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Clergy couple begins ministry at First Presbyterian
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The Rev. Sandra (Sandy) Larson will start as the new pastor of First Presbyterian Church on March 1, the first Sunday of Lent. Her husband, the Rev. Dr. George Furniss, is semi-retired and will serve as a volunteer Parish Associate pastor. Karen Gearhart, chair of the Presbyterian Church Pastor Nominating Committee says, "They just fit." Sandy and George are impressed with how church members seem to be like best friends.
Over many years, Sandy has been a minister in churches in Syracuse, N.Y.; Raleigh, N.C.; Oregon; and Reims, France. Sandy says that this wide variety of pastorates helps her understand the uniqueness of each congregation. Her very first task as a pastor was to repair the church's restroom toilet. She is a Master of Divinity graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary. She loves getting to know people one-on-one and finding ways to help the church be connected to our daily lives. The Good News of Jesus Christ makes such a difference in her life that she wants to share it with other people and help people deepen their faith Sandy is enthusiastic about being the new pastor in the warm and dedicated Madison Presbyterian congregation.
Many families in the Presbyterian church are multi-generational, including some four-generation active member families. Sandy can identify with deep family roots. Her dad's family all came from Chamberlain, and he moved to a suburb of Chicago to help an uncle establish a business there. Her mom's grandparents in Illinois had been ranchers and all her family lived nearby when Sandy was growing up. Sandy's parents still live in the same house they built when they were married, and Sandy is the third generation of he family to go to her grade school.
George looks forward to putting his skills as a hospital chaplain to good use and hopes to initiate community-wide small groups. George has been a church pastor, including recently as co-pastor with Sandy in Walterville, Ore., a small recreational community. George's earlier work was as a sociology professor at Grinnell College and New Testament Greek teacher at Eden Seminary.
Sandy and George were recently visiting pastors in the Reformed Church (similar to Presbyterian) in Reims, France, through the World Mission Unit of the Presbyterian Church, USA. Their mission there was to help the overworked pastors of the large and several small rural churches and to exchange ideas about church programs and spirituality. They were delighted to discover that the French Protestants' motto is, "To believe is to think."
Sandy and George have purchased a house fairly near the church and hope to make Madison their home for many years to come. They look forward to being a part of the Madison community and being involved with community-based programs. Please welcome and introduce (and re-introduce) yourself.
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©Madison Daily Leader 2010
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