New Pastor Named at Kahoka Christian Church

New Pastor Named at Kahoka Christian Church

Jim Campbell of Memphis is now the pastor at the First Christian Church in Kahoka, something both he and the congregation are excited about. He stated, “I just see a lot of enthusiasm in this community and in that church! I have been there for one month. How it came about for me to be there is that it’s a Disciples of Christ Church and I was the Disciples pastor at Gorin for 25 years. I heard of the vacancy here in Kahoka and I applied for it.  I am a licensed pastor in the Disciples of Christ Church although I do not have a seminary degree. But I have taken the educational courses and training. I can also perform the duties of a pastor such as wedding, funerals and the Sacraments
Campbell continued, “Although I feel like I am from this entire area I am actually from Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated from Washington High School, which is now near a very large shopping area, but when I was a kid I would hunt in that area.  In 1969 I was working in Memphis and was drafted. When I returned I started my career as Court Reporter for Judge Weber and that is my primary job.
I had the typical evangelical salvation experience when I was 19 in a church in Memphis. I was dating a girl who would later become my wife, Kathy Brown who was from Rutledge. From that salvation experience I went into a committed period. My sister married my wife’s brother and we formed the group “Brothers & Sisters” and we traveled from that early beginnings fulltime with evangelistic music for five years and went on staff at a church in Pennsylvania. We did that so long that we became familiar with the ministry and how that all works and I was asked to go to Gorin and I had and still have a great relationship with the folks at Gorin I just felt I needed to change my focus and I think they needed growth in a different direction as well.
As far as serving the congregation I am able to be in town when my job allows for it. As a part time pastor I spend a lot of evenings doing church work, and then my wife and I come over on Sundays, we will grab dinner in town after the service and then make visits to nursing homes, hospitals and member’s homes. But we are very excited about being in Kahoka with this congregation. To be honest, most of my friends would not have guessed that I would become a pastor, as I was just as ornery as any of them were. But some will also tell you that they were not really surprised, as there
always seemed to be a longing in me and I was always wondering what I would become when I got older. Those longings and wondering are there for everyone just as much in today’s world perhaps even more than 40 years ago. And that’s my goal, to reach out not only to teenagers, but to adults as well.