Admiral UCC has chosen its new pastor, after a yearlong search. The Rev. Dr. Donald Schmidt, who’s been working on the Eastside for two years. Read on for the church’s official announcement:
On Sunday, February 7th, after hearing his candidating sermon, the congregation at Admiral Congregational United Church of Christ voted to call the Rev. Dr. Donald Schmidt as their new pastor. Admiral UCC, formerly West Seattle Congregational, was founded in 1899, making it what is believed to be West Seattle’s oldest church.
The Rev. Dr. Schmidt was the unanimous choice of the church’s Search Committee, a seven member group that has been meeting weekly for the past year to process and rank the more than seventy applications of those who were interested in the position. Lisa Hemmert, Search Chair, said, “Pastor Donald was the best match when we looked at his talents and compared them with our needs. He is progressive in social justice issues, and has a deep grounding in Scriptural work. We’re delighted that the congregation has agreed with our recommendation.”
Schmidt has served in churches in Canada and Hawaii, and is just completing two years as the Interim Pastor at Bellevue First Congregational UCC. Most of his post-secondary education occurred in Montreal, Quebec, where he earned a BA in comparative religion, a Bachelor of Theology, and Master of Divinity degree. More recently, he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University in San Francisco. He has published many articles, several books, and curricula, and is involved with a new Bible translation project being undertaken by the United Methodist Publishing House.
Peggy Rich, the church’s lay leader, was excited by Schmidt’s selection. She said, “Pastor Donald is exactly what we need at this time. He’s very current, has very strong speaking skills, uses humor effectively, and has a myriad of other talents that we will be utilizing as we proceed to grow our congregation.”
The Rev. Dr. Schmidt and his partner, Don Osmer, have 6 adult children and 7 grandchildren. They anticipate relocating from the Eastside to West Seattle in mid-March. Schmidt will officially begin his ministry at Admiral on March 1.
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