Meet Our Pastor: Rev. Dr. E. Richard Weidler

Richard’s wife, Janet, is also an ordained UCC minister, specializing in intentional interim ministry. They have two children: Andrew, who is attending Rhodes College, and Rebecca studying at Davidson College.

Richard was born into a Navy family consisting of his parents, four sisters, and himself. His mother was a school teacher, and his father was a chaplain (ordained in the Reformed branch of the UCC). Participation in church activities, such as worship services and Vacation Bible School, was always an important part of his family life.

After graduating from high school, Richard entered the University of Virginia where he majored in Sociology. Though he had been planning to apply to seminary following graduation, his parents offered him an option that he couldn't pass up: a year in Europe. During that year Richard learned Hebrew (in preparation for seminary), polished up his German, and did some extensive traveling. His year in Europe extended to two when he was accepted as a gasthorer (auditor) in the School of Theology at Heidelberg University.

Upon returning to the States in the summer of 1977, Richard entered Union Theological Seminary where he received more than an excellent theological education. During his second year there he met his future wife, Janet Boyd, who was in her first year. During the next several years in Richmond, while Janet finished seminary, Richard served a Presbyterian church. Following this, he entered a year-long Clinical Pastoral Education program in a major medical/trauma center.

In the summer of 1985, Richard was called to be the Associate Pastor of the Congregational Church of Needham, a UCC congregation of 900 members west of Boston. The eight years he served there were extremely stimulating, engaging and fulfilling for him, both personally and professionally. It was also during this time period that his two children were born, Andrew (1988), and Rebecca (1990). In March of 1993 he was called to be the Senior Pastor of Dubbs Memorial UCC, an 875 member congregation located in center city Allentown. In early 1997, Richard became aware that Phoebe Ministries was offering a Fellowship in Health Care Management to train pastors (and other persons of faith) to become effective managers and leaders in UCC-related health care organizations. Richard was offered a Fellowship from the Council for Health and Human Services Ministries of the UCC and after a year of "learning the ropes" he was promoted to Director, Planning. In that role he gained many new management skills, and developed a Business Plan and Corporate Compliance Plan for Phoebe.

As stimulating as this work at Phoebe was, it removed him from the pastoral care and people contact that he had come to love in parish ministry. Therefore, in June of 1999 Richard agreed to serve as part-time supply pastor to a small country church. He performed this ministry in addition to my Monday-Friday job at Phoebe. In the summer of 2001 he was extended a call to be the senior pastor of Woodfords Church.

Woodfords, a caring congregation of some 600 members, had experienced much conflict in the years leading up to Richard's ministry.  However during his six year pastorate the congregation worked productively together to expand outreach to newcomers and increased hands-on mission involvement, including a mission trip to Guatemala City.  A Long-Range Strategic Planning process was launched in 2007, which involved the whole congregation in spiritual discernment and in engaging with one another around hopes and dreams for the congregation's future. 

In the Spring of 2008 Richard was called to First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, of Hendersonville, North Carolina.  He began his ministry here in August of 2008.  Upon arriving he offered that his short-term goal is to get to know all of the members of his new "flock" and vice-versa.  His long-term goal is to do all he can to spread the good news of all that is happening at FCC, and to grow the church in numbers and in spirit.

On a more personal side, he is a huge sports fan and since living in Portland (a Red Sox mecca) He has enjoyed rooting on the Red Sox to their first and second World Series Titles! He’s also taken great pride and joy watching the Patriots dominate the National Football League for the past several years; and most recently cheering on the Celtics to their first championship in many years! Now that he is in North Carolina he is rooting for the Tar Heels (or Duke, or Wake Forest, etc.) on to the ACC championship and the NCAA championship (not easy for a graduate of the University of Virginia!) as well as the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl, and the Charlotte Hornets to the NBA finals. Richard would love to attend some of these games over the years. A second passion of his is cooking. He loves to cook for his family--it's a way for him to offer nurture and sustenance.

When he makes time, he exercises two or three times a week. Richard also likes doing do-it-yourself home projects and hanging out at Home Depot or Lowe’s. He also enjoys working on his lawn and landscaping and having wonderfully colorful window boxes filled with Inpatients or Petunias. A recent interest is growing Orchids. And finally but most importantly his final passion is his family. Richard believes he has been called by God to be a loving and faithful husband and a nurturing and affirming father. When he is able to excel in these covenants, he is then empowered to do likewise as a Pastor to and for his congregants. Even amidst the busy schedule of parish ministry, he sets aside time to be with his wife and children. 
 
The following is the Statement on Ministry from the profile that Rev. Weidler submitted to our church:

I believe that MINISTRY is our response to God's calling in a world that is broken, and longs for shalom and healing. We are empowered to respond to this call through God's presence with us in the Holy Spirit. The guide and motivation for our actions comes in the person and life of Jesus Christ.

OUR - God knows that it is not good for people to be alone and so God did not create us in isolation from one another. Instead, God put us in community and created us as social beings capable of awareness, not only of our own needs, but also of the needs of others. It is in community that we grow and flourish and experience love. It is in community that we do mission and ministry by joining with others and accomplishing more together than any of us could do individually.

RESPONSE· Throughout history God has always acted first. We, as God's children, are to respond to our Creator's initiatives and continued activity. The manner in which we live our lives represents our response to the love God has given us the gift of creation, the gift of Jesus, and the gin of the continual divine presence with us through the Holy Spirit.

GOD'S CALLNG - God has called people through the ages to service and ministry. God called Abraham and Sarah to be a blessing to all peoples, and Moses to lead the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. God called the prophets to speak words of truth and judgment. God called Paul to end his persecution of Christians and preach the Good News. Before they were called these individuals were ordinary people doing ordinary work. God gave them the gifts they would need to do the ministry to which they were being called. God continues to call ordinary people to do extraordinary ministry today. God calls to us through circumstance and situation, through the voice of children and the voice of age, through strangers and through friends. Even when we fail to hear or experience God's call, God doesn't give up. Our Creator continues to call us to "accept the cost and joy of discipleship."

BROKEN - Sin and brokenness exist wherever those with power seek only after their own good without concern for others. Sin and brokenness thrive wherever there is selfishness and self-centeredness. Sin abounds when decisions are made that allow human beings to experience the pain of hunger when there is an abundance of food. Sin is in control when systems make it possible for one child to receive medicine that takes away pain and illness while another child cries through the night; when decisions are made which force seniors to choose between medicine and food. Our brokenness is starkly exposed whenever a person is not given a fair, chance because of skin color, country of origin, age, gender or sexual orientation. The world's brokenness is revealed when we as human beings are not able to resolve our differences with words and negotiations, but instead resort to violence and war to accomplish our vision of justice and peace.

LONGS FOR SHALOM AND HEALNG - We all seek shalom and wholeness in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones, community, and world. Each of us experiences hurt in some part of our life: physical, emotional, spiritual, or relational. The work of creating shalom, the work of creating wholeness in our world involves compassionately speaking the truth in love to our loved ones, to those with whom we work, to those with whom we have significant relationships and shared responsibilities and to those who serve on our behalf in pubic office and ourselves. Jesus models this honest engagement with Virtually every encounter he has, whether it's with the wealthy ruler desiring eternal life, or the ill man at the pool of Bethesda, or those who sought to follow the letter of the Law at the expense of the spirit of the Law. To engage people as Jesus did can be risky and yet to do otherwise can lead to further brokenness.

HOLY SPIRIT - There may be times in life when we long for Christ to be physically at our side to miraculously fix those things that trouble us. The good news is that Jesus IS in the world, present in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who comforts, us in our distress, empowers us to speak good news to discouraged spirits, and equips us for ministry to and with others,

JESUS CHRIST - A man who was fully human and fully divine.  He was the perfect revelation of who God is and who we're meant to be, in word and deed.  Jesus was an incredibly strong and courageous leader.  His leadership model was one of servant hood.  He had great insight into human nature, into human frailties, and human potential.  The Gospels remind us that Jesus continually took risks and departed from religious and cultural tradition in order to respond to a higher ethic and calling, and he challenged others to do likewise.  Jesus reached out to those, who because of their behavior (e.g. tax collectors and sinners) or because of their illness (e.g. lepers, blind, lame) had removed themselves from the common welfare.  He sought to restore health, restore relationships and bring them back into healthy relationships of shalom.  He was a leader who lived "outside the box," asking questions which inevitably cut to the quick and exposed the limitations and vulnerabilities of the human heart.