‘Energy, Intelligence’ Convinced Presbyterians After 2-Year Search

3-05-10

By JIM KEVLIN : COOPERSTOWN

Almost two years without a pastor, Cooperstown’s oldest congregation, the First Presbyterian Church, has its newest minister, the Rev. Elsie Armstrong Rhodes.
After a search that brought in 120 applications, months of winnowing to 19, hour-long interviews with each and reference checks, the church’s Pastoral Nominating Committee presented Reverend Armstrong Rhodes’ name to the full congregation on Sunday, Feb. 28, and she was approved.
Her selection still must be confirmed by the Presbytery of Utica – it is made up of the pastor of each church in its area, plus one representative from each congregation – but that is expected to be routine, said Katie Boardman, the congregation’s temporary administrator, who also is Presbytery chair.
“We were drawn to Elsie by her warm and engaging manner, her energy, intelligence and creativity,” said the letter from the nine-member nominating committee to worshippers.  “We found her sermons challenging and inspiring.”
Reverend Armstrong Rhodes, now a pastor in New Jersey, preached her first sermon the Sunday she was selected and is joining the church fulltime on Sunday, April 18.
The congregation’s last pastor, the Rev. Patricia Schick, departed in May 2008.  The Rev. Miriam Hathaway, a retired minister who has also served interim positions in Oneonta and Delaware County, has been filling in.
A life-long Presbyterian, Reverend Armstrong Rhodes’ father was also a Presbyterian minister and a professor of ministry and evangelism at Princeton Seminary.  She graduated from Princeton and its seminary, receiving a master’s in Christian education. 
After four years in that field, she returned to seminary for her master’s in divinity.  After her ordination in 1992, she served congregations in New Jersey and Oregon.  She is married to Thom Rhodes, and they have two children.  Seth, 18, is a freshman at the University of Chicago; Samuel, 7, is a first grader.
“She’s a very good match for us,” said Boardman, continuing, “We firmly believe the spirit of God works through us as people.  We ought to be out there doing things.  To serve is a long tradition for this congregation and still is.”
She picked up that theme in her first sermon, Boardman said, saying Christ “calls upon us to journey together. God is with us, among us, in supporting us through difficult challenges.  (And) we are called out to be servants.”
Peter Craig chaired the nominating committee.  Other members were Carol Beechy, Anne Blabey, Karen Dunlap, Ginger Heitz, Brent Leonard, Marion Karl, Herb Marx and Wendell Tripp.
Presbyterianism in Cooperstown goes back to Nov. 26, 1795, when the Rev. Elisha Mosely preached the village’s first Thanksgiving sermon in the courthouse, according to Birdsall’s “The Story of Cooperstown.”
Presbyterians and Congregationalists formed a society on Dec. 29, 1798, and the church was organized on Oct. 1, 1800, with the Rev. Isaac Lewis as its first pastor.
The church, across from where Elm connects with Pioneer, was completed in 1805.  Work on the second oldest church, Christ Episcopal, began in 1807, although the local parish was not organized until 1811.