Church brings joy with new pastor

NEW HARTFORD — After more than a year of searching for just the right fit, the members of the North Congregational Church in New Hartford have  named a new pastor.

The Rev. Margret Hofmeister assumed her role as the congregation’s spiritual leader on Aug. 3. Since then, the Branford native has been settling into her new position and getting to know the congregation — and the greater New Hartford community — a bit better.

“It has been an exciting couple of weeks,� Hofmeister said. “Everyone has been so encouraging. And I have felt very welcomed.�

Hofmeister replaces the Rev. Stanley Youngberg, who served as the church’s interim pastor for more than two years. Youngberg was named to the post by the United Church of Christ’s regional association when North Congregational’s previous permanent pastor, the Rev. Gregory Dawson, left in February 2007.

Stephen Egbertson, who serves as the congregation’s moderator, or council president, said Youngberg’s interim appointment allowed the congregation to take its time and find just the right person to become the church’s new pastor.

“His job was strictly to get us from one pastor to another,� Egbertson said, adding that within the UCC denomination, a group of reverends are specially trained to only serve as interim pastors; they cannot be permanently appointed to lead a congregation.

“We liked him very much, but we couldn’t hire him,� Egbertson said of Youngberg. “But it is a system that worked very well for us.�

The congregation, which currently has about 80 members, formed a pastoral search committee a little over a year ago. Before it entered into the interviewing process, however, the eight-member committee was first charged with developing a comprehensive church profile. The profile would provide interested pastoral candidates an important initial overview of the congregation.

“By the time we were done, it was a 22-page document that we drew up,� Egbertson said.

From there, the committee posted a listing through the UCC’s Web site that announced the church was looking for a new pastor.

Hofmeister, 44, said she came across North Congregational’s listing while looking for her first calling as a pastor.

A lifelong member of the UCC, Hofmeister spent most of her professional career on the business side of the printing industry.

“But while I enjoyed what I was doing, I never really felt quite fulfilled,� she said.

After spending most of the late 1990s living and working in New Hampshire, Hofmeister returned to Connecticut in 1999. Once home, she reconnected with her family’s local congregation, First Congregational Church of Branford, becoming very active within its leadership ranks, taking part in missionary trips and serving as a deacon.

“And that activity caused me to be a little more reflective,� Hofmeister said.

After working closely with her associate pastor in Branford, Hofmeister said she began a slow realization that she had a higher spiritual calling.

“I thought that perhaps I was being called by God my whole life, but I was not always paying attention,� she said.

Then, in 2004, Hofmeister decided to permanently change her life’s path, and entered the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She spent the next few years studying, eventually graduating in the spring of 2007.

A few months later, Hofmeister began working on her ordination paper. But in October 2007, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Hofmeister said the illness delayed completion of the document, which must be accepted and approved by the UCC’s regional association before an individual can officially be considered a candidate for a pastoral position.

“It was a speed bump in the process,� she said.

Eventually, however, she completed the requirements.

“Finally I was authorized to release my profile,� Hofmeister said. “And I started my search.�

In the meantime, to help pay off her student loans, Hofmeister took an office manager position at the Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, a nonprofit organization based in Hamden.

“Through my work there, I really learned a lot about the issues that the elderly face,� she said.

Then after exchanging profiles with several churches earlier this year, Hofmeister interviewed with North Congregational’s search committee in March 2009.

“Before I even got into the room, I could hear the members laughing and talking and having a good time.  I could tell they got along well with each other... and then I walked right in and we just clicked,â€� she said. “Two hours later I left there thinking, ‘This could be my church family.’ And I drove home very happily.â€�

The process continued to move forward, and in May, Hofmeister was asked to deliver a sermon on a “neutral pulpit� to allow the New Hartford search committee to hear her preach.

After listening to her words at the Old Stone Church in East Haven, Eg­bertson said committee members became even more excited about  Hofmeister’s candidacy.

“On the ride home one of the committee members said, ‘Well, our work is done,’� he said. “And we just took it from there.�

The next step in the process was to let the entire congregation hear Hofmeister preach. And so a few weeks later, she did.

“The congregation just loved her,� Egbertson said.

But although the committee was unanimous in its decision to name Hofmeister the church’s new pastor, her candidacy first had to be taken to the entire congregation for a vote. If members voted in her favor, she would move forward as the new pastor. If not, then the committee would have to go back to the drawing board.

“The congregation voted overwhelmingly in her favor,� Egbertson said.

Hofmeister said as the new pastor, she intends to focus on a number of things, including increasing the congregation’s membership, as well as engaging more youths and young families to become active participants in the church.

“It’s not just about Sunday, but about what we do every day of our lives,� she said, adding that while an active spiritual life does take a certain amount of work and discipline, it also can be fun.

“There’s a lot of joy,� she said. “And I want to tap into that joy.�