The congregation at St. Martin’s United Church of Christ has bid farewell to the Rev. Scott Lohse, who retired after 17 years at the Dittmer church.
Church members also have welcomed Patrice Rosner of Pacific, who has come out of retirement to fill in for several weeks. She is the first female pastor in the church’s 166-year history.
On April 2, another woman, transitional minister Tanya Jeffcoat, will take over as the pastor. In the meantime, Jeff-coat, 52, will work to finish seminary school at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla.
Lohse, 65, of Arnold gave his final sermon to a full house on Feb. 5. The church’s children presented him that day with a hand-painted card showing their appreciation, and members of the Missouri House of Representatives sent their gratitude by way of a proclamation.
“One of my children wrote to me, ‘Good luck on your last sermon, I hope it has one good joke and one curse word,’” Lohse said. “When they handed me the proclamation, my first reaction was to say, ‘Holy crap.’”
Lohse said he has spotted local politicians from both sides of the aisle at his sermons over the years and joked that he had the “only bipartisan church in the whole state.”
State Rep. Gary Bonacker (R-House Springs) introduced the resolution on the House floor and delivered it to Lohse.
Lifetime of service
When Lohse was 15, he joined a youth group called the Seekers that traveled across America leading worship services with song. After a few years with the group, it “felt like a natural progression” for Lohse to pursue ministry.
He graduated from Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves in 1983. He counts Walter Brueggemann, a celebrated Old Testament scholar from Eden, as one of his most important mentors.
After graduating, Lohse served various ministries across the state, from the Bootheel to large metropolitan areas.
Lohse is known for using magic tricks that help him teach God’s word by keeping both adults and children engaged in his sermons. For his final sermon’s trick, Lohse turned to the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus says you are the salt of the earth and light of the world, and then Lohse transformed salt into M&Ms for everyone to enjoy.
He said overcoming the challenges of the pandemic was one of his proudest accomplishments at St. Martin’s UCC. One frigid Christmas Eve service, Lohse preached from the church porch via transmitter so worshippers could listen from the safety and comfort of their vehicles.
Lohse said that wherever his calling led him and whatever challenges he faced, his family supported him along the way. Lin, his high school sweetheart, and Lohse have been married for 45 years. The two have three children and three grandchildren.
“I called them all up (to the front of the church) during the farewell release prayer,” Lohse said. “I had custom Christmas ornaments made for each of them that said, ‘fabulous former preacher’s kid’ and ‘fabulous former preacher’s wife’ so that they got to retire also.”
Lohse continues to work as a licensed funeral director at the Kutis Funeral Home’s south St. Louis County location.
He said during retirement from the church he hopes to finish one item on his bucket list – visiting every baseball stadium in the nation, and he’s just eight away from achieving the goal.
Lohse recalled one day when he was on his way home from picking up one of his grandchildren from swimming and spotted a rock painted with the phrase, “The best is yet to come,” which, Lohse said, is a daily reminder that, yes, the best is yet to come.
Changing of the guard
With the retirement of their pastor, St. Martin’s approximately 300 church members can expect some changes and new ideas and will need to incorporate new ministry methods with their traditional sermons to draw in younger congregants, Rosner said.
“I think the church is going to have to continue to adapt to the newness of the way things are done,” Lohse agreed.
Rosner, originally from Lima, Ohio, was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a partner denomination to UCC, and championed ecumenism – the unity of churches across Christian denominations.
Her calling has included two years as the executive director of Churches United in Christ. Under her leadership and for the first time in history, the organization brought together the heads of nine denominations for a literal “come to Jesus” moment of unity to learn from each other and adapt to the times.
Rosner said as St. Martin’s bridge pastor, she will provide support and listen to input from members about how the church can adapt to the changes ahead.
“People like to have their ideas shared,” she said. “They like to be listened to, and it’s really not fair to come in and say, ‘OK, let me lay this on you. This is what we’re going to do.’”
Looking to a bright future
Jeffcoat, who is from Arkansas, is finishing seminary school at Phillips Theological Seminary and expects to be ordained on Feb. 26.
In her service to UCC organizations, Jeffcoat was a chaplain at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton. Jeffcoat earned a doctorate from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
Jeffcoat said her duties as a transitional minister entail guiding the congregation as they decide what is important for them and the community.
“The transitional pastor hopefully hears those things, and then helps the church to move forward on what they have decided,” Jeffcoat said. “The UCC is a very democratic, bottom-up, power structure. As you’re still thinking through what you need and what you want, how do we move together into the future?”