Doing church during the pandemic has been difficult. Many churches were closed for an extended period of time, and only recently have started reopening their doors. While churches were closed, conversations almost universally turned to what is important, what is next, and how do we remain authentic and relevant for a new generation of seekers. We are working to answer those questions for our corner of the state.
With these hopes in mind, the New England Methodist Church instituted a ministry team from some of the most eager voices and leaders across Southwestern New Hampshire. With the Reverend Scott Masters serving as pastor of record providing leadership and oversight, our ministry team was recruited to bring passion, creativity, eagerness, and to build a new model of ministry for our region.
Not only does our ministry team bring diverse voices and experiences to our pulpit each Sunday, but fresh eyes. Coupled with a small but passionate group of laity, our hope is to once again step out into the broader community with an invitation to change our world, beginning in our own backyard. Together we are reclaiming our identity, and discerning how we can uniquely step into the needs of our community and the faith journeys of our neighbors.
OUR LEAD PASTOR:
The Reverend Scott Masters has been serving Southwestern New Hampshire since 2007. After rediscovering his faith as a young adult, Scott took on increasing leadership roles within the local, state, and conference levels of the United Methodist Church. He served in various roles from Treasurer and Lay Leader of his local church, Regionally he served as a member of the NH District Ministry Strategy Team and as Co-District Laity Leader. He formally entered the Candidacy program for Ordained Ministry in the spring of 2003, and completed his licensing as a local pastor in the summer of 2006. He was assigned to Asbury Church of Chesterfield New Hampshire (where VT, Mass, and NH meet) as his first appointment in July of 2007 by the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church. In July of 2021, Scott was appointed to also serve as the Coordinating Pastor of the ministry team at West Rindge UMC, in West Rindge, New Hampshire.
For his formal theological training, He studied at Asbury Theological Seminary, in Wilmore, KY, the Appalachian LP School in Barbourville Kentucky, as part of the Red Bird Missionary Conference, and finally completed his seminary studies at Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC. Moving further, he has completed his advanced course of study (ACOS) via Duke Divinity at Duke University in North Carolina (2021) (The ACOS is the United Methodist equivalent of an MDiv, with a focus on Wesleyan Practical Theology). Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate at the New Theology School focusing on the curation of community in an age of hate, extremism, and social divide. In 2022/2023, Scott will be pursuing commissioning as an Permanent (Associate Clergy Member) in the United Methodist Church and hopes to return to further doctoral studies in Pastoral Counseling and Trauma upon completion
As a bi-vocational pastor, Scott works full time managing the Business Planning and Forecast Group at the Automotive Lighting division of OSRAM Sylvania. He lives in Keene, NH, and is married to Stacey, and together they have two girls; Annie (a Sociology & Gender Studies Grad Student at the Lancaster University in Lancaster England) and Sophie (A Student at Maine College of Art). A senior West Highland Terrier named Sammy and a Shiranian named Maggie complete the clan. Besides the church, Scott loves storytelling, is a passionate sports fan, die-hard movie buff, and spends a great deal of time weightlifting and running on the backroads of the region.
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West Rindge United Methodist Church 