By Michelle Rodriguez
The Belton Journal
Belton’s First United Methodist Church welcomed a new Reverend on Friday, November 1.
Reverend Patrick Hoffman and his wife Reverend Jennifer Chickering and their 2 children moved from Celina, Texas, a town north of Dallas.
He was a Reverend for three years at First United Methodist Church in Celina, and has also served in Henrietta, Texas; Valleyview, Texas; and Richardson, Texas.
“Reverends are guaranteed appointments called by bishops to serve at the church one year at a time, and each time I’ve moved because the bishop has asked me to do so,” said Reverend Hoffman.
Belton’s First United Methodist Church previous Reverend Jeff Miller was there seven years.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know my new congregation and seeing how we can grow in our faith together through the coming days, weeks, months, and years,” said Hoffman.
Reverend Hoffman was born in Singapore, and has lived in Saudi Arabia, California, and Texas.
“I was wrestling with what I was called to do. God was calling me to be a reverend and it was through a lot of questions and listening to friends and family and then also the voice of God. The reason why I want to be a reverend is because I love people and I love getting to share the story of God’s unconditional love with folks who need to hear that. I believe that our faith can make a difference in the world to make it a better place,” said Hoffman.
The church has been very welcoming to Reverend Hoffman. They made him feel welcomed by being very hospitable. The congregation held a potluck on Sunday, November 10 to celebrate and welcome them officially. He said everyone who he’s talked with and met has been genuine and authentic and it’s been heartwarming. The family is still getting to know Belton. They are living in Little River Academy and will move to Belton as soon as they sell their house in Celina.
“In the Methodist Church, elders are responsible for ordering the life of the church, and that means making sure that people are prayed for, and sermons are preached, and worship happens, and missions take place, and the congregation is working towards its mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. My first Sunday, this past weekend, I preached about 1st John 4:19, we love because God first loved us,” said Hoffman.
He’s been listening to the stories of people there and what their gifts and graces are and how they feel God is calling them to do the work they do. They have 240 regular attendees which is more than his last church in Celina which had 100 attendees.
“I worked with Habitat for Humanity to do construction in El Salvador for several years with previous churches. I appreciate the work that the United Methodist Committee on Relief does for disaster relief work, especially in wake of hurricanes, and tornadoes. Here at the church, I haven’t received all the missions yet, but so far, I’ve been really impressed with the work of their college lunch. Before lunch, I was warmly greeted by every one of the volunteers,” said Hoffman.
