By Chad Hershberger
In my family, we have always celebrated faith milestones. Since I was little, my parents treated our baptismal days like a second birthday. We’d light our baptism candle and get to pick out a special gift from the Christian bookstore. Since I am married to a pastor and have a second career pastor for a father, my family has also commemorated the anniversary of their ordination. It’s an important day when they take their vows of Word and Sacrament ministry.
Just like most occupations, years of service in ministry are also important. It is a big deal when someone has been a pastor for significant years. I am amazed at the number of pastors in our synod who reach milestones like 50, 55, 60, or even 65 years as ordained clergy.
Since I have been executive director of Camp Mount Luther, we have never had an ordained clergy on full-time staff. That changed three years ago when we hired Pastor Jim Vitale. Jim has served us as our part-time outreach director and full-time associate director during those years. And on October 26, Jim will be celebrating the five year anniversary of his ordination.
The camp community celebrates with Jim. It is significant to dedicate your life to ministry, let alone be in it for a long period of time. I remember when I celebrated my fifth year as being Mount Luther Director, I felt very accomplished to have made that milestone. And the fact that next year I will celebrate my 25th year is also significant to me. Ministry takes a lot out of you. We put a lot into serving others. It is good for us to recognize and appreciate of service, particularly significant milestones.
Jim was ordained and installed as pastor of Beaver Lutheran Church, Beaver Springs, on October 26, 2019. This was his first call out of seminary. Following discernment on both part of the congregation and the pastor, Jim began his ordained ministry in Snyder County. He will tell you that he did not anticipate being in this area for a first call. Having grown up there, New York State was a more logical place for him to end up. But the Holy Spirit often has other ideas! Which led Jim, his wife, and son to move to Beavertown where he worked among his people and was involved in the work of the wider church.
I got to know Jim during those days. I think we first met at a meeting of a potential confirmation camp that was held in my office. We would see each other at synod events and chitchat and occasionally email. During the pandemic, I regularly watched Jim’s worship services online and I was drawn to his preaching. We began to connect more regularly in late 2021 and as Jim was discerning leaving his congregation for other work, I felt that he had the gifts that could be utilized in our outdoor ministry.
That’s the interesting thing about the church. Ministry is the best done when you find the intersection of a human’s God-given gifts and the needs of a ministry site. I know the Holy Spirit was at work to lead Jim to central Pennsylvania first, and then to us at Mount Luther.
We celebrate with him on this milestone in his ministry. Being committed to sharing the gospel daily as a vocation is a big thing. Doing that for a long time should be uplifted. It is my belief that often our pastors are not appreciated as much as they should be. They are often expected to be superheroes. Words of affirmation to them are important.
On this significant milestone for Jim, we thank you! We thank you for the gift you are, not only to Camp Mount Luther, but to the whole church. May you continue in this ministry for many years to come and may we continue to celebrate with you the significant milestones of that ministry!