry. He also served for
four years in urban inner-city ministry as a youth director
and Bible study coordinator.
His formal ministry began in July
1970 and he was ordained as a deacon in the United Methodist
Church in June 1972 at Susquehanna University and was ordained
as an elder in June 1974 there as well.
He graduated from Asbury College,
Wilmore, Ky., and from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington,
D.C.
Since then, he has served in five
other charges before being called to Balls Mills. The charges
he served included Elimsport from 1977 to 1985 and Pine Grove-McAllisterville
from 1989 to 1997.
He married the former Janice Marie
Reeder on June 28, 1980 at Bethel United Methodist Church,
Montoursville, and together they have ministered for almost
25 years.
To Sunderland, the job he has entails
one paramount mission.
“The most important thing in
ministry is to preach Christ, His salvation and a personal
relationship with Him,” he explained.
Aside from preaching the Word, he
said other important facets of ministry include visiting the
sick, giving oversight to the church’s educational program,
encouraging greater giving to missions and to work ecumenically
with other churches.
Folded into his philosophy of what
ministry is about is being involved with the congregation
in evangelistic outreach to help others come to know Christ
and encourage them to know Him personally.
Counseling people in many ways is
also a part of his life’s work, along with the usual
duties of overseeing worship, reading and teaching Scripture,
administering sacraments and engaging people in study and
witness.
But how do people perceive him?
“He is pretty low-key, friendly
and he takes part in a lot in the community,” church
secretary Carol Loveland said.
“He is in the Lions Club, he
helps with the Shepherd of the Streets, with the Emmaus Walk
and he is there. If there is a problem, you can go to him.
He works a lot outside the walls of the church and he gets
the church involved in the community.”
Sunderland has encouraged even the
youth to reach out in ministry, coordinating trips to places
like the Henderson Settlement in Kentucky, and other missions
trips, where youths helped and minister to people in need.
His involvement with the community
includes being past president of the Lycoming Creek Lions
Club, past most wise master of the Williamsport Consistory,
as well as working in ministry with United Churches of Lycoming
County, the Hepburn-Lycoming Ministerium and as a missions
coordinator for area United Methodist churches, as well as
prayer coordinator for the Emmaus Walk.
“We must work ecumenically with
other churches and with each other in the community,”
he said, revealing his love for reaching out to people.
“If we look at Christ, or to
John Wesley, who said ‘the world is my parish’
— I’m not only a pastor at Balls Mills United
Methodist Church, but to all who are in need. Ministry to
me is sharing Jesus Christ, making him come alive and helping
people realize that He can turn their lives around.”
After being honored with the dedicated
Sunday and being presented the painting of the church by Cory
Tilburg, a nighttime scene of the building with glowing stained
glass windows visible, Sunderland said he reflected on his
35 years of ministry.
“One of the most important things
is to challenge people to have a personal relationship with
Christ, to get to know the Word of God,” he said.
“Ministry is much more than
counseling, missions and education now for a pastor. I enjoy
it.”
He said he continues to encourage
the youth to minister in whatever ways they can, whether on
short missions trips to other places, or by cooking a meal
at Sojourner Truth Ministries on High Street, or helping to
build a home for Habitat for Humanity.
“We want to challenge the youth
that missions means getting involved, sharing Christ with
the world,” he said.
That has been the crux of his mission
for 35 years ... and counting.
As
appearing in Saturday - January 15, 2005 edition of The Sun-Gazette
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