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Historic Church Bids Farewell to a Retiring Leader
Historic Church Bids Farewell to a Retiring Leader
By Joe Motheral
The Leesburg United Methodist Church has a long and storied history dating back to the 1760s. In 1785, what was known as the Old Stone Church was built on Cornwall Street in Leesburg and later, it split into the Zionist Church and the Methodist Episcopal South in the building that is currently occupied by Leesburg United Methodist Church on West Market Street.
Now another chapter has been written with the retirement this summer of Pastor Jim Wishmyer, 67, after 16 years of ministry at LUMC.
Vernon Davis, former church historian and longtime LUMC member, said, “When Pastor Jim arrived in Leesburg (in 2007) there were various issues that required his immediate attention. However, he also devoted his time and energy to the history of Methodism in Leesburg—it being the site of the first property in the United States deeded specifically for construction of a Methodist Church. His interest in our history continued through his ministry in Leesburg.”
Phil Feeney, chairman of the church’s board of trustees, has known Rev. Wishmyer since he began attending LUMC in 2012. He described him as bringing “a wide range of ideas to the situation at hand…He goes nonstop: meetings inside and out of the church, visitations, counseling, church administration, working with youth, serving meals, singing in the choir, continuous learning, sharing a cup of coffee and stopping to ask how you are doing.”
Phil said he’ll miss him as a pastor, as a number of parishioners have indicated, but “I will hold him as a friend.”
Reverend Wishmyer has dealt with a number of issues over the years, including renovating the inside of the church, dealing with a number of maintenance issues and replacing roofs.
“But touching people’s lives has always been our main goal,” he said, adding that, “we need a more intentional outreach. Largely newcomers come to us looking for something. We need to invite people just to be able to share our story.”
Rev. Wishmyer has been a member of the Loudoun Interfaith Clergy—Jewish, Islam, Christianity, etc.—and said, “We have prayer vigils. We’ve gone before the Board of Supervisors to express our concerns related to gun violence.”
He has a list of activities he’ll pursue in his “retirement,” including helping with vacation bible school, filling in as a pastor and possibly being a substitute teacher.
A 1979 graduate of Virginia Tech with a degree in economics, he joined the Allen Corporation as a research associate in Orlando, Florida, and later was transferred to Morristown, New Jersey. During this period of his life, he said “I was actively involved in young adult church groups and began to sense a call to full time Christian Ministry.”
That led him to attend Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky starting in 1981. After a series of ministries at various churches, he came to LUMC in 2007 and he and his wife, Debbie plan to remain in Leesburg.
They also hope to do some serious traveling, including overseas, the better to achieve what he described as “a world view.”
