Retiring Elders and Deacons

Mary Ann Bernard

“I love the United Methodist Church. My greatest gifts, as well as the greatest trauma in my life, came from it. God is good. I have been in ministry inside and outside the church, and my life in God continues and reaches far beyond my life in the church.”

These are the words of Rev. Mary Ann Bernard, who will retire after being in ministry for more than 43 years. God guided her ministry journey to serve beyond the local church in ways many of us have not experienced.

Mary Ann grew up in the church, attended Wesley Acres Camp, was on the CCYM, and attended Annual Conference as a youth. Also, at that same time, she was raped by her local pastor, one of many he abused. While experiencing a clear call to ministry in the United Methodist Church, supported and guided by many others—Rev.

Bill Bates, Bishop Jim Armstrong, and Rev. Duane Ewers, the struggle always was how to serve an organization that gave rise to the best experiences in her life and the deep traumatic wound of rape. It was a bumpy ride.

She completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of North Dakota and a Master of Divinity at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She was Ordained in 1980 as a deacon and in 1984 as an elder. “The church, even this beloved conference, was a toxic and unsafe place for me. Yet, I followed God’s call,” said Bernard.

Pastor Mary Ann’s first appointment was to a threepoint charge—Elgin, Zoar, and Ebenezer UCC in North Dakota. She was then appointed to Vincent United Methodist Church in Minot, North Dakota, as associate pastor. Rev. Wayne and Char Brown were a great support, but she was restless being in this conference, which was still a very unhealthy place for her and others to be.

Bernard transferred to the Iowa Conference. Bishop Rueben Job was there, knew her, and was a person she trusted and cherished. After two appointments there, “it became clear that I needed to deal with the abuse issue. I took a leave of absence and went to Maine.”

In Portland, Maine, she directed the YWCA women’s residence. Bernard also worked with a multi-traditional spiritual group on a campus for a non-profit promoting relationship between Native and non-native people and worked for the post office. “It looks like I drifted in and out of the ministry. That is not true. I always was in ministry even when I wasn’t serving through a church,” said Bernard. She returned to North Dakota to again serve at Ellendale, North Dakota. During that time, the Cabinet was pursuing charges against the pastor who had raped her and abused others. The process did not ultimately hold him responsible. “I could see both the desire of people like Rev. Dwight Meier to bring justice, but the system failed again to do that.”

She married and moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, again taking a leave of absence from the UMC, working as an interim in a Presbyterian church, and also being a surrogate mom: giving birth to a child for her friends who were unable to conceive. She wrote a book about that experience titled The Gift of a Child.

The couple then headed to Hawaii, where Mary Ann worked in a program similar to Head Start. She found herself single again, and moved to Horsehead, New York, to work first as the director of a Head Start Program, then as a chaplain at Bethany Village. She built a ministry for 14 years with aging people, some dealing with severe dementia.

She sums up her ministry outside the local church this way. “Outside the structures of the church and the organization of the UMC, I found God moving in clear and vibrant ways. Scripture was clearer to me there. My call was as valid. I might never have ventured outside the denomination, but I was forced to by the unhealed trauma in me and in the church. Once outside, I discovered my faith being refined and strengthened. My relationship with God and my call to ministry were ever-present. I developed ‘outside the church’ ways to live out my call to ministry.”

She is the pastor at Evergreen United Methodist Church in Wahpeton, North Dakota. She will retire in Hawaii.

Neil Blair

“Being a clergy member of the Dakotas Conference feels like coming home,” said Blair. His connection to farming and the church, as well as the grace of the people, are reasons that Blair feels at home in the Dakotas.

Neil Blair grew up on a farm near Dayton, Iowa. His family was active in the United Methodist Church and in his community. His call to ministry came when he was young.

His call was nurtured as he furthered his education at United Methodist universities. He received an undergraduate degree from Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa. Neil obtained a Master of Divinity from St. Paul’s School of Theology in Kansas City.

He was commissioned as a deacon in the Iowa Conference. He served eight years in a Disciples of Christ Church in Missouri and received full ordination in that denomination.

Blair served 19 years as Vice President for Development at Saint Paul’s School of Theology from 1988 to 2003.

In 2009, he became a full elder of the Dakotas Conference. While serving as the Vice President for Institutional

Mark Elllingson

Rev. Mark Ellingson recalls his fifth-grade Sunday school teacher telling him to enter the ministry.

“I remember one of my Sunday School teachers, Mrs. Johnson, told me I should be a pastor because I had a good voice. I have always had opportunities placed in my life to be a leader at church, in youth group, and at school. I even preached in the pulpit of my local church,” says Rev. Ellingson. “My call did not come at one point and time. It was something that just happened through God’s guidance.”

Ellingson will retire after 41 years of ministry this year. His call to ministry was something that became obvious over time.

Growing up Presbyterian, on a farm near Breckenridge, Minnesota, Ellingson spent a lot of time in various leadership roles. “I started to notice I never could miss the leadership positions,” Ellingson said. “You end up being the president of the youth group, the president of Inter-Varsity Christian

Advancement at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, he transferred his orders to The United Methodist Church.

While serving at Dakota Wesleyan University, he lived with the late Senator George McGovern.

He was President of The Foundation for Evangelism of the UMC in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, from 2011-2016.

Rev. Neil Blair began his leadership as President of Saint Paul School of Theology, with campuses in Kansas and Missouri, on July 1, 2016, where he currently serves.

“I had the honor of staying at George McGovern’s home for a few months and we spent many enjoyable hours singing United Methodist hymns. He loved them, knew most of them by heart and had a wonderful singing voice. He also talked about the power of the United Methodist Church in serving the poor and that he was proud to be counted among their members,” said Blair.

Neil is the father of two sons, David and family live in Texas, and Ben and family live in Chicago.

Fellowship at Moorhead State University, and similar opportunities.”

God’s call became clearer while seeking his degree in journalism from Moorhead State University. “It was really in college that I realized that’s probably the direction I was going. I was working on a journalism degree at the time, a great undergraduate degree for anybody going into ministry— to learn about asking questions, writing, and communicating. I just knew that this was what God would have me do. So, I headed off to Asbury Seminary in Kentucky,” said Ellingson. He says that being a very shy person, he was amazed God would call him to be a preacher.

He married Betty during his last year at Moorhead State University, and the couple moved to Kentucky for seminary. Pastor Mark was exposed to different types of ministries at seminary, including working in a chaplaincy setting for people dealing with disabilities at a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. “It was an extraordinary experience to figure out how one communicates,” he said.

After seminary, his first appointment was a four-point charge at Bowbells, Coteau, Donnybrook, and Kenmare in North Dakota. “I spent two years in my first appointment. I was there with Pastor Ed Werner, who was retired,” said Ellingson. “I loved the people and the setting. I liked serving small, rural churches.”

In 1984, Ellingson was appointed to Holmes and Thompson in North Dakota. For the next 27 years, Pastor Mark served Holmes, Thompson and later Lutheran congregations in the same area. The church and the parsonage were in the country.

“I remember Cecil Miller called the people of Holmes ‘the salt of the earth.’ Even though there were a lot of changes throughout the years, their faith was firm and consistent,” said Ellingson. “It was a wonderful place to raise our five kids out in the country. I have always been attracted to rural ministry.”

In 2007, a tornado hit the nearby community of Northwood. Ellingson ran across a Lutheran disaster response team and began working with them. “I spent my time ministering to people and working with people who were not my parishioners. That’s kind of the definition of chaplaincy— you’re working with someone in a special situation who are not your parishioners. I found that I liked it and that I had some gifts for doing that.”

He began completing 400 hours of training to become a certified chaplain. Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training is about preparing for ministry with people who are not your parishioners for a specific length of time and a particular purpose.

Leading a local congregation was rewarding for Ellingson, but chaplaincy work has become his passion. While completing CPE, Ellingson became a chaplain for Hospice of the Red River Valley. After a few years, he moved to Altru Health

Mark Gronseth

I went to seminary in my fifties. It was really God’s timing. It was perfect,” said Rev. Mark Gronseth, who will retire after 36 years of full-time ministry. He served as a full-time church musician for 22 years and as the pastor of a congregation for 14 years.

System as the manager of the chaplain program.

“One of the holiest times for me is at the end of life. It is a time when someone is at a place where their house and what they own doesn’t matter anymore. The thing that matters is God and their family. I’ve more than once been singing a hymn to somebody, and they died while I was holding their hand,” shares Pastor Mark. “While there’s a tremendous sadness with death. I’ve seen this as a holy, special, set-apart time.”

In 2020, Ellingson was suddenly laid off from his job as Chaplain Manager at Altru Health System along with dozens of others. LifeSource was not looking for a chaplain specifically, but the position of Clinical Hospital Coordinator for western North Dakota was open. Ellingson went to work with 32 hospitals across the western two-thirds of North Dakota to support staff and help families. In the last year he has become the Liaison at Altru in Grand Forks (where he was a chaplain for several years) and 26 other hospitals in North Dakota.

For 17 years of his ministry, Ellingson served as the Dakotas Conference Secretary. “I ended up becoming the journal editor and then the conference secretary. I got to have connections with a lot of different people in a lot of different ways. I had fun with the role at the annual conference. When I started doing the journal, I would ‘cut and paste’ pieces of paper and paste them with rubber cement. Today it is all digital. Cutting and pasting changed its definition for me over the course of time,” recalls Ellingson.

In retirement, Pastor Mark plans to continue living in Grand Forks and working in his current position with LifeSource. He will also continue providing pulpit supply at Holmes UMC and surrounding churches.

He graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and no teaching credentials.

“When I first started college, I thought I was going to be a band director, and that just kind of went sour,” said Pastor Mark.

After college, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. With no teaching degree, he instead began working at a number of places in Fargo-Moorhead. He married his wife, CoCo, in 1979, and eventually landed a full-time job at the FargoMoorhead Community Theater (as their casino auditor) and was also organist on Sundays at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Moorhead.

“I would head to the church on Sunday. On Monday, I would count casino money,” said Gronseth. “At one point, my wife and I had, between the two of us, five part-time jobs. My music career wasn’t really coming together until 1986 when I began to really listen to God’s call. Then God helped get things organized. He always had a plan. Unfortunately, for too many years, I wasn’t listening to His voice.”

Gronseth’s journey toward ordained ministry began with music. For years, he served as a church musician at churches in Michigan, Kansas, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was a vulnerable, full-time position that often fell prey to budget cuts.

“It took me almost ten years to realize that God was calling me into a church music ministry,” said Gronseth. “The first music job was at a United Methodist Church in Livonia, Michigan. Finances got tight, so they cut the musician. I spent a year looking for another church music job and ended up in southwest Kansas. After nine years in that position, the same thing happened–money. So I ended up moving to Sioux Falls to take a position at First Presbyterian Church.”

He was consecrated as a diaconal minister of music. The United Methodist Church used to have a lay office called Diaconal Minister; some are still in active ministry. The UMC no longer consecrates new lay diaconal ministers.

His job at First Presbyterian was cut due to a lack of funding. That was the third occurrence. Pastor Mark knew that God was up to something.

“I had lunch with Greg Kroger. He was the district superintendent in the Sioux Falls area. We talked about pastoral ministry because I had been kind of feeling a little more of a tug toward that area. Greg said, ‘Well, we have this situation in DeSmet, South Dakota,’” said Pastor Mark. “It was a combined assignment for someone to serve at the UCC and United Methodist churches. Greg said, ‘We don’t have anybody in place. So, how about if you give that a try?’”

Three days each week, Gronseth headed to DeSmet. He stayed in the parsonage and served the two churches. The role

Sarah Herman

“I accepted Jesus Christ when I was five years old; when I was 16, I came to understand what it meant to not only be saved but to live a life completely surrendered to Jesus Christ. During this time I felt called into ministry,” said Rev. Sarah Herman, who is retiring after 24 years of service in the Dakotas Conference.

Growing up in Kankakee, Illinois, she served at her home church throughout high school, teaching Bible studies and leading Bible school.

lasted until the end of the year, and he found himself back in Sioux Falls again, where he served at Wildflower Presbyterian Church.

“They needed a pastor. I needed a job. I served there January through May and got some more hands-on experience,” said Gronseth. “Then I went to licensing school in the summer at Dubuque, Iowa, and headed to Sioux Falls Seminary in the fall.”

While in seminary, Mark and CoCo served the United Methodist congregations at Wakonda, Irene, and Viborg. Pastor Mark was ordained an elder in the Dakotas Conference in 2013. He was then appointed to serve at Breckenridge, Minnesota, and Fairmount, North Dakota.

He is one of the few individuals consecrated as a diaconal minister, ordained a deacon, licensed as a local pastor, and ordained an elder in The United Methodist Church. His wife CoCo has been a ministry partner throughout the years. As a vocal and piano teacher, she would give lessons and lead music at the congregations and communities they served. “I would usually come home and take care of the boys. Then she would head to work and teach lessons,” said Pastor Mark. “Throughout the years, we would play together. She would play at the church I served or another church in the community. She still plays for the church here. We still minister together.”

In retirement, the couple hopes to find a home in Wahpeton, North Dakota, or Breckenridge, Minnesota. They will spend time with their two sons, daughters-in-law, and four grandchildren.

Sarah’s faith and call to ministry grew as she entered North American Baptist College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Sarah shared that after her first year in college, she was privileged to travel with a gospel team called “God’s Volunteers,” for a year, sharing her faith in Jesus Christ, along with 14 other team members. “We traveled all over the USA and Canada. This was an outstanding experience.”

After receiving her undergraduate degree, she married Elmo Herman. The couple had two children. Ike, who is married to Rebecca, and Nate, who is married to Stephanie. They have two grandchildren, Aidan and Emily, who are both in high school.

“I accepted Jesus Christ when I was five years old; when I was 16, I came to understand what it meant to not only be saved but to live a life completely surrendered to Jesus Christ. During this time I felt called into ministry,” said Rev. Sarah Herman, who is retiring after 24 years of service in the Dakotas Conference.

Growing up in Kankakee, Illinois, she served at her home church throughout high school, teaching Bible studies and leading Bible school.

Sarah’s faith and call to ministry grew as she entered North American Baptist College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Sarah shared that after her first year in college, she was privileged to travel with a gospel team called “God’s Volunteers,” for a year, sharing her faith in Jesus Christ, along with 14 other team members. “We traveled all over the USA and Canada. This was an outstanding experience.”

After receiving her undergraduate degree, she married Elmo Herman. The couple had two children. Ike, who is married to

Juwle Nagbe

Rev. Juwle Nagbe, will enter a retirement relationship with the Dakotas Conference this year. His journey in ministry spans 40 years and reaches from West Africa to North Dakota.

“I have gone through a lot of trials many times,” said Pastor Juwle. “I was arrested by the rebels many times. They tried to kill me. But God, for some reason, protected me. They never killed me,” he said.

Born in Liberia, Nagbe became a teacher and principal. He felt an urge to do something more. Juwle made his way to Duke University in the United States and earned a Master of Divinity. He started his quest for ordination in 1987, while he was in Liberia as a United Methodist minister. Liberia is his faith home. On Christmas Day 1989, civil war broke out. The war claimed more than 200,000 Liberians in a nation of 2.1 million people and displaced millions of other citizens. One of those displaced citizens was Juwle Nagbe. The ordination process halted.

“I was in the Nimba County when rebel rule took over and divided the country into two sections, the North-Eastern ruled by the rebels and the West ruled by Samuel Doe’s government.” said Rev. Nagbe. “Some of my family escaped to Sierra Leone, but I had no idea where they were. I went to Cote d’Ivoire as a refugee; and while I was there, I began

Rebecca, and Nate, who is married to Stephanie. They have two grandchildren, Aidan and Emily, who are both in high school.

“I served alongside Elmo while we raised our children,” Sarah said. “It was such a joy for me to be able to raise our children and be part of Elmo’s ministry. When our son Nate was a junior in high school, the Lord began to open doors for me in full-time church ministry.”

Sarah went to licensing school during her time in the UCC. She moved to Alpena, South Dakota, to serve the United Parish of Alpena part-time. This was a joint parish–both UCC and United Methodist and was her first experience serving Methodists.

Sarah enjoyed working with the Alpena Church. During her last two years at Alpena, she entered seminary, a long-time dream. “I spent six wonderful years serving at Alpena. Then Elmo and I joined the Dakotas Conference, and we began our ministry with the Dakotas in North Dakota, where I served to search for my family. Not knowing where some of them were, I was able to leave to go to school in the United States at Emory University.”

Juwle completed his studies at Duke School of Theology in 2000. He continued in the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Candler School of Theology, located on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He contacted the North Georgia Conference to seek ordination as an elder in The United Methodist Church. Because Juwle entered the U.S. on a student visa, the conference could not process his ordination. He needed to become employed in the U.S. or become a United States citizen.

While going through all that, Juwle was still searching through UNHCR’s records for the Liberians who were being resettled from Africa to the United States to see if he could find his sister’s name. Then it happened. Juwle learned that his sister was resettled from the hottest spot in Africa (Ghana), to the coolest spot in the United States at Fargo, North Dakota. Upon connection by phone, his sister, Maude Thomas, decided to go to find Juwle in Georgia first.

After the visit Pastor Juwle said, “I told my sister, ‘I will come to you.’ So, I traveled from Atlanta for a visit,” he said. “I was planning to go back to Atlanta. But she said, ‘Brother, think about the years we were separated. We have lost our mother and father. Do you really want to be separated again?’ We prayed that God would open doors for us.”

By June of the same year, he was employed as a chaplain with Sandford Health, which was the beginning of Juwle’s stay in North Dakota.

Pastor Juwle, who attended Flame of Faith UMC in West Fargo, noticed that several Liberian refugees had no place to worship. So, with the support of the congregation and Rev. Mina Hall, he started a worshipping community for those that made their way from West Africa to North Dakota.

“I knew that God must have brought me to North Dakota for a reason. Mina Hall and the people at Flame of Faith were so open. She encouraged me to start the ordination process here,” said Pastor Juwle. “But the ordination process did not move along because I was not a citizen of the United States.”

In 2012, Bishop Bruce Ough became the resident bishop for the Dakotas-Minnesota Area of The United Methodist Church. At the Northeast District welcoming and installation service, held at First UMC in Fargo, Pastor Nagbe was asked to read scripture (John 21:15-19) in his dialect at the request of Bishop Ough. Why Bishop Ough would ask someone to read that passage in his dialect, and why it was Juwle Nagbe to be called upon to read that in his dialect is still a mystery to Pastor Juwle. But that was the beginning of his connection with the Dakotas Conference.

A few months later, there was a need of a pastor at Lisbon/ Enderlin charge. According to Rev. Marilyn Spurrell, the Northeast District Superintendent, Bishop Ough asked,

Randy Phillips

“I am thankful for the privilege to have been in ministry at Mayo Clinic-Rochester,” says Rev. Randy Phillips, a Dakotas Conference elder. “I constantly remind myself that whatever is going on, God is present. God is at work.”

Rev. Randy Phillips is retiring after 27 of ministry as a pastor in a local church and as a staff chaplain at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

At Mayo, he worked with a team of 24-27 chaplains to provide care on the Mayo Clinic-Rochester, St. Mary’s and Methodist campuses to show the love of Jesus to persons at the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

“My primary workplace was the Mayo Clinic HospitaRochester, St. Mary’s campus,” says Rev. Randy Phillips. “The COVID-19 pandemic altered and increased my workload significantly, visiting patients and their families throughout the hospital in times of need.”

“Who was that man who read that scripture?” Pastor Juwle shared, “I do not know if he understood what I read in my dialect, but he remembered the man who read the Scripture. Only God could work those things out.”

Rev. Spurrell approached Pastor Juwle to serve three churches—two United Methodist congregations and one Presbyterian congregation—at Lisbon and Enderlin, North Dakota. “I said, ‘Sure if they can understand me,’” said Pastor Juwle.

“In 2013, I was appointed. The thing I loved about serving there was the openness, the love of the people, their readiness,” said Pastor Juwle. “We just got connected—our hearts, our spirits—just got connected, and that was just by the grace of God. We all grew so much together.”

In 2014, Rev. Nagbe was commissioned as an elder in the Dakotas Conference. He was ordained as a full member in 2019. Juwle’s wife of 37 years—Martha, his two sons, daughter, and three grandchildren attended the ordination service. His sister, who currently works as a nurse and lives in Bismarck, attended with her daughter and granddaughter.

In 2020, Rev. Nagbe was appointed to serve at Streeter and Napoleon in North Dakota. He will be living in Streeter and continue serving the congregations in retirement.

He grew up in rural Nebraska, attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduating with a master’s degree in counseling. Phillips began his career as a counselor in a Nebraska state prison. During that time, he experienced his mother’s death from ovarian cancer, a life-changing faith experience.

“My faith has always been important to me. I wrestled a lot with God during the time of my mother’s illness and death,” he says. “I found my faith increased. I spent a lot of time at the hospital, and I saw and experienced God. So, I headed to seminary.”

Graduating from seminary, he desired to be a chaplain, but the process for chaplaincy did not fall into place at the time. Phillips found himself serving the Church of God in Grand Forks, North Dakota. There he met Rev. Harry Williams, a Dakotas Conference elder, who invited him to explore his call in the Dakotas Conference with The United Methodist Church.

He accepted the call to serve the Dakotas Conference at McLaughlin, South Dakota, and at Cando and Minot Faith in North Dakota.

“I rediscovered the possibility of chaplaincy and headed to Mayo in Rochester for a year of training. From there, I went to Erie, Pennsylvania, and served as a hospital chaplain for two years,” says Rev. Phillips. “I came back to Mayo when there was an opening, and I have been here ever since.” Chaplains have the opportunity to come alongside patients and families, to listen and learn of the situation and the sometimes-insurmountable challenges before them. Chaplains reach out to all people regardless of their faith, religion and/ or beliefs, meeting them where they are in their life and situation, honoring their faith or belief system, helping as they are able. The chaplaincy team at Mayo works together to see as many patients as possible and provide them some comfort in isolation. That may look like sitting in silence

Ross Reinhiller

“The conference has always given me that opportunity to not only share but also to live out my call. I started preaching at Camp Crook and Buffalo, South Dakota, when I was in college. When I was 20, Dick Fisher asked me to serve there in the summers. He trusted me. God has been good,” said Rev. Ross Reinhiller, who has served the Dakotas Conference for more than 40 years and has entered a retirement relationship with the conference.

Ross Reinhiller grew up in southwest North Dakota and northwest South Dakota. His parents were teachers and moved to different communities in his early years. “I was blessed having a mom and dad that took their faith seriously,” said Rev. Reinhiller.

His call to ministry came in those formative years when he was in kindergarten. The Reinhiller family lived in Lemmon, South Dakota, and attended the Methodist Church. The pastor at that church was Rev. DeVern Schwenn.

“My kindergarten year was my traumatic year. I was 21 days in a row late for kindergarten because I didn’t know that you had to go at a certain time. My freedom was gone. Pastor DeVern preached something that year that spoke to me. He asked if I wanted Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I remember going into my bedroom and just praying. That was the beginning of my journey. By spring of kindergarten, I had my call,” describes Pastor Ross.

Pastor Ross experienced a variety of pastors that encouraged and listened to his call. Revs. Art Scanson and Warren Wenzel invested in him. In addition, Ross served on the youth council at his church and for the conference.

with someone, connecting them to family members using technology, or praying with or for them.

“Chaplains have the opportunity to honor the situation and to invite a broader reality that may give them hope or strength,” Phillips says. “This may invite remembering and naming meaningful resources and hope, for the moment and eternity. Patients may affirm their faith in God, support from their family and loved ones. Reminders of a broader reality often change how they feel—realizing hope and a calm that is bigger than this situation, this world, even this life.”

He said, “I lived a long way from any camp. I grew up with the things that people grew up with—ministry on the radio, Bible class, and things available in the seventies. Then Art Scanson and Warren Wenzel, those United Methodist pastors, invested in me.”

After high school, Pastor Ross attended Dickinson State University, graduating with a degree in education. After earning his undergraduate degree, he attended Asbury Seminary in Kentucky.

“I attended seminary when I was 21 years old—quite young. I thought I was going to be a church history professor. My master’s degree is in church history and historical theology, kind of an academic and professional degree,” he said.

After seminary, Rev. Reinhiller held a couple of teaching positions. He felt he needed some experience as a pastor at a local church.

“I thought I needed to know what my students were going through to teach effectively. I was appointed to Ashley and Forbes in the North Dakota Conference. Rev. Norm Neumann was the Eastern District Superintendent in North Dakota at the time. He told the churches, ‘You’re getting a young fellow right out of school. He will be very enthusiastic and think this is the best thing in the world. You’re either going to make or break his ministry. If you break his ministry, he won’t have the good sense to quit, but he will struggle all the rest of his ministry.’ So those two little churches decided they were going to make my ministry, and they really did,” said Pastor Ross.

Rev. Reinhiller returned to teaching at the Biblical seminary in Medellín, Colombia. “When I returned to Colombia, I

While serving at Union Church in Bogota, he realized he had fallen in love and eventually married Rev. Val Reinhiller, who was back from seminary and was serving at First United Methodist Church in Bismarck. Ross was serving at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Mandan. Ross and Val got to know each other but never dated. However, they remained friends in conversation across the miles when Ross headed to South America.

“I went to South America. God got ahold of me and reminded me that there’s somebody that I really do love back home. So, I came back to the annual conference in Fargo and proposed. She said, ‘Yes.’ I went back to South America and came back in September, two days before the wedding. We got married, and we’ve been together ever since. We never kissed until after we were engaged. So, I tell my youth group, don’t kiss until you’re engaged. It worked for us.”

The couple headed back to Bogota, Columbia, in service together. “She married into that. It was the first time we were in ministry together as a couple. We served on staff in South America,” said Pastor Ross.

They returned to the United States and served a three-point charge at Faith UMC in Williston, North Dakota, Grenora UMC in North Dakota, and Bainville UMC in Montana. During that time, two daughters were born into the family.

“I got a fellowship for pastors’ training at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky,” said Pastor Ross.

Dean Trapp

Rev. Dean Trapp was called to ministry when he was a junior in high school. He will retire this year after serving 34 years in ministry.

Growing up, Rev. Dean Trapp had Sunday school teachers and his great aunts tell him, “I think someday you are going to be a pastor.”

When he was in confirmation at Central United Methodist Church in Milbank, South Dakota, Rev. Sam Graf asked Dean what he wanted to be after high school and college. Dean told him, “I think I want to be an attorney.” Graf said, “It would be good to have an attorney who is a Christian. But I think God is calling you

Returning from school, the bishop appointed the couple to serve at Winner, South Dakota. “That was just a great place. You know, the church went from 170 to 400 in worship,” said Rev. Reinhiller. “We were the right people at the right time.”

From there, Rev. Reinhiller went to Bismarck, North Dakota. He served as the superintendent of Shiloh Christian School. “We went to Shiloh to focus on their plan, mission, and finances.”

He was then appointed to Southern Hills UMC in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Pastor Val served at Sunnycrest UMC in Sioux Falls at the same time. First United Methodist Church in Aberdeen, South Dakota, was the next appointment where they served together as a couple. Today they serve at Faith in Williston, North Dakota.

“I don’t know that we would have picked any of the churches we served, but we couldn’t have served better churches,” said Pastor Ross. “We’ve had the opportunity in every church to do just basically two things. One is to call people into a relationship with Jesus Christ and the other is to grow them deep at every church we’ve served. That’s been exciting because Valerie and I have dedicated ourselves to helping people find and fulfill their calls.” into ministry.”

In retirement, Revs. Ross and Val Reinhiller will continue serving and living in Williston, North Dakota. “I am retiring and serving alongside Val. So, we are kind of switching our roles,” said Ross.

Rev. Trapp remembers the exact moment that he knew that God was calling him into pastoral ministry. “I was in my bedroom doing my devotions. I was reading a passage about the differences between Adam and Christ. I felt God say at that moment, ‘Dean, I want you to preach this.’ I knew I was called,” said Pastor Dean.

Throughout his years at Central UMC as a youth and young adult, he sang in the choir and was involved with the youth group. Rev. Dave and Mary Motta led the youth group.

Pastor Dave and Mary took Dean on a tour of Westmar College. Then, he headed to Westmar for a bachelor’s degree in religion and sociology.

Rev. Dean Trapp was called to ministry when he was a junior in high school. He will retire this year after serving 34 years in ministry.

Growing up, Rev. Dean Trapp had Sunday school teachers and his great aunts tell him, “I think someday you are going to be a pastor.”

When he was in confirmation at Central United Methodist Church in Milbank, South Dakota, Rev. Sam Graf asked Dean what he wanted to be after high school and college. Dean told him, “I think I want to be an attorney.” Graf said, “It would be good to have an attorney who is a Christian. But I think God is calling you into ministry.”

Rev. Trapp remembers the exact moment that he knew that God was calling him into pastoral ministry. “I was in my bedroom doing my devotions. I was reading a passage about the differences between Adam and Christ. I felt God say at that moment, ‘Dean, I want you to preach this.’ I knew I was called,” said Pastor Dean.

Throughout his years at Central UMC as a youth and young adult, he sang in the choir and was involved with the youth group. Rev. Dave and Mary Motta led the youth group. After graduation from Westmar, Pastor Dean attended St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. “I was challenged by the liberal theology being taught at St. Paul’s. At times I felt very uncomfortable. But I was not the only evangelical student there. I became friends with some of the other evangelical students. We met together for prayer and Bible study and mutual support. And that helped me make it through my studies. Being at St. Paul’s and having the experience I did only made me stronger in my faith and helped me realize I was on the right path,” he said.

Upon graduation from seminary, Rev. Trapp entered his first appointment at Conde and Andover, South Dakota. “When Susie and I went to visit the church and parsonage, we couldn’t get into the parsonage. At the time, they had no pastor so there was no one living in the parsonage. It was February. It had just snowed 10-12 inches on top of what they already had earlier in the winter. The snow had not been removed all winter. So, they just told us what the parsonage looked like,” said Rev. Trapp. “It was a great place to start. We still have some friends that we keep in contact within those communities.”

In 1990, Dean and Susie moved 21 miles north to serve a two-point appointment at the United Methodist Church in Groton and the United Church of Christ in Columbia, South Dakota.

After five years, there was a realignment. Rev. Trapp served the United Methodist Churches in Groton and Conde. “It was great to serve the people of Conde again. It was like we never left,” he said.

In 1996, he was appointed to serve the United Methodist congregations in Yankton and Gayville-Volin. In about 2005, Gayville-Volin was realigned to be served by the pastor at Vermillion. But Dean and his family served the Yankton Church for a total of 14 years. “It became known as home to our three children. They spent most of their school years there,” said Pastor Dean. “It was a wonderful time for our family and ministry.”

The next stop in Trapp’s ministry journey was Sunnycrest United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, before moving to Huron to serve at Riverview and Virgil United Methodist Churches.

“Every place we have been in ministry, we have been blessed. I give thanks for that,” said Pastor Dean.

“We tried to inspire the campers by reliving God’s dream for Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. I played Moses, and we would climb to the top of Storm Mountain for the Sermon on the Mount and receive the Ten Commandments. It was a wonderful experience,” recalled Pastor Dean.

In retirement, Dean and Susie will continue to live in Sioux Falls, where they currently live. Dean will continue to work at Walmart as a Customer Host/Greeter. He will go from full-time to part-time, working two days a week beginning in June.