Young pastors get start in county
Men of the cloth must start somewhere, and southwestern Butler County has no shortage of young and energetic pastors.
One is the Rev. Matt McCarrier, 25, who has two roles with Dutilh United Methodist Church.
McCarrier, a Butler High School and Grove City College graduate, is the youth pastor at the church's main campus in Cranberry Township and is the pastor of the New Day Church in Mars. That also is a Dutilh United Methodist Church.
As youth pastor, he plans and develops the Sunday evening youth group gatherings that include games, worship and just hanging out and having fun. He also leads a Wednesday night small group youth Bible study.
But McCarrier goes one step further than many youth pastors by attending the sporting events, concerts, activities, ceremonies and other events his flock of 30 teens participates in. He also will spend time with any teen experiencing a problem, providing Christian guidance or just a friendly ear.
He said his passion for working with young adults came during his internship at the North Way Christian Church in Wexford after graduating from Grove City.
“I found out I love working with the youth,” McCarrier said.
In addition to his duties with the Dutilh United Methodist teens, McCarrier also founded the New Day Church on Pittsburgh Street in Mars.
“The first thing we did was take out the pews and put in round tables and chairs,” McCarrier said of the remodel he planned.
He said the worship experience at New Day is less like a church service and more of an interactive experience between the pastor and congregation. He said services include a time for discussion and a question-and-answer period for the congregation after his sermon.
McCarrier said some older church leaders were resistant to the new-wave worship method, and it wasn't easy trying to get the idea off the ground.
“So my advice is, if you have a young pastor and he's got ideas, cut him a little bit of slack,” he said.
McCarrier said he also goes on mission trips with congregation members.
“Without fail, every single time we go on a trip or a retreat, when we get to the place, people there automatically go to the (church members in their 50s),” McCarrier said with a chuckle. “It doesn't bother me. They answer the questions, and if they can't answer they turn to me.”
On his first mission trip, to New York City, McCarrier discovered he was too young to rent the vans the group needed to carry out its work. He was forced to call some of the older church leaders to ask them to rent the vans.
“It's an interesting thing when you're learning and a leader,” said McCarrier.
He said one facet of becoming a busy minister he did not anticipate is the time and effort spent on everyday issues such as revenues and expenditures.
“The truth is, it's a lot of hard work,” McCarrier said. “You're basically running a small business.”
He said the hardest part of his job is drawing a line between the more mundane tasks and actually ministering to members.
“Normally a business wouldn't drop everything to help their people,” he said. “Most people don't think about that.”
That balance also is a challenge faced by the Rev. Christopher Suehr, 26. He has been a part of the pastoral team for four months at Hope Lutheran Church, 8070 Rowan Road in Cranberry Township.“I wish I had more time for reflection,” Suehr said.The pastor, who works about 60 hours per week, said balance is something the hard-driven, motivated and successful adults around Cranberry Township may do well to focus on.“No one gets time to rest or reflect spiritually,” Suehr said, “and I think that's one of the needs here. To slow down.”He said balancing the time dedicated to his church and his expectant wife is one thing he didn't learn at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg.“A lot of what they don't teach you is the impact (being a pastor) has on a person's life,” Suehr said.The young minister thinks he is a good fit at Hope Lutheran, his first job out of seminary, because he shares a love of academics with many of his congregation.“Cranberry is such a family and professional area, so in a lot of ways I can relate to the dominant demographic in this area,” he said. “I am also a glutton for academic punishment, so I can understand the rigors of becoming an engineer or other professional.”Suehr said he does not have a particular pastoral focus at Hope Lutheran, and ministers to the entire congregation.“Pastors are generalists, and it's helpful to be trained as a generalist,” Suehr said. “I roll with the tide.”
The Rev. Nathan Snode, 30, is the head pastor at the fledgling Lifeway Baptist Church, which meets at the Revise Upper Cervical Health Center on Route 19. Services are Sunday morning and evening. And there is a Wednesday night Bible study.As a husband and father of two young children, he hopes he is devoting enough time to both family and the church.“It's trying to just find balance in your life,” Snode said. “I don't want to neglect my family, but I don't want to neglect the needs of the church.”Asked his goals as a minister, Snode answers immediately.“To bring glory to God in everything we say and do,” he said. “Outside of that, we attempt to reach people who don't know Christ and want to start a relationship with him.”Snode said he and his congregation focus on that goal instead of getting into their own building in a certain amount of time.“We're just kind of saving our pennies,” Snode said. “We'll find our own space.”While the three pastors' struggles with a balance in their lives may be similar, their roads to ministry varied.McCarrier felt a calling to ministry at the age of 13 as an active member of the North Main Street Church of God in Butler.The teen was heavily involved with that church's youth group, and performed in its praise band.“I just felt like I wanted to be involved in the ministry in some aspect for the rest of my life,” McCarrier said.Snode's childhood in Carrollton, Ohio, included two older brothers who both went into the ministry. While that influenced him, ministry was not a foregone conclusion for him until his later teens.“Toward the end of high school, I started praying about God's will and what he wanted for my future,” Snode said. “He gave me a peace and a calling about it.”Suehr, who grew up in the Pittsburgh area, as well as in Gettysburg, is the son of a minister.“I didn't want to be a pastor for a long time,” Suehr said. “I was very adamant against becoming a pastor.”He said the tough demands on his father's time influenced that resistance, but he also expected a dramatic religious event such as those of St. Paul and St. Augustine.When a loud calling didn't arrive in high school, he went on to York College to study business administration. There, Suehr said, God kept entering his life in small but undeniable ways. On the swim team, for example, he was always called upon to serve as the de facto pastor when needed.Suehr talked about entering the ministry during his senior year in college but began taking graduate-level classes in school counseling.“I really enjoyed it and did well, but it was not quite right,” he said.Suehr finally entered seminary at Gettysburg the next year.“The need for a spiritual home is so deep within us as people,” Suehr said. “So that's what drove me to it.”
AGE: 26HOMETOWN: Irwin, Westmoreland County; grew up in GettysburgCOLLEGE: York College, bachelor's degree in business administration; graduate degree from Lutheran Theological Seminary of GettysburgFAMILY: Married, expectingPOSITION: Co-pastor at Hope Lutheran Church in Cranberry Township
AGE: 25HOMETOWN: ButlerCOLLEGE: Grove City College, bachelor's degrees in theology and psychologyFAMILY: MarriedPOSITION: Youth pastor at the Dutilh United Methodist Church in Cranberry Township, and pastor at Dutihl's Mars campus, New Day Church
AGE: 30HOMETOWN: Carrollton, OhioCOLLEGE: Crown College of the Bible in Knoxville, Tenn.FAMILY: Married, children ages 2 and 5POSITION: Pastor at the Lifeway Baptist Church in Cranberry Township
