The Reverend Sigmund Podlozny Jr, MDiv.,

“Ke aloha no!”  (Aloha!  Greetings!)

 I come to Faith United Community Church, Dewey, Arizona from Hawai‘i, where I was called to serve four churches on the Island of Moloka‘i for the last four years.

I was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on April 11, 1944, and grew up on the North Shore in Haverhill, where I attended grade school and then trade school.  It was not until I was thirty-three, firmly established in a career with Western Electric, that I finally answered the call to ministry.  I entered a Christian college (Gordon College), located in Wenham, where I graduated with a double major (History and Biblical and Theological Studies) and then Andover Newton Theological School, located in Newton Centre, where I was admitted to the Master of Divinity.  I met my partner in life, Sharon, where I was working full time at Wang Laboratories, while in seminary.  We both worked, on different shifts – it is amazing we met at all!  Between us, we have six grown children and one grandson.

 I was recognized and authorized as an Ordained Minister at the Community Church of North Orange and Tully, Massachusetts on January 12, 1992.  I have served churches in Massachusetts, the State of Washington, Vermont, Hawai‘i, and now the high desert of Arizona.  It has been quite a trip. 

I believe, for myself, that all my activities have a single center: life in Christ.  My pastoral theology seeks, at all times, to point to that center and to see every single function in relation to that center. The center is Christ's own ministry for and through us, embodied in distortable ways through our language, through the work of our hands, and quietly through our bodily presence. 

My ministry and call is found in 2 Timothy 4.1-2; “I give you this charge: Preach the Word; Being prepared is season and out of season; Correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction” – “Do all the duties of your calling" (2 Timothy 4.5).  This is my continuity with the living Christ.

You are welcome to stop by the Church on any Tuesday or Thursday (9-1:00) – as they say in Hawai‘i, to “talk story”.  You might want to call ahead, just in case!