Reverend completes 18-year career with church
By: Bill Greenwood
Six Mile Run Reformed Church, has bid farewell to its longtime pastor.
The Rev. David Risseeuw, who has been with the Route 27 church since 1988, served his last official day as pastor on Sunday. He said he plans to move to Delaware this week and begin his retirement.
He said he is especially happy to see how diverse the congregation has become since he took over as pastor of the church 18 years ago.
"It has become a thriving, multiracial, multicultural congregation," he said. "(We did it) by emphasizing that we needed to represent the community around us."
"It’s been wonderful," he said. "(The church) has become very inclusive of whoever the new residents of the community are."
Church Secretary Kathy Schaffhauser said the Rev. Risseeuw should also be commended for successfully managing a congregation that has a large population of people older than 80, while also encouraging younger members to join.
"It takes a special kind of person to have that kind of patience," she said.
The Rev. Risseeuw also helped Ms. Schaffhauser transition from the corporate world into her position at Six Mile Run, she said, and has had a profound impact on her during his tenure.
"I’ve learned that communicating your ministry and communicating the word is what’s important," she said.
The Rev. Risseeuw was given two sendoff ceremonies Sunday, one that lasted from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and another that lasted from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The morning event began with the Rev. Risseeuw’s final worship service, after which Korean group Dreaming Fellowship, which rents Six Mile Run’s facilities to conduct its own worship services, hosted a luncheon that was attended by around 150 people, Ms. Schaffhauser said.
The evening ceremony featured a Dixieland jazz band and was held at the Charlie Brown’s restaurant in Kingston. It was attended by around 160 people, Ms. Schaffhauser said.
The church has not yet named a replacement, but is interviewing candidates for interim pastor, according to the Rev. Risseeuw. He said a decision should be made by November and whoever is chosen would serve for six months to a year.
Meanwhile, the church will go through an extensive selection process to find a new permanent pastor. According to Ms. Schaffhauser, a minister, an elder and a supervisor from the church’s head group, the classis, must come forward and oversee the process. These individuals search for available ministers and conduct extensive interviews in an attempt to determine the best fit for the church.
The church’s Consistory Board must then go over these findings and call out a search committee, which will look for more candidates and conduct more interviews before a decision is finally made. The process often takes between 12 and 18 months, Ms. Schaffhauser said.
The church is looking for someone with energy, an ability to work with the community and a desire to expand the church to younger people, according to Ms. Schaffhauser.
"It’s going to be hard to fill David’s shoes," she said.
Prior to his tenure at Six Mile Run, the Rev. Risseeuw served at the First Reform Church in Schenectady, N.Y., and the Clinton Avenue Reform Church in Bergenfield. He grew up in Sheboygan, Wis., went to school at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and attended the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He has served the Reformed Church in America for a total of 40 years.
The reverend said that he currently has no plans except to enjoy his retirement. Still, he said, "stuff will come up, I’m sure."