By Greg Miller

Star Correspondent

The Rev. Tim Mindemann is the new minister of Memorial Presbyterian Church, having assumed his duties at the congregation in June.

“We moved into Elizabethton on June 14, and I was ordained and installed as Pastor on June 30,” Mindemann said.

Mindemann spent the last 11 years as the youth pastor at Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church in Quarryville, Pa. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have four children. “Caleb is our oldest,” Mindemann said. “He is 13 and is in seventh grade at T.A. Dugger Junior High School. Joshua is 11, and is in sixth grade at T.A. Dugger. Our only daughter, Annalee, is 9, and is being homeschooled along with Gideon, our youngest, who just turned 5.”

No grandchildren yet for the Mindemanns: “Maybe someday,” he said.

“Elizabeth and I have been married almost 16 years,” Mindemann said. “We met at Lancaster Bible College, where she earned her degree in Early Childhood Education. She has taught children from pre-school level through elementary. She has also developed curriculum for home schooled students. Currently, she homeschools our younger two children and volunteers with a local homeschooling co-op. She is also very involved in the church, participating in women’s Bible studies and other ministries.”

When asked how he began his Christian walk, Mindemann quoted Philippians 1:6, “‘And I’m sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.’

“God has been at work in my life from the very beginning. I was born to Christian parents in York, Pa., on May 2, 1980. When I was four years old, I asked my mother what happened to people when they died. She gave me a very simple explanation of the gospel and led me in the sinner’s prayer. Of course, as a four-year-old, I’m sure that I was most worried about not going to hell when I died. As a child, I didn’t really know what it meant to acknowledge Jesus as my Lord, and to walk with Him daily. But as Jesus tells us in Mark 10:14-15, the Kingdom of God belongs only to those who enter it with a childlike faith. Even as I child I knew that I had sin, my sin deserved judgement, I needed a savior, and His name was Jesus Christ.”

Mindemann says it’s hard to narrow it down to one favorite Scripture about which to preach. “One of the things that I love about the Bible is that it tells one story, from beginning to end,” he said. “I love to see how all the pieces fit together, and how ultimately it is all about Jesus (Luke 24:27). Some passages are clearer than others, but all of them either point to our need for Jesus, show Jesus’ work and power on our behalf, or encourage us to live in light of the salvation hope that we can have in Him. Of the passages I have had the opportunity to preach, I would have to say that some of my favorites have been from prophecy — Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Revelation specifically. I’ve found that they often contain a lot of raw emotion that feels close to home. And in the midst of the struggles presented in each book, there is always a beautiful presentation of the hope that we have in Christ.”

Mindemann explains his preaching style. “I generally try to do expository preaching with some occasional topical sermons,” he said. “I just finished preaching through the book of Colossians, and we are currently spending a few weeks on understanding the Covenants of Scripture. Then I’m planning to take an in-depth look at the life of Jesus in one of the gospels.”

Mindemann says it’s difficult to narrow down to one person his favorite Bible character about whom to preach. “I love that scripture tells us the truth about its characters,” said Mindemann. “Even the greatest moral examples of the Old Testament (maybe Moses or David) also were clearly sinners in need of a Savior. Even Daniel, whom the Bible holds up as a great example, confesses his own sin along with all of Israel when he prays (Daniel 9:3-15). I love how scripture shows what God can do with weak and broken people, like Gideon, for example. He battled with worry and fear, and yet God used him in a great way in spite of that.

“I enjoy traveling, and I’m happy to preach wherever the Lord wants me to be,” Mindemann said. “And the Lord has made it pretty clear that right now He wants me to be right here in Elizabethton. When I was in college, I took several missions trips to Europe, and I even did a summer internship at Cornerstone International Church outside of Brussels, Belgium. That was a great learning experience for me. It really broadened my perspective to see that the Church is much, much bigger and far more diverse than it can often feel here in the States.”

For Mindemann, the easiest doctrine to preach about is the gospel of Jesus Christ. “As Paul says in First Corinthians 9:16, ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!’ It always comes back to the good news we have in Christ. As Tim Keller describes it, ‘The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.’ My conviction is that every sermon, at some point or another, is connected to the good news of the gospel. The gospel isn’t just something that we believe when we first become a Christian; it’s the fuel that propels Christian life and growth for every believer.”

The Church’s ministry, Mindemann says, “includes both shepherding and proclamation. In shepherding each other, we are called to love and care for one another. That gets played out in a lot of different ways. It means studying God’s Word together, encouraging each other, holding each other accountable, and helping each other to grow. It also means fellowshipping with each other, having meals with each other, and enjoying each other’s hospitality. All of these things have to happen in relationship. With all the ‘one anothers’ in the New Testament, we can’t get away from the fact that the church has to be a place where community is being built.

“The Church is also a place of proclamation. We have the best news, and the whole world needs to hear it. The world is constantly trying to captivate our attention by offering us idols to try to satisfy us. But none of the idols it offers (power, pleasure, status, fame, success, etc.) can really fulfill the deep needs that we have. Ultimately, our deepest need is to be reconciled to our creator. We need forgiveness for our sins, and new life. Jesus Christ offers these to us through repentance and faith. He is our great hope. It is the church’s responsibility to be a witness to the community of that hope.”

Mindemann observes, “The Bible tells us that as believers we are being renewed in the image of Christ. (Romans 8:29) That doesn’t mean that we lose our identity, it means that in Christ we are being made new; we’re being made into the people that we were always supposed to be.

“Just as Christ is at work renewing individual believers, the Church is to be a gospel-centered community that offers life and hope to its community through Christ. As the Church carries out this mission, and the community is impacted by the gospel, it will be renewed as well. This can happen in both direct and indirect ways. It can happen directly with community ministries like Food for the Multitude or ESL (English as a Second Language), for example. But it can also happen indirectly, as Christians are living out the gospel hope that they have in everyday life. When someone’s heart is changed by new life in Christ, and they discover just how deep and wide the love of Christ is for them (Romans 8:31-39), it makes them want to love Him back. Instead of trying to earn God’s love, the gospel tells us that God loved us even when we were still sinning against Him (Romans 5:8). When that kind of love gets a hold on our hearts, it changes us from the inside out, and that has an effect on everyone around us. It helps us to learn how to love others as Christ has loved us, and that can make a big change both in ourselves and in our community.”

Memorial Presbyterian Church was started in 1947. The first worship service was held at Harold McCormick Elementary School on Feb. 2 of that year.

Sunday School at Memorial Presbyterian begins at 9:30 a.m. The worship service begins at 10:45 a.m.

“On Tuesdays we have a men’s prayer group and women’s Bible study,” said Mindemann. “On Wednesdays, we enjoy a meal together as a church family, and then we have several activities after: Youth group and children’s ministry, and a variety of adult ministries. We participate monthly along with a few other churches in our community, serving Food for the Multitude. We also support a number of local, national, and international missionaries.”

In addition to Mindemann, church staff includes several other individuals. “We’ve recently hired a new youth director, Mr. Joey Barnett,” Mindemann said. “Joey is a Ph.D. student at ETSU, and also is working toward an M.Div. through Reformed Theological Seminary. Our Office Manager is Mrs. Pam Yarberry. We also have a Children’s ministry director, Mrs. Lauren Meier, and a music director, Mrs. Terri Money.”

Memorial Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church in America congregation, is located at 100 E. F St., Elizabethton. For more information, call 543-2711, e-mail memorialpca@gmail.com, visit the website memorialpca.com or search for Memorial Presbyterian Church, Elizabethton, on Facebook.