Meet Ted Whitford
The Community United Methodist Church in Wrightwood has a new pastor; in fact, he is a layperson assigned as the Pastor. He has replaced the retiring Pastor who served Wrightwood for two years. Ted is qualified but does not hold the required seminary documents.
Ted has been part of Wrightwood's Methodist Church for eight years, and the Board of Directors, a group of dedicated church members responsible for overseeing the Church's operations, wanted him to step in.
The Directors interviewed other candidates and were unable to find a person who fit their conservative values. They wanted Ted because he was someone they believed would best serve them, even though he did not hold the traditional seminary documents.
Ted attended seminary college but left right before he got ordained. "I had a lot of personal stuff going on, so I didn't stay and get the certificate." Said Ted, "I don't have a piece of paper, but the board of directors and everybody in the church wanted to make me Pastor."
Their decision went up the chain to the Bishop. They gave Ted the position of an assigned lay person. One thing Ted can not do is bless the sacraments. He calls upon retired Pastor David, who comes and blesses the sacraments.
Ted graduated from Washington College in Lanham, Maryland, and Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana, and then attended Columbia Graduate School of Admission. (Now called Columbia International University)
Ted thought he could go back and get this certificate, but when he inquired, he was told that too many years had passed, and he would have to start over. That was not something he wanted to do.
Meanwhile, he started working as a Quality Assurance Manager.
"My life turned out great moving to California in 1987, met my wife in 1989, we got married in 1990, and had two boys. They all live in Wrightwood with us right now. We've lived up here for 13 years."
Q. How would you describe the Wrightwood Methodist Church?
A. I would say we are extremely conservative and fundamental Bible preaching."
Q. What makes up the Church's perissioners?
A. I'll be 63 next month, and there are a lot of 70-year-olds, a lot of 80-year-olds, and 90-year-olds. When Dave was there, the Church was able to sustain him as a full-time pastor. We have revenue coming in, but our roles have decreased because people have died and moved away. The previous Pastor was a halftime position, and now, because I have a full-time job, I am a quarter-time pastor.
Q. What is your vision for the Church?
A. My vision and goals for the Church are to grow the roles, both in terms of membership and in the diversity of our congregation, and to continue our tradition of conservative and fundamental Bible preaching.
My commitment to the Church is unwavering for the next two years. I will retire from my job in December and will actively reach out to younger families to join the Church. When I leave, I aim to leave the Church in a position to have a halftime, a three-quarter, or possibly a full-time pastor.
It's interesting because the demographic of Wrightwood has changed over the last 20 years. It used to be retired firefighters and police officers, but now there's an influx of families. They cannot afford to live in Rancho, so they can buy in Wrightwood and commute down the hill. I want to tap into some young people in there.
Q. How much time can you afford for the Church and your employer?
A. I am committed to two years as a quarter pastor. Currently, I manage 14 branches in the LA basin, as well as in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Hawaii. I'm flying to Seattle for a week. I fly back on Friday, and the following Sunday, I fly to Portland. I got accustomed to the commute, and I relax. There's nothing you can do about the traffic. Retirement is planned for December.
In the meantime, I hope we can find a pastor in two years or a person who has recently graduated from seminary school.
I also hope they discover the beauty of Wrightwood and think it will be cool to live up here.
Q. They say that young people are returning to the Church.
And that's a good sign. What will you do to get them to attend the Church?
A. There's a lot of younger families up here. I see a lot of babies being pushed around on walks. We have a young mother in our neighborhood with two daughters, and she was concerned about Sunday school. I have a Sunday school teacher. She brought her husband last week. The two girls loved Sunday school, and one of them told her neighbor that she wanted to go to Church. She has two young girls, too, and it's like, oh, that's an attraction we're getting excited about the prospect of where we could be.
Q. What other services does the Church offer?
The Church offers a variety of services and activities, including the Helping Hands project, which prepares food baskets for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. We also open our kitchen to other groups, such as the Ladies Auxiliary and the Lady of the Snows Catholic Church, to cook their Pumpkin Bread. Our facilities are open for use by other groups as well.
The Church building is a beautiful sanctuary. It was built as an Ark flipped upside down. Look at it. It's beautiful. It is a beautiful building with stained glass windows.
Ted invites the community to check them out. He believes that families will find what they are looking for inside the Community United Methodist Church.
Sunday Service is at 10 am. Location is 1543 Barbara St. Visit their website at www.wwcumc.org
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