New pastor makes home in Zelienople
ZELIENOPLE — When Toni Schlemmer searched for input, she found help.
After she sent an informative mass email to Calvin Presbyterian Church members about the concert she planned to create, the Rev. A. David Paul jumped onboard.
“David brings energy, enthusiasm, and he is very eager,” said Schlemmer, Calvin Presbyterian Church's director of fine arts, about the church's new pastor. “He has a very positive energy and enthusiasm that is contagious.”
Schlemmer said she looks forward to working with Paul to create narration in the form of written and spoken words between the music in the concert planned for Jan. 24, she said.
The concert is one example showing Paul, who spent the past decade in Nebraska, can give, grow and learn from the staff and congregation as the new pastor at Calvin Presbyterian Church, 415 E. Grandview Ave. He started in December.
“This isn't about what David wants ... this is about God's will,” said Paul, 49. “What is God's longing desire for us individually and collectively?”
He and his wife of 22 years, Jen, have three children; Joshua, 19, Ana, 16, and Adelyn, 13.
Paul, who grew up in the South Hills, received his undergraduate degree at Northeastern University in Boston where he played football for two years.
He earned his master's degree in counseling and psychology from Trinity University in Vermont. Next, he attended seminary at Princeton.
At the age of 9, he felt his first call to ministry when his parents brought their minister, the Rev. Hetz Marsh, and his family on vacation, Paul said.
On the 12-hour drive to South Carolina in the backseat of a wood-paneled station wagon, he and his brother kicked and screamed ahead of arrival because they knew they would have to be on their best behavior for the minister, Paul said.
On the return trip, he decided he wanted to be like Marsh when he grew up, Paul said, adding the experience was one of his family's best vacations and Marsh became his mentor.
Paul wanted to help people and decided to study psychology, where he hid his call to ministry.
When Paul questioned going to medical school, Marsh arranged for him to speak with professionals in the field who advised Paul not to enter the career if he wanted to make a difference, which is why he entered the seminary.The two fields blend seamlessly, Paul said.“We talk about Freud being the father of modern psychiatry and psychology,” he said. “I'm sorry, God's been writing and talking about this stuff for thousands of years.”Omaha is “God's best- kept little secret,” Paul said, adding it was a great place to raise his family.The move to Zelienople was prompted by the death of Paul's father-in-law, George Fichter.“That changed everything,” he said. “I remember like it was yesterday.”His wife and Ana traveled to the funeral the same day Paul and Adelyn dropped off Josh at the airport for him to go to show choir nationals in the midst of the flooding in Nebraska in 2019. The two made it to Pittsburgh on time for the final viewing.After the death, Paul and his wife talked about moving with their children, back to Pennsylvania, so Anne Fichter, Paul's mother-in-law, would not be alone, he said.That is when he took the position at Calvin Presbyterian Church. Since then, he has gotten to know and develop an admiration for the staff as professionals and people of God, Paul said.“Pinch me. Is this real?” he said. “I get to work with these people. I get to minister to this congregation.”One of the most difficult roles as pastor is connecting with the entire congregation, he said.Paul's two bracelets, each with their own significance to his life, and the Doc Martens and jeans connect to the less formal younger generation, while the oxford, button-down shirt is a nod to an older generation that expects formal attire, he said.The Calvin church has a legacy of ministers, he said, adding he is the third minister in 75 years.He will not fill the same shoes, but different, new shoes, he said, which the congregation understands.For the first time in 20 years of ministry, Paul said he does not have to focus on fixes or tweaks.“We have a well-oiled machine here,” he said. “It's really not about what I vision and what I feel we need to do for this church, it's about what we together discern to be God's will for this church.”
WHAT: Calvin Presbyterian Church concertWHEN: Jan. 26WHERE: Calvin Presbyterian Church, 415 E. Grandview Ave., ZelienopleCOST: A $10 suggested donation will benefit the church and cover concert expensesNOTES: The concert's theme is hope, and it is open to the community, said Toni Schlemmer, Calvin Presbyterian Church's director of fine arts.“It's the first part of the year, it's a new decade,” Schlemmer said. “In January, the Christmas lights are down, all of the sparkle may be gone and you're three weeks into the year and maybe there'll be snow or dreary days. We all need to look up and find the light and find the hope and not look down to the snow and muck.”The church's drama ministry, a form of community outreach, produces two musicals each year. This spring's musical planned for April is called “Cotton Patch Gospel,” a retelling of Jesus' ministry in a country setting.
