Dysart United Methodist Church - Pastor Linda Thompson- 602 Tilford Street - Dysart, IA - 52224 - (319)476-2750 - [email protected] - [email protected]
Welcome from the Pastor
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Rev. Mechille Boldt
Greetings Good & Faithful People of God, Hello, my name is Mechille Sue Boldt. I introduce myself with my full name because it is unique to me. Each of us is uniquely created by God, called by name, and redeemed for God’s glory. This is my story. At 52, I am the eldest of three girls. My parents married just before my dad went into the Army and was deployed in 1970 to the war in Vietnam. I was born April 1, 1971. Yes, I am an April fool’s baby and I own it. HA! My name is unique to me in one major way. My mother, who had to go through her first pregnancy and birth by herself, misspelled my name on my birth certificate and so, my parents decided that it would be pronounced different. It is pronounced ME-shall. While it was not my parents plan for it to be spelled the way it is, it is one of the ways that it makes me unique. My sister Sherry just turned 50 and lives in Albany, OR and my sister Carrie will be 46 this year and lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Growing up, my dad was a regional sales manager for Payless Shoe store and so I have lived in several places in Iowa. I even went to Green Mountain/Garwin school for a time when I was in kindergarten as my grandparents lived on a century old farm just outside of Garwin, which is where my dad was raised. After graduating from Ottumwa high school, I continued my education, earning an associates of science degree in business administration, my bachelor’s of science in accounting and finance management, and just this year, my master’s of divinity. Prior to God calling me into pastoral ministry, I worked for companies as large as GE and as small as family owned start up companies, as well as, a small nonprofit. My call into ministry began when I went on a three-day spiritual retreat called Walk to Emmaus, sponsored by the United Methodist Church. Taking that journey led me to the most formative experience of my Christian faith to that point and I knew then that wherever God was calling me; it was to BE ALL IN! It was not long after returning home from Walk to Emmaus that I felt God calling me to School for Lay Ministry and so I took another journey with God in the exploration of learning, growing, and continuing to deepen my relationship with God that is beyond all that I could have hoped or imagined. In 2018, I graduated from SLM, and on the last evening, I had been assigned to do devotions. I talked about just getting out of the boat and moving even if in one small step at a time; knowing that in each step Christ is with us in it. God has taken me through the steps of our relationship ever so slowly knowing full well that I needed slow but during that devotion, it came differently. It was loud; it was a matter of fact. As I spoke through my devotion, God and I were having a whole other conversation in my soul where the message came to me “Be All In with me Mechille.” In my heart, I had known for quite some time that God was calling me into a life and service of ministry even beyond SLM but that was super scary. Why me? I certainly did not feel equipped for something like that but there it was. God repeated back to me, the words I had spoken at Walk to Emmaus—Be All In! From the moment that I said yes to God, there was a weight lifted from me as though this was the right thing. Four years later, here I am. I have graduated from University of Dubuque Theological Seminary with my masters of divinity, I have been commissioned as provisional elder in the United Methodist Church, and have been reappointed to serve the good and faithful people at Dysart UMC. I am excited about all that it entails but I am most excited about getting to know all of you. Some other things about me. In addition to spending time in personal devotion to God each morning, I believe that it is important to make sure that I use my vacation time, as well as, my day off each week, so that, I can spend leisure time with God doing things that I enjoy. I enjoy reading, riding my bicycle, kayaking, knitting, and photography. Spending time in nature is my happy place and so I especially enjoy the warmer temps when I can be outside longer. I am an introvert, however, there is a common misconception about what that means. It does not mean that I do not like being around people. Rather, it means that once I have spent a lot of time with people, my energy is renewed by spending time alone with God, so that, God can fill my cup for interacting with people once again in a new day. We are all about to embark on a new adventure in ministry with and for God. I am so excited to see where God is leading us together. It has been a difficult time in the UMC and yet new beginnings are around the corner. May we learn, grow, and lead in the ministry of Jesus Christ together for the transformation of the world. Praise be to God! Grace and Peace, Pastor Mechille church office: 476-2750 home: |
