Being a pastor involves really listening to others and speaking
up for your beliefs
Stories by Danielle Smith, Hollister; Heather Bremner, Gilroy; Nathan Mixter, Morgan Hill.
Three pastors, three different stories. One knew he wanted to be a pastor when he was 5 years old. Another, when he’s not busy working at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, makes his family a priority. Another is commited to getting locals involved in her church. Here’s how each makes it happen.
Anthony Mojica, Hollister
Age: 39
Affiliation: Nondenominational
Years in service: 18
Favorite Scripture passage: 1 Corinthians 16:14 “Let all that you do be done in love.”
At the age of 5, most of us dream of being astronauts or ballerinas. Anthony Mojica, however, was compelled to follow a higher calling, even as a small child in Prunedale.
“I was 5 years old and I remember being in church, looking up at the pulpit and being moved – and seeing all the other people just eating up everything that was said,” he said. “And I thought ‘Wow, that’s cool. I want to do something like that.'”
Mojica, 39, turned out to be a natural. He taught his first Sunday school class when he was only 10. Upon graduating from high school, Mojica enlisted in the Air Force, after which he jumped back into the fray as a youth pastor in San Jose. In 1988, he was able to branch out and open his own Bay Area church, while working as a recruiter for local blood banks to pay the bills.
“It’s a calling, more than anything,” he said. “Some people think it must be an easy job. It’s not, but I’m just not happy doing anything else.”
Though Mojica had been determined to pursue the pulpit and find his own congregation from an early age, life as a pastor held some surprises.
“I had a realization that I would be living in a fishbowl,” he said. “When I started I thought I would be able to laugh and joke around, and I still do, but people expect certain conduct from you all the time.”
After Mojica married his wife, Tina, 10 years ago, the couple decided to move to Hollister to be near her family. Leaving San Jose behind, Mojica has been a guest speaker at many local churches while working to start a new one, Oasis Chapel of Hollister, this spring. He currently splits his time between his religious duties and serving as outreach coordinator for Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.
“I’ve always wanted to work in a way that lets me serve my community,” he said. “My life is here, and I want to do my best to make a difference.”
Most of Mojica’s teaching revolves around leadership skills and how to maintain a healthy and successful marriage, with an emphasis on Christian values. With the advent of Oasis this spring, he hopes to appeal to what he calls a “bi-cultural” congregation, a group of people he feels may be underrepresented in Hollister’s faith community.
“We have a lot of second- and third- generation Hispanic families in this community,” he said. “And by that time, most of them have stopped speaking the language, but there are still cultural roots and traditions they keep. I want my church to recognize that.”
On an average weekday, Mojica spends the early morning doing devotions, then hits the gym before going to work. He typically studies the Bible on his lunch break and makes a point of spending quality time with his wife and three children in the evenings.
“Saturdays are completely family days for me,” he said. “You have to know where your priorities are.”
Mojica estimates that on top of his job, he spends an additional 30 hours a week tending to his religious duties and writing the weekly sermon, a surprisingly lengthy process to those unfamiliar with the work. Typically, each sermon addresses a chapter or a half-chapter from the Scriptures.
“First I pray about it, then I’ll read through it and take notes, and I’ll write down some comments of my own,” said Mojica. “Then I put it all together and share the best of the best with everybody on Sunday.”
Finding topics to write about, says Mojica, is easy – they’re all right there in the book. Presenting that information in a way that is honest and engaging, however, can sometimes be a challenge.
“I don’t think it (a sermon) should be boring, but if I’m just trying to entertain someone, I feel like I’m wasting their time,” he said. “They could be at home watching a movie. I think it’s my job to make sure everybody leaves the room feeling challenged and ready to grow.”
But the work isn’t all grueling. Some of Mojica’s greatest joy as a pastor, he says, comes from seeing how his work touches other’s lives, in ways great and small.
“Seeing people accept Jesus is the best,” he said. “And I love dedicating little kids. When a mom and dad come forth and say ‘I want my child to serve God, and we’re going to do our best to teach him,’ that’s very cool.”
At home, Mojica says he likes to keep things low-key and spend as much time with his family as possible – board games are a favorite pastime. He has also been a self-defense instructor for 20 years, a hobby that has allowed him to hone skills first learned in the military.
“It keeps me in shape, and it’s an easy way for me to help other people,” he said. In the near future, Mojica is focused on the growth of Oasis – the fellowship officially met for the first time March 5 in the First Presbyterian Church. And while he is the first to admit that both his vocations keep him a busy man, don’t expect Mojica to be slowing down any time soon.
“They say there’s two reasons you get behind a pulpit: Because you have to say something or you have something to say,” he said. “I have something to say.”
The Rev. Floyd Rose, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gilroy
Age: 47
Affiliation: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Born: Provo, Utah
Family: wife Valene Rose, four children, one grandchild
Bachelor’s degree: in photojournalism from Brigham Young University
Master’s degree: in computer science from BYU
By 7:15am, the Rev. Floyd Rose is out the door and ready for a day of work. During the bus ride to IBM in San Jose, he often passes the time pecking at his laptop.
At 6pm, Rose catches the bus back to his Gilroy home and sits down for a quick bite to eat. For most professionals, those few precious after-work hours are a time unwind, settle onto the couch for conversation or enjoy a glass of wine. But for Rose, the day is only beginning.
As one of two bishops at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Gilroy, Rose knows that serving the Lord isn’t just a Sunday job.
Mormon church bishops are unpaid and appointed through a lengthy process that involves both the higher-ups in Salt Lake City and the approval of church members.
During weekdays, Rose, 47, spends the bulk of his time working as a software manager at IBM, and his evenings and weekends are spent at the church on First Street. The only day Rose isn’t roaming the hallways of the church or counseling a member from behind his desk is Monday, which the church has designated as “family day.” Rose spends his Mondays with his wife, Valene, and his son Jeffrey, a junior at Gilroy High School. Rose’s two daughters are married, and his other son is a student at Brigham Young University.
On Tuesday evenings, Rose and Jeffrey visit other church members’ homes – another tenet of the Mormon religion – until about 8pm. Then Rose spends another hour in organizational meetings at the church.
The youth crowd, ages 12 to 18, converges on Wednesday evenings at the church to play basketball, dance or work on a community service project, such as the care packages they recently assembled for military troops.
Rose spends his Thursday evenings counseling church members. Although he’ll sometimes take drop-ins, most of the appointments are scheduled.
“Usually on Thursday night I get here around 7pm to 7:30pm, and I’m booked until 9:30pm,” he said.
Although Friday nights are often reserved for dates with his wife, sometimes there are happenings at the church that Rose needs to attend. And once a month on Saturday, he visits the Mormon temple in Oakland.
For Rose, Sundays are a marathon. After an hour-long service, church members spend about an hour in Bible study. They then break into groups divided by age and gender for another hour.
So, how does Rose survive a week without keeling over from exhaustion?
“You just make it work,” he said.
Anita Warner, Advent Lutheran Church, Morgan Hill
Age: 42
Affiliation: Lutheran
Length of ministry at church: 12 years
Favorite Scripture passages: II Cor. 5: 17-18: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
Col. 3:17 (Warner’s confirmation verse): “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Basics of religion: Lutheranism is based on the teaching of Martin Luther, who called for the correction of errors in the church in 1517. The religion believes that the Bible is the Word of God and is the absolute truth, and that a person is saved by God’s grace alone, not by works.
Lutherans adhere to three ancient creeds of Christianity: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Anthanasian Creed. Lutheranism practices two sacraments: baptism, and the Lord’s supper, where Christ’s body and blood are said to actually be present in the bread and wine.
Anita Warner is sitting in her small office at Advent Lutheran Church in Morgan Hill. It’s 11am, and she just finished meeting with Lara, a seminary student who attends Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley. As Lara’s advisor, Warner spends an hour each week working with her in supervisory sessions, and she also oversees Lara’s eight hours of work in the church each week.
Warner’s office is small but not cramped. A number of books and commentaries line one wall. Photographs of her husband, Marc, and her children, Emma and Luke, sit atop file cabinets. Pink drapes hang over the office’s lone window.
Warner, 42, has her hands full with a congregation of about 550 members. The usual Sunday-morning attendance numbers more than 200 people. She spends a good chunk of her week – about 10 to 15 hours – preparing for her weekly Sunday sermons.
“The congregation has changed and remained the same,” she said. “This congregation is continuing to grow with a vision for the future, and I am excited to be a part of that.”
Although she admits that she is not an early riser, Warner makes time each morning for prayer and Bible study. After that, it’s anybody’s guess what her day will hold.
“I don’t really have a ‘set’ day. There is such a variety to the work here,” she said.
Warner started her ministry at Advent as associate pastor in 1994 under Gary Berkland, who founded the church in 1973. In 1999, she received the title of pastor alongside Berkland, and two years later she took over as sole pastor.
Although women pastors are becoming more common, Warner said she has experienced the negative opinions sometimes associated with women going into the ministry. Growing up in Michigan, Warner and her family attended church every week and were active members. But she came from a Lutheran branch that did not believe in women as pastors, and she struggled to use her gifts for Christ. She said she knew all parts of ministry were important, but she sensed a particular call to public ministry.
“There is both a growing acceptance of it and there are still a lot of people who hold to the traditional view,” Warner said. “Some people may not attend Advent when they find out there is a woman pastor. But in mainline Christian seminaries, half the students are women. Different women have different gifts for leading in ministry, just as different men have different gifts for leading in ministry.”
Warner has a hand in all ministries of the church from the youth group to special events, said Mike Fumagalli, an administrator at the church.
“She is a very warm, caring and giving person,” he said. “She is always willing to listen to people. She is very intelligent and makes you feel very welcome in the church.”
Part of Warner’s day includes meeting with the 12 elected church leaders to plan for the church’s short- and long-term goals. She spends several hours a week on visitation to the sick and elderly of the community, and she works with a team of individuals who also do visitations. Additionally, Warner does grief and crisis counseling for members in the church.
“As pastor, I want to support people the community in living in the life and love of Christ,” Warner said. “I don’t need to do everything myself. Everyone has his or her own gifts. They just need to do the things they are gifted at doing.”
Since she began her job, the church has added a new sanctuary, a youth facility, a classroom wing and a renovated fellowship hall. But Warner’s primary goal had nothing to do with infrastructure.
“My first project was getting to know the congregation and the community of Morgan Hill,” she said.
Warner quickly got involved in the community by participating in the first class of Leadership Morgan Hill, an organization that provides in-depth knowledge of the community’s political, economic and government structures through a nine-month program. Warner incorporates her knowledge of the area into her ministry, said spiritual director Marie Juncker.
“She encourages people to be involved in the community so people have a living faith and can be a light in the world,” Juncker said.
Although Warner spends much of her time at church, she also spends time with her husband, who is the leader of Christian Music Theater in Morgan Hill and Palo Alto. He also teaches drama classes and is the director of drama at the church. The couple’s two children are in fourth grade and seventh grade, and the family shares dinner together almost every evening.
Warner’s path to the ministry wasn’t always clear from the start. After earning her bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from Michigan Technical University, she received a master’s from Stanford University in material science and engineering. Although she doesn’t often use science her degree in ministry, she said it has given her a practical knowledge on how to relate to people in the science and engineering fields. Warner taught and worked at Stanford for two years before quitting to go into seminary.
“By the time I went to seminary, I knew that was the path God had opened for me,” Warner said. “And I knew I could gladly choose to walk in it.”
