By Jolene Farley
Connie Stone has joined the First Presbyterian Church of Beaver Creek and the First Presbyterian Church of Rushmore as the new minister for both congregations.
An ordination and installation ceremony will be Saturday, Jan. 19, in the Beaver Creek church.
Stone has already started some of her work in the parishes but cannot perform the sacraments until she is ordained Saturday.
Stone said she knew when she was very young she wanted to serve the church. "I actually had decided very early I wanted to do some kind of work for the church," she said. "The more I grew and the more I prayed, the more I felt pulled in this direction."
Stone completed her studies at the Louisville Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., before moving to Beaver Creek.
She said she chose Minnesota because her 15-year-old daughter, Abby, has asthma and she wanted to get out of the city. "I wanted her out of the pollution," she said.
She also wanted her daughter to get to know her side of the family from Nebraska.
Stone said she is looking forward to getting to know her congregation one-on-one. "I am very much a people person. I like hearing people's stories," she said. "I hope if people do not come to our churches I can still meet them and get to know them."
She's already noticed the "Minnesota nice" that other states talk about.
"I was very attracted to the people here," she said. "They're very honest, healthy and sure of who they are."
The Beaver Creek congregation has more than 100 people on the rolls with more than 80 who attend services regularly. In Rushmore the congregation has more than 40 active members.
Although the Presbyterian Church recommends ministers stay in a congregation for a seven-year period, Stone said she intends to stay as long as she is needed.
"I told the congregations I would stay until I felt I was no longer effective as a pastor," she said. "That would be the point, whether that's seven years or 20 years."
Stone's daughter, Abby, is a talented string bassist who hopes to join the Youth Orchestra in Sioux Falls. She also "sings like a bird," Stone said. Abby is attending Hills-Beaver Creek High School.
Stone said she wants everyone to know she is a big Nebraska Cornhusker fan. "I'm kind of in mourning about that right now ...losing the national championship."