A clergy couple whose ministry has left its mark on Utah's religious community will leave the Beehive State at the end of this month to minister in Oregon, and the Ogden United Church of Christ Congregational will honor them Sunday with a special celebration in their honor.
The Rev. Dr. Max Glenn, executive minister of Shared Ministry in Utah from 1989 to 1995, and the Rev. Marie Soward Green, pastor at Ogden United Church of Christ Congregational and president of the Ogden Ministerial Association, have been part of the state's interfaith community since arriving in 1989. The Rev. Glenn will become "intentional interim minister" of the First Christian Church in Lebanon, Ore. The Rev. Green will retire but handle supply preaching and other services.Especially noted for her work with those in illness and crisis, the Rev. Green also served as vice president of Habitat for Humanity, coordinator of the annual CROP Walk, and director of Shared Ministry's Camp Discovery for children. She also chaired the ministry committee of the three-state Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ and served as an official delegate to the General Assembly of the United Church of Christ General Synod in 1993.
"The past six years and five months with you have allowed me to fulfill a call to ministry that began long years ago at a high school summer conference in Oregon, not far from where our new home will be," the Rev. Green told her congregation recently. "Thank you for the opportunity to share in your lives and in the life of this congregation, as well as in the wider church."
The Rev. Glenn left a post as executive director of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches in 1989 to take his position with Shared Ministry in Utah, where he worked closely with 69 local congregations in six mainline Protestant denominations throughout Utah, in western Wyoming and southern Idaho. He helped strengthen their ministry and provide leadership training for laity and clergy.
He served on boards of directors of Utah Issues, the Utah Opportunity Industrial Corp., Family Counseling Service of Northern Utah, Habitat for Humanity in Salt Lake City and Ogden. He also worked in partnership with Utahns Against Hunger, Crossroads Urban Center and Habitat for Humanity. He has served as co-pastor of the Ogden church with his wife since 1994.
The Rev. Glenn said he has decided "to focus the remainder of my ministry in helping congregations discern their future ministry though a period of intentional interim ministry. The time of transition when congregations are bet-ween ministers is very critical," he said.
"For 18 months to two years, a trained interim minister works with a congregation in specific and intentional ways to help all its members to assess its history, study the ever-changing needs of the community, develop a new vision ofr its future and prepare for new leadership. My past 40 years of ministry have prepared me for this specialized ministry."
The Rev. Glen said he knew the new assignment was meant to be because of how easily all the details fell together.
"We flew out to Portland on Tuesday morning, had lunch with committee, signed a contract Wednesday, bought a house Thursday and came back Thursday night," he said. "I announced my resignation Sunday, and after the benediction a woman came up and said, `I want to buy your house.' "