Rev. Bill Pinches began serving as our Pastor in May 2008, coming from a church in western Maryland. He grew up in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas, where he served in leadership positions in his church as well as a member of a traveling handbell choir.
Rev. Pinches is a graduate of Bates College with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Religious Studies, and attended Princeton Theological Seminary where he earned the degrees of Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theology. Bill’s continuing education has included specialized training in leadership development, church growth, stewardship, outreach and evangelism, conflict mediation, family systems and premarital counseling. Bill served on the Leadership Team for the Presbytery of Lake Michigan for five years and now serves on the organizing board for Greenwood Ministries Association.
Under his leadership and guidance we are in the process of building a stronger and healthier congregation. We are expanding our Bible study and small group opportunities, building a stronger prayer ministry, undertaking a $1.6 million renovation to our historic 1901 church building to add an elevator and air conditioning, and using Natural Church Development to build strengths in areas where we have previously been weak. In the fall of 2011 Bill started an in-depth Bible study, which launched a spin-off group in September 2015. In January 2013 Bill began preaching through the Great Story of the Bible, beginning with Genesis and slowly but surely making our way to the book of Revelation.
Bill was not an athlete in his childhood and youth, but in recent years has discovered a tremendous amount of joy while running, swimming, and cycling. In the last few years he has run five marathons and has competed in more than a dozen triathlons, including three half-iron distance events, culminating in a full-distance tri (140.6 miles of self-propelled motion) in August 2016. He enjoys spending quality time with his wife Katharine and their five sons; the guys in the house enjoy playing strategy card games together.
Rev. Pinches is a graduate of Bates College with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Religious Studies, and attended Princeton Theological Seminary where he earned the degrees of Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theology. Bill’s continuing education has included specialized training in leadership development, church growth, stewardship, outreach and evangelism, conflict mediation, family systems and premarital counseling. Bill served on the Leadership Team for the Presbytery of Lake Michigan for five years and now serves on the organizing board for Greenwood Ministries Association.
Under his leadership and guidance we are in the process of building a stronger and healthier congregation. We are expanding our Bible study and small group opportunities, building a stronger prayer ministry, undertaking a $1.6 million renovation to our historic 1901 church building to add an elevator and air conditioning, and using Natural Church Development to build strengths in areas where we have previously been weak. In the fall of 2011 Bill started an in-depth Bible study, which launched a spin-off group in September 2015. In January 2013 Bill began preaching through the Great Story of the Bible, beginning with Genesis and slowly but surely making our way to the book of Revelation.
Bill was not an athlete in his childhood and youth, but in recent years has discovered a tremendous amount of joy while running, swimming, and cycling. In the last few years he has run five marathons and has competed in more than a dozen triathlons, including three half-iron distance events, culminating in a full-distance tri (140.6 miles of self-propelled motion) in August 2016. He enjoys spending quality time with his wife Katharine and their five sons; the guys in the house enjoy playing strategy card games together.