Trusting in the Savior
June 1st, 1994. That was the official date that Pastor David Breederland, his wife Cindy, and their family began the ministry at First Baptist Church, now called Faith Community, in West Concord. Now with nearly thirty years of faithful service to West Concord and the surrounding communities, Pastor David is declaring the start of a new chapter as he enters retirement.
Pastor David Breederland grew up in Shelby Township, 25 miles north of Detroit, Michigan. Growing up, his family was faithful attendees of the First Baptist Church in Rochester, MI. Pastor Breederland also attended Lake Ann Camp growing up. It was here that, at the age of twelve, he says, “I dedicated my life to be available to be a pastor. During the next years at church, our youth director met with me and gave me opportunities to lead in the youth group. My direction was becoming clearer.”
He eventually left his hometown to further his education at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI. He majored in Bible and minored in Greek and Speech. It was at Cornerstone University that he met his future wife, Cindy. After graduation, Pastor Breederland worked in a few different jobs, saving up money to attend seminary. His Greek professor had encouraged Pastor Breederland to attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Pastor Breederland reflects on attending seminary, saying, “it was a time of great growth.” It was also during this season that Pastor Breederland became involved in a local church. He says, “[I] began to participate in leading their services and teaching the adult Sunday School. [My] gifting and calling were confirmed.” During his first year in seminary, he and Cindy became engaged. Cindy reflects on those early years, noting, “when I was in high school, I felt the Lord calling me to full-time Christian service. I didn't know what that would look like, that I would be a pastor's wife for all these years…The Lord has certainly been faithful to us.”
Pastor Breederland continued to grow in his ministry skills both at Trinity and after graduation. The experiences he gained through internships and various church leadership positions taught him more about the ministry and continued to strengthen his desire to serve Christ in the church and the community. After graduating with his M.Div., no pastoral positions were available at the time, so Pastor Breederland took a position at a wood model shop. Pastor Breederland had had experience in the business before. Eventually, a position opened up for him at the church where he had interned. The church was looking for a youth pastor, and so Pastor Breederland accepted the job.
He served in that position for four years. He then felt the need to move on. It was time to move from Dearborn Heights in Michigan to the much smaller town of West Concord, MN. Cindy Breederland remembers that season, saying, “at the time David was looking for a ministry position, there was a significant amount of crime in our area, and I was praying for a family-friendly environment. Because we lived in a metro area, my route to the grocery store involved driving on an eight-lane highway. I specifically prayed that wherever the Lord placed us, I would be able to get to the grocery store on a two-lane road. I simply forgot to pray that there would actually be a grocery store in the town where we would be living!” Regardless of the lack of a grocery store in the town, the move to West Concord would lead to many encouraging friendships and meaningful ministry opportunities.
Pastor Breederland began at First Baptist Church, now Faith Community, as the associate pastor. Then, in 1999, a group in the congregation felt called to plant a church in Wanamingo, now called New Life Church. Because of this transition, Pastor David Breederland and his family stepped into the role of lead pastor.
In addition to the pastoral ministry, Pastor David and Cindy Breederland have been greatly involved in the community. For 28 ½ years, Pastor Breederland served on the West Concord Volunteer Fire Department. He has also been a board member for Camp Lebanon in Burtrum, MN. Cindy teaches piano lessons and greatly enjoys getting to know and engage with students and their families. She has also accompanied the Honors Choirs of SE Minnesota. Cindy also enjoys playing the oboe in the Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra. Her love for music began in seventh grade and has continued to bless others since.
As Pastor Breederland reflects on his time in the ministry at Faith Community Church, he says, “I’m very blessed to have enjoyed great relationships with many people in the church and community. My life has been enriched by their input.” He recalls several funny stories, including “learning that people have names they use but aren’t their legal names, which made it difficult to visit someone in St. Mary’s Hospital when the registrar says there’s nobody by that name here. Yet forty minutes earlier, I delivered them to the hospital in the ambulance, so I knew they were there. Once I learned their legal name, I was good to visit.” On other occasions, people have asked him if he could perform a funeral service for their dog that had just passed away.
As this chapter of ministry comes to a close, the Breederland’s continue to look to the Lord for his faithfulness as they move toward retirement. When asked about retirement plans, Pastor Breederland says, “I hope to be able to fill the pulpit for guys on vacation as well as explore other ways I can use my gifts and training. I do plan to get some guys in the boat this summer for fishing and spiritual encouragement. I plan to assist my folks with things around their home, too.”
Pastor David and Cindy Breederland have poured themselves into following the Lord’s calling on their life. Through the tears and the joys, one thing has remained constant: their trust in the Lord. Cindy says her life verse is Proverbs 3:5-6, which reads, "trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." She says, “the deep friendships we have formed and the experience of walking this journey together have been the greatest blessings in my life. So much to be thankful for! We are looking forward to the next phase of our journey and are excited to see what the Lord has in store.” Pastor Breederland’s last day will be April 30th.
A formative journey
Life is a formative journey. Our experiences help to prepare us for the next challenge. This is certainly true of Pastor Christensen of West Concord and Dodge Center. Pastor Christensen has served both Trinity Lutheran Church and Dodge Center Methodist Church since 2020. His time at these churches has helped prepare him to take on a new challenge. Pastor Christensen will be stepping away from the pastoral role in Dodge County to serve four ELCA churches in the Bricelyn and Kiester area.
Pastor Christensen grew up on a farm in Westbrook, MN. While he understood some of the basics of the faith, it wasn’t until he reached college that he truly recognized his own personal calling to the ministry. Pastor Christensen says, “my home pastor suggested that I take religion and philosophy courses at South Dakota State University. I was a part of Lutheran Campus Ministry while at SDSU and served as a camp counselor at Lake Shetek Bible Camp, Slayton, MN, while in college.” Gaining hands-on experience in ministry helped Pastor Christensen to follow the calling God had for his life. He reflected on that season of life by saying, “these experiences, as well as my first job after college as a social worker for Pipestone County, MN, were very formative as others were encouraging of me and helped me reflect on where my faith might take me career-wise.” In addition to the encouragement he received from his hometown pastor, Pastor Christensen says that “visits with my mother about her own church upbringing were very significant upon me as I thought about ministry as a career.” In addition, during his time in Pipestone, Pastor Christensen notes that “Sunday school and singing in the choir…with other very devout Christians really modeled for me what solid church ministry looks like and what I could aspire to, with God’s guidance, if I served in the church.”
Pastor Christensen continued his education after college. He earned a master’s degree in theology from Princeton University and furthered his knowledge by earning a Ph.D. in rural sociology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Pastor Christensen says, “this education pointed me in the direction of teaching rural ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul.” Pastor Christensen has greatly enjoyed being involved in the academic community throughout his career. He says he has led “seminarian rural immersions in Michigan and Minnesota, where students get field practice in small church ministry and learn about leadership issues in today’s Church.” Being involved in the academic world has helped Pastor Christensen to encourage the next generation of ministry-minded individuals.
Pastor Christensen has served the West Concord and Dodge Center area for almost six years. He entered into his role during the COVID-19 challenges. Reflecting on his ministry during that season, he says, “I am grateful we made it through the challenges COVID-19 created when I began in 2020, and that experience in ministry proved to teach me more about communications, too.”
Pastor Christensen shared some of his highlights serving in the Dodge County area. He says he has enjoyed “teaching confirmation to middle school youth and visiting the sick and elderly.” He is eager to be able to continue these ministries in the future in his new position.
He also recalls some humorous moments throughout his time of pastoral ministry. On one such occasion, he remembers, “my first call was in Upper Michigan, near Marquette, where I served a Lutheran country church from 2000-2009. One Christmas Day, I was driving from Michigan back to Minnesota to see my family, and I stopped off at a closed gas station and rested my head on the steering wheel, after having led late-night Christmas services the night before. The State Patrol knocked on my window, wondering if I was alright as I was lunged forward in the driver’s seat. I was okay, and he said it would be better to recline back to at least appear that I wasn’t ill.” On another occasion during COVID, he recalls, “I tried blowing out an altar candle after worship while wearing a COVID visor. I actually made the flame larger when that happened…The organist laughed.”
Pastor Christensen has seen many changes serving in the ministry. Each change has presented new opportunities that have helped him to grow. He will be facing a new and exciting challenge as he transfers from serving in Dodge Country to serve as an interim pastor to four ELCA churches in the Bricelyn and Kiester area. He is eager for this new challenge as he understands some of the logistics of serving multiple churches already. He says, “I think the challenge of serving four churches at one time—with the logistics involved and ministering to the different characteristics of each church—will be like the current call I am in here in West Concord and Dodge Center.” As Pastor Christensen reflects on his time of ministry in Dodge County, he states, “the people here in Dodge County have been tremendous to work with, and I am grateful for being in this place.” Pastor Christensen will continue to live in the Dodge County area and commute to his interim position, staying overnight in the Bricelyn area as needed.
Delighting in the LORD through 40 years of ministry
“Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4).
For Pastor Roger Langworthy, of Praise Fellowship Church, this has been a central verse that has carried him through 40 years of pastoral ministry.
After four decades of dedicated pastoral service to Praise Fellowship Church, Pastor Langworthy is stepping down from his role as lead pastor.
Pastor Langworthy has lived in the Dodge County area for most of his life. His parents were farmers in Dodge Center, but Pastor Langworthy attended the West Concord School. Attending the West Concord School was a life-changing season in Pastor Langworthy’s life, as this is where he met his future wife, Melanie Wheeler.
Pastor Langworthy eventually left the Dodge County area for a brief season to study at the University of Minnesota in Waseca. After graduation, he returned to the area and purchased a farm, where he says, “Melanie and I began our adventure of farming with 15,000 chickens and eventually 28 milk cows.” Early on in their marriage, Pastor Langworthy says, “we were intentional about making the Lord Jesus, the central part of our lives and home.” Because of this drive, they decided to join a small group with other young adults who were passionate about making Jesus the center. Pastor Langworthy reflects, “during that season of our life, we experienced a real renewal and revival of our spiritual lives and an experience likened to the words that Jesus gave his disciples just before his ascension when he said, ‘you will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and you will be my witnesses.’” As they continued to invest in this small group, Pastor Langworthy was soon asked to lead it. He soon felt the call to pursue the ministry. Reflecting on that season, Pastor Langworthy says, “the best way that I can describe my understanding of the Lord’s call to ministry is that as I was delighting myself in the Lord, he was dropping into my heart the desire to pursue a call to ministry.” His obedience to the Lord led him to pursue theological training at the Christian International University in Point Washington, Florida.
Of course, Pastor Langworthy and his wife, Melanie, were full-time farmers, so moving to Florida was not possible. So, Pastor Langworthy completed his education via correspondence. During this training, he soon understood that the Lord was not just calling him to lead a small group but to an even bigger mission: to become a pastor and to start a church. Thus, soon after, the first service of Praise Fellowship Church began on April 6th, 1986. The families that were involved in the small group became some of the first members of the church. Pastor Langworthy remembers those early days. “When we started, several people of the community asked the question, ‘why does Dodge Center need another church?’ But we were starting something of a significant difference than most of the churches that were here at that time, in that our worship was more of a contemporary style, including instruments like drums and guitars along with the piano. We were incorporating many scriptural choruses along with some traditional hymns. And a significant emphasis of our ministry was receiving the filling of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus said to his disciples that they might be empowered to be his witnesses.”
In addition to the pastoral ministry, Pastor Langworthy also felt the call to minister in the community. He communicated this desire to the church early on in the founding process. Throughout the years, Pastor Langworthy has been a dedicated chaplain of the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office, a bus driver for the school district, and a member of the local Lions Club. He says, “My participation in those organizations has opened all kinds of doors of opportunity to be involved in the community.”
As Pastor Langworthy reflects on his time in the ministry, he remembers some of the humorous moments. He remembers on one such occasion, “I was going to close the service with prayer and asked everyone, ‘please bow your eyes and close your heads.’ Everyone busted out laughing, including myself. It got so bad that I could not stop, and someone else had to close the service that day.”
Another humorous moment occurred during preparations for Pastor Langworthy’s father’s funeral. Pastor Langworthy remembers that the “funeral home [had] printed the announcement for the funeral, and it stated that my dad, Roy Langworthy, was the officiant. I played off that for the message of the funeral and shared ‘if my dad were here, these are some of the things he would share with you, sharing some of his highlighted scriptures from his Bible.’”
Pastor Langworthy says he will continue to be a committed member of the community. He will be assisting Israel and Maleca Walters as they navigate the role of leading Praise Fellowship Church. Pastor Walters grew up in the Praise Fellowship Church community and was mentored by Pastor Langworthy.
Pastor Langworthy will also continue to be involved in the community through bus driving and being a chaplain for the Dodge County Sheriff's Office. However, Pastor Langworthy and his wife are looking forward to spending more time with family, including their children and grandchildren.
In his time of ministry, Pastor Langworthy has seen the power and faithfulness of the Lord in many ways. Yet, as he reflects on all the goodness that the Lord has shown, he is reminded of one thing in particular. Pastor Langworthy commented, “when the Bible says in Psalm 139:16, 'you saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.’ I see so much purpose in the gift of life that God has given us. When the Lord drops in our heart the desire to do what He has planned and gifted us to do, and we have opportunity to impact others through those things, there is so much satisfaction and fulfillment. You end up living a life that you enjoy all the while having a positive impact on the lives of others. And you end up living for that day when you will stand before the Lord to give an account to him, desiring to hear those words from Matthew 25:21: ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’” Pastor Langworthy’s last day and the Celebration of 40 years of Praise Fellowship Church was on April 12th.
