Stuart Curry, pastor of the Salem MB Church, and Stephen Roussos, pastor at the Freeman Missionary Church, are the president and vice president of the Freeman Ministerial Association, respectively. They are standing in front of the “Freeman Area Churches Welcome You” sign that greets westbound drivers coming into town on Sixth Street. PHOTO BY JEREMY WALTNER

news, photo day

By JEREMY WALTNER

February 15, 2023

FREEMAN MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION: 50 YEARS LATER

JEREMY WALTNER – PUBLISHER

Just a few Sundays ago, as the church service at the Freeman Missionary Church was drawing to a close, a couple from Illinois showed. They were having car trouble and wondered if there was anybody in town that could offer some assistance.

So the church’s longtime pastor, Stephen Roussos, made a call to Blaine Saarie, owner of Saarie Auto Body, on behalf of the Freeman Ministerial Association.

“Have them bring it in tomorrow morning,” Blaine told Stephen, who in turn told Blaine that the Ministerial Association would cover the expense of the repair.

“Whatever it is,” Stephen said, “we’ll find a way.”

While the mechanics at the autobody repair shop weren’t able to give it the complete engine overhaul it needed in a timely manner, they were able to get the vehicle running well enough to get them back on the road and — hopefully — back home.

“I called Blaine on Tuesday and said, ‘What do we owe you?’ Stephen recalls. “And he said, ‘No problem. We’ve got it.’”

Half-century of ministry

Roussos’ account of the travelers from Illinois is indicative of the kind of assistance the Freeman Ministerial Association has been providing for half-a-century, and the kind of support the organization receives from the larger community.

“We have businesses in the community — and others — who are willing to do their part,” says the Missionary Church pastor. “They are eager to do so. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember.”

And that’s a long time.

Roussos has been involved in the mission of the ministerial association since he arrived in Freeman almost 32 years ago, but the organization goes back much further.

It was in the Feb. 15, 1973 edition of the Freeman Courier — 50 years ago this week — that the front page carried an announcement that a Freeman Ministerial Association has been established.

“The pastors of the Freeman community have met together and decided to organize “The Freeman Ministerium.” All the pastors of the churches in the Freeman community are eligible for membership. The purpose of the ministerium is to serve as a channel for dealing with common community concerns and also to promote such activities which can best be handled cooperatively. At the organizational meeting guiding principles for the ministerium were adopted and the officers were elected. Common community concerns can be called to the attention of the ministerium by contacting the chairman, Rev. Vernon Lohrentz or the secretary, Rev. Ronald DeYoung.”

The years and decades that have followed have been marked by an ecumenical effort by town and rural churches alike and across the larger Freeman community in providing assistance as needed. Much of that work is done in aiding those coming through the community who are in need, whether it’s a couple from out of state who has car trouble, or transients who need a place to stay, something to eat and/or gasoline for their vehicle. Last year, for example, they used the Freeman Transit Service to transport somebody back to their home in Winner.

All of it is coordinated through those actively involved in the organization with oversight from the Freeman Police Department.

“Things have changed over the years; it used to be that they were sent to either the treasurer or the chairman (of the board),” Roussos said. “But anymore, when a need arises, we’ve pretty much all made ourselves available. We realize that not everybody’s around all the time — not everybody’s in an office all the time. So we’re all basically involved.”

Stuart Curry is one of seven community pastors who are currently active members of the Freeman Ministerial Association — something that fluctuates as pastors come and go — and currently serves as the president of the board. He heard about the organization when he began his pastorate at the Salem MB Church, located between Freeman and Bridgewater, in March of 2021.

“I was told that all the churches around here pay dues so they have money to do the things they do,” said Curry. “And I was told we were part of this and I was supposed to go to the meetings.”

He learned quickly what the organization was all about — that in addition to offering assistance to those coming through town who need help, the ministerial association will provide locally when there’s an urgent need.

That one of the primary activities the organization supports is the community baccalaureate service — something it took on in 2015 after Freeman Public bowed out when threatened with a lawsuit from an organization called Freedom From Religion.

“It’s a wonderful way to minister to the community — a wonderful way to let the kids know we care about them,” says Roussos, currently the vice president of the ministerial association. “How much we value them and how much we love them, and then we send them off with a blessing and a prayer.”

Internal care

The organization is also keenly focused on pastoral care within.

“One of the key purposes, besides helping people, is supporting each other,” says Roussos. “Pastors are an interesting breed — I say that tongue and cheek — but we tend to be on our own a lot of the time. People don’t always understand pastors. We can’t share with just anybody, so we need this level of support and encouragement from others.”

Curry tells a joke.

Three pastors sit down to share their problems.

One confesses, “I like to take money out of the offering.”

The second admits, “I like to drink the communion wine.”

And when the third pastor gets really excited, the other two ask, “What’s up with you?” And he says, “I’m a gossip and I can’t wait until this meeting is over.”

That’s funny, but the care the pastors provide for each other is no laughing matter.

“That’s a big part of the ministerial association,” says Curry. “So we sit down, we talk about issues, pray with each other and pray for each other.”

“We do; we spend a lot of time praying for each other, for needs, for concerns,” adds Roussos. “We’re just as human as the next person. We have the same concerns, the same struggles and the same difficulties as anybody.”

All of it is done with grace and understanding and a silent acknowledgement that, while they may come from different faith backgrounds, they share a universal mission.

“There are certain things that we believe because we are part of a denomination,” says Curry, “but when we meet, we talk about the things of the Lord that are very foundational to all of us, and how helping people and loving people and doing things together is universal.

“The ministerial has been that way — united on the essentials — as long as I’ve been part of it.”

Yet it’s not like the pastors avoid tough questions.

“In recent years we’ve had some very amicable but deep discussions where we realized that we don’t quite see eye to eye on some things,” says Roussos. “But that has helped getting to know where the other person was coming from and an understanding about another church in the community and why they may do the things a certain way.”

Ongoing mission

The work of the Freeman Ministerial Association is supported by both member church dues and from contributions outside the organization — but it wasn’t always that way.

Prior to 2004, the year the Freeman community celebrated its 125th anniversary, the financial assets came exclusively from those church dues of $25 each.

“Let’s just say there was a lot of help coming out of pastors’ pockets,” says Roussos.

But in 2004, the ministerial association put together a community worship service at the Freeman High School gym and was encouraged by some in the community to take an offering in support of the organization’s ongoing mission.

“And people have given ever since then,” says Roussos, who notes that it’s not uncommon for a church to take up an offering one Sunday morning directly in support of the ministerial association. “The fund has grown amazingly.”

That has enabled the organization to continue its support for those in need in the same way it has been doing so for the past 50 years.

So what does the future hold? Roussos is hopeful the Freeman Ministerial Association can spearhead special events in the community in the way it has in the past, whether it’s special worship services for Lent, Advent or Thanksgiving, concerts the whole family can enjoy or a special, unique event like the performance of an illusionist Curry and the Salem MB Church organized last year.

“That was a big success,” says Roussos.

“He came and he disappeared,” quipped Curry.

“We want to to do more things together as the community,” Roussos continues. “It may be evangelistic, other times it may just be an activity that brings people together — an activity that lets the people know that we love them and care about them.”

At its core, that’s what the Freeman Ministerial Association is, and that’s what it does.

It’s been that way for 50 years.

in need, whether it’s a couple from out of state who has car trouble, or transients who need a place to stay, something to eat and/or gasoline for their vehicle. Last year, for example, they used the Freeman Transit Service to transport somebody back to their home in Winner.

All of it is coordinated through those actively involved in the organization with oversight from the Freeman Police Department.

Internal care

The organization is also keenly focused on pastoral care within.

“One of the key purposes, besides helping people, is supporting each other,” says Roussos. “Pastors are an interesting breed — I say that tongue and cheek — but we tend to be on our own a lot of the time. People don’t always understand pastors. We can’t just share with just anybody, so we need this level of support and encouragement from others.”

Curry tells a joke.

Three pastors sit down to share their problems.

One says, “I like to take money out of the offering.”

The second says, “I like to drink the communion wine.”

And when the third pastor gets really excited, the other two ask, “What’s up with you?” And he says, “I’m a gossip and I can’t wait until this meeting is over.”

That’s funny, but the care the pastors provide for each other is no laughing matter.

“That’s a big part of the ministerial association, says Curry. “So we sit down, we talk about issues, with pray with each other and pray for each other.”

All of it is done with grace and understanding and a silent acknowledgement that, while they may be come from different faith backgrounds, they share a universal mission.