Eric Wefald
Pastor
[email protected] 
with Rev. Lawson Matauto, Pastor of the United Church of Christ, Ebeye Island, Kwajalein Atoll, and President of the Board of Directors, JRD, Marshall Islands United Church of Christ (July 2023)
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Hello! I’m Pastor Eric, aka Rev Eric, aka Eric. Whatever I’m called, I’m delighted to be the Pastor of the vibrant and caring congregation known as Payson Park Church. We don’t claim to know all the answers, but we do invite you to join us on the journey of faith. Today is an exciting time to be part of a Christian community, to explore how we may follow Jesus in being a community of healing, in caring for our neighbor in need, and in making a difference in the world. In the heritage of Henri Nouwen, we are invited to become Wounded Healers for others. When people walk with us in our brokenness to heal us, we are then invited to walk with others in their woundedness. In the heritage of Desmond Tutu & his daughter Mpho, we are invited to that difficult road of forgiving others (and forgiving ourselves). While forgiveness can seem like an impossible task, it is the way we bring peace and a future to ourselves and the world. I have served at both United Church of Christ and Lutheran congregations. While I have been blessed and equipped with educations at both Yale Divinity School and Princeton University, my real journey began in Micronesia. When I was a teen I lived on Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The island chaplain, Rev. Elden Buck, taught us songs of faith in Marshallese, Pohnpeian, and Chukese languages. Then he led us to visit the congregations of these Pacific Islanders. My heart was first broken by their poverty, then broken again by their joyful faith. If you want a real insight as to how I became a Pastor, please watch the short video below from my sabbatical in 2023, It tells the story of how I returned to Micronesia to say thank you to those island people who led me to faith, who led me to become a Pastor, who helped me to navigate life. I have been blessed with the gift of twin daughters, Karin and Becca, who are today thriving and lovely young adults. I am blessed to be able to enjoy mountain hiking and biking, writing & reading & telling stories, theater & improv, dancing the Argentinian tango, playing piano & singing, skiing (XC + backcountry + downhill), and, when the ice is just right at the start of winter, pond hockey. More than anything else, I want you to know that no matter who you are, no matter your questions or doubts, no matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome at Payson Park Church. I would love to meet with you and get to know you, so please email me at [email protected], or call the church office at 617-484-1542, and we can grab a cup of coffee. Peace! |