A Congregation of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod
MEET THE PASTOR
Rev. Richard C. Pape
Contact Information 585.343.0488 Ext 12 stpaulbataviapastor@gmail.com
God has blessed me with 49 years of professional church work as a Lutheran elementary teacher and pastor in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Upon graduating from Concordia College (now University) in St. Paul, Minnesota I was a teacher of grades 5 and 6 at Messiah Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri for four years (1968-1972). I was called upon to be the principal of this school in my fourth year after the death of our former principal.
I attended Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis for a year (1972-1973), fulfilled my student vicarage year (1973-1974) at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Elgin, Illinois, and then returned to the St. Louis Seminary for my final year graduating in May,1975. My wife Sylvia also taught third and fourth grades at Messiah while I completed my studies at the seminary and also taught grades 5 and 6 during my vicarage year at Good Shepherd in Elgin, Illinois.
In July of 1975 I was ordained and installed as pastor of First Lutheran Church and School in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. I served for seven years there (1975-1982). During this time we were blessed with a growth of from around 30 students to over 100. We had a wonderful experience at Camp Pioneer Retreat Center on the shores of Lake Erie as I was one of the pastoral counselors for Confirmands Retreats for 5 years in a row. I was also on the governing board in the operation of a high-rise senior living center in Sharpsburg.
Then in August of 1982, I accepted a Call to be the sole pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church and School in North Tonawanda, New York. The membership of St. Paul was over 1,100 and the school had students from preschool through 8th grade. My ministry continued for 14 and a half years (1982-1997) at St. Paul, where we developed a Monday evening informal worship service and five lay-led adult Bible study groups on Sundays. During these years my wife Sylvia also taught grades 3 and 4 at St. Mark Lutheran School and St. John Lutheran School in North Tonawanda.
In February,1997 I began serving as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Milford, Michigan
I was specifically called there to start a building program and a Lutheran school. Membership at Christ Lutheran was slightly over 300 souls. The building project totaling close to a million dollars was completed in 2001. It included renovation of the first church building into classrooms for a preschool, a new entrance and fellowship addition onto the present church building, an elevator, restrooms, more classrooms, a new church office and pastor’s study.
The church membership grew to over 500, also with a Monday evening informal worship and a Children’s Puppet Ministry on Sunday mornings, all scripted and led by gifted lay people. The preschool grew to include pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes and is still operating successfully after 22 years. I also served as a circuit counselor and pastoral advisor to the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League in this region.
I retired at the end of August, 2012 from my Call at Christ Lutheran and we moved to Fairport, New York near Rochester to be closer to our family. During my first year of retirement I did some pulpit supply for pastors in the Rochester area and continued my training for Intentional Interim Ministry, which I began in Michigan. St. John Lutheran Church and Preschool in Farmington, NY. called me as their Intentional Interim pastor in 2013 and I served there for 23 months until April, 2015. I was enabled by St. John to complete my two weeks of fall and spring training at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis to be certified in Intentional Interim Ministry.
When St. John received their new pastor, I was called to serve an interim of 13 months at First Trinity in Wellsville, New York. They also had a thriving day-care center for children. Since this was a distance of a 2-hour drive time from our home in Fairport, the church furnished an apartment I could use from Saturday – Tuesday each week. When a new pastor accepted their Call, Holy Ghost Lutheran Church and School in Niagara Falls asked me to be their part-time pastor for 6 months from November, 2016 to April, 2017. Following this ministry, since Holy Ghost received their full-time resident pastor, I accepted a Call to serve Trinity Lutheran Church in Medina, New York, as their Administrative Pastor, commuting from Fairport for 2 and a half years until September 1, 2019. On September 8th St. Paul Lutheran Church and School installed me as your Vacancy Pastor for an initial contract of 6 months, during which time you will be conducting a Call process for a full-time, resident pastor. I am also serving as the Circuit Visitor (Counselor) for the Rochester East Circuit with my second term to be completed in 2021. I am making it a high priority to have personal visits with all of the families and members of St. Paul either at home or at church during my time of ministry here.
A few things I might share with you is that both Sylvia and grew up in Minnesota and met at Concordia College in St. Paul. We have been married for 53 years and are blessed with a son, David, and a daughter, Sara, as well as four grandchildren: Zachary and Morgan (twins, 27), Jackson (12) and William (9). We enjoy spending holidays with our family and attending our grandsons’ sports events. I drove a Honda motorcycle off and on for 32 years, often using it to visit shut-ins, sold it when I retired, with the unfulfilled dream of having a Harley. (A church friend in Michigan encouraged me to start a “bike ministry”!) I enjoy golfing with my son and grandson, going on yearly cruises with Sylvia, some traveling, doing picture puzzles and reading in my spare time.
