Tempe Family Church Welcomes New Arizona Pastor
Contributed by Jo Ann Crooks.
After several years of searching, the Tempe Family Church in Arizona has hired a new pastor, Margaret Sisserson. Pastor Sisserson and her husband Tim moved to Arizona in January 2019, and immediately started working with the Tempe Unificationists.
Before Pastor Sisserson arrived, the Tempe Family Church had not had a pastor for several years. They had created a church council consisting of seven Arizona Unificationists chosen by a combination of voting and lottery. Yet, even with a council they felt a noticeable gap. They desired a leader loyal to the spiritual needs of the community. So, they developed a Pastor Search Committee, a group who reports directly to the council, which advertised the position on FamilyFed.org and screened multiple candidates. After receiving Pastor Sisserson’s application, they invited her to visit a few months later. Right away, she and the Tempe Unificationists seemed to be a good fit. Pastor Sisserson, with the support of her husband, filled the communities’ desire for a caring, parental figure to unite them.
Pastor Sisserson and her husband were missionaries in Palau, her native country, Micronesia, and Guam for 27 years. During this time, they were educated in ministering. Most recently, they had been co-pastors in North Carolina for two years. They felt the move to Arizona, which has several ongoing ministries and a larger youth community, was the right next step for them.
The Tempe Unificationists and the Sissersons celebrated their first Holy Day together, True Parents’ Birthday, on Sunday, February 10. The feelings of warmth, love and togetherness in the newly established community were evident throughout the festivities. The shift in leadership seemed to spark new joy amongst everyone, young and old, as they came together in celebration.
Congratulations on finding a new pastor, Tempe Family Church!
Klaus Schick
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As a former Pastor of the Charlotte Family Church in Charlotte, NC I say you are indeed blessed with the Sisserson Couple to give you the spiritual guidance as Pastors of the Arizona Church. One great service they gave us here in Charlotte is that they inspired each one of us to teach Divine Principle and to give sermons. This not only enriched our spiritual lives but also is a benefit to us today as we lead our local church without a pastor but with an inner core of dedicated members and a church council of four.
Many blessings to you all – Let’s make Arizona great in Spirit, Truth and Love….
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Hanna
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yea !!!!!!! woo hoo!!!!!!
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Susan Schroeder
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Congratulations, Margaret. I was in the Tucson area for a year after returning from South Korea. Now I’m in Baltimore, MD. I remember you from the 1981 21-day workshop. You were my team leader. You were a great team leader and I’m sure you will be a great pastor. You have a beautiful heart. Su
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Sebastian and Mereth Huemer
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Congratulation, Tempe Family Church! Thank you Margaret and Tim for doing that! How wonderful! Our prayers are with you!
God bless you all!
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Louise Perlowitz
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God bless you all as you move forward with Pastor Sisserson!
Louise
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Glenda Lambert
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Thank you, Joanne.
I appreciate you letting the world know about our amazing pastor M and awesome husband.
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Forrest Henry
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Great News – I joined in Tempe in 1976 with an old multicolored VW pickup to donate. Our Japanese sister recommended that I not only shave my beard but turn the VW into a Toyota sedan which I gladly did!
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