The Rev. Boyd Hannold will be installed as the senior pastor of the 1,800-member Princeton Alliance Church.
By: Charlie Olsen
A large Plainsboro church will be holding an official installation ceremony for its new senior pastor, Hillsborough resident the Rev. Boyd Hannold, of Linden Drive, at 6 p.m. Nov. 26.
According to the Rev. Hannold, one of his goals as senior pastor is to make the church more flexible to the community’s needs to make it more contemporary.
"I just want to make the church relevant," The Rev. Hannold said. "There are two kinds of people who go to church, people who do it because they’ve always done it, or people who come because they have a need for it I’m more interested in the people who want it."
Princeton Alliance Church, a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, boasts about 1,800 members. It offers one service on Saturday nights and two on Sunday, which feature contemporary music and a service that is "part Baptist and part Presbyterian."
With an early start on Sept. 25, the Rev. Hannold brings 25 years of experience as a pastor and an adjunct professor stateside and overseas to the table.
"Most of my time was spent in Thailand," the Rev. Hannold said. "We started a new church there near the Laotian border, and helped Thai pastors with their congregations I eventually oversaw everything there."
The Rev. Hannold originally studied math at Temple University, but felt a need to switch directions. He transferred and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Bible, with minors in math and philosophy from Houghton College in upstate New York in 1978.
He also received a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia International University in South Carolina, a Master of Theology degree at Princeton Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in New Testament studies at Temple University.
"One of my dreams for the church," The Rev. Hannold said, "is that we be considered an extension of the community."
He said the church’s community outreach is mainly focused on service and youth.
"We try to identify needs and jump in where we can," the Rev. Hannold said. "Our car ministry, for example, is a team of mechanics that fixes cars and then we donate them back out into the community."
As far as youth are concerned, if it’s not fun they’re not going to want to do it, he said. That’s why he wants to focus on activities they want such as a battle of bands held Nov. 10.
"Some (of the bands) were Christian, some were not. It was a safe place to hang out and hear some live music," Mr. Hannold said. "It was noisy but they love it."
The Rev. Hannold also said that the missionary programs have been very successful, with both youth and adults building houses in Mexico and Katrina-stricken Mississippi.
"In the beginning it was easy to find people to help out until it went back to normal," he said. "Now those people who were hit by Katrina aren’t in the news, but they still need help."
Although being senior pastor is a full-time job, the Rev. Hannold finds time to coach soccer for the Hillsborough seventh- and eighth-grade recreation teams.
He lives in Hillsborough with his wife of 26 years, Donna and their three children: Stephanie, 19, who attends Rutgers University; Joel, 16, a student at Hillsborough High School; and Eric, 12, who attends Hillsborough Middle School.
Hopefully, Mr. Hannold said, the community will see Princeton Alliance Church as a useful extension of the community.
"If people see that we care about the community and we do maybe they’ll care about us," Mr. Hannold said.
For more information on the church, visit www.princetonalliance.org.