Jeff Burdsall, pastor of the First United Methodist Church, has preached his last sermon in New Carlisle.
“I knew it was time for me to leave the full-time ministry here,” he said. “There are other ways of serving – writing, starting a new church – I don’t know which one I will follow yet. God hasn’t told me yet.”
Burdsall has been in the ministry for over 30 years, after graduating from Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio. He came to New Carlisle from Anderson Hills United Methodist Church in Cincinnati where he was an Associate Pastor.
“We would have seminars in Lakeside, and we would pass through New Carlisle,” Burdsall said. “I always thought New Carlisle would be a nice little town to live in.”
That he did, accepting the position of lead pastor at First United Methodist in 2002.
He believes his major accomplishments in New Carlisle include the one-on-one counseling he has done with numerous members, and starting the Angel House Orphanage and School in Tanzania.
Burdsall said he has enjoyed finding unique ways of sharing the gospel, including the church’s puppet troupes and their contemporary service on Saturday evenings.
“We have made a lot of friends,” he said. “It will be hard to walk away.”
“In 14 years, you have listened to over 700 of my sermons,” said Burdsall in his parting message to his congregation. “You are very patient people.”
Burdsall’s major concern for our community is the growing drug problem. “Churches need to come together to show Christ’s love,” he said. “The church hurts itself by being competitive. We all need to be unified in our voice. We all share in the creed that Jesus is Lord. Everything else is trivial.”
He said that he is having a modular home installed on property that he owns in southern Indiana near Cincinnati, and will be moving there when it is completed.
