West Springfield ministers says moral questions include “a business system that is rigged against those who play by the rules.'
WEST SPRINGFIELD –Members of Grace Lutheran Church are involved in social justice issues locally, nationally and globally, and their new pastor will work to see this continues because, he says, it is a Gospel imperative.
“Religious issues are always issues of justice. Jesus went out of his way to be with people who were sick, shunned, crippled or forgotten,” said the Rev. John E. Marquis who became pastor of the church at 1552 Westfield St., West Springfield, on July 1. “Jesus broke all the social taboos of his time in order to heal and love people.”
Marquis said moral questions today include poverty, the health care system, on-going racism, “a business system that is rigged against those who play by the rules and the on-going wars that rob the poor of their basic needs.”
A former Marist priest, Marquis served as a Catholic parish priest, director of retreats and college chaplain. A former dean of students, he was executive director of a therapeutic boarding school for teens and most recently served as head of school at the Kemsley Academy in Wendell.
“With my previous 21 years in the ministry and 14 years as an educational administrator, I bring a variety of gifts and strengths” to Grace Lutheran Church, he said.
Marquis likes to work on community building and with children, teenagers, young adults, families and senior members of the community. He emphasizes good preaching, pastoral visits, pastoral counseling and preparation for baptisms, communion, confirmation and marriages.
“I also bring a good sense of humor and listening skills, which are very important in building up the community,” he said. “Another strength is having a good sense of balance in all things, with people, myself, in addition to not taking myself too seriously.”
For the first few months at Grace Lutheran he plans to listen, visit those who are homebound, pay attention to those who worship on a regular basis and focus on young children and involve them more deeply in the life of the church community. He plans to reach out to teens and to those who may be un-churched or looking for a church and to strengthen those who are active.
“Reaching outside the walls of the church is a primary concern, to let people know they are loved and accepted,” he said.
“We have much to learn from people who do not belong to a church or who do not feel the need for church,” he said. “I want to listen to their stories because everybody has a story.”
His own story began in 1949 when he was born in Van Buren, Maine, the son of a potato farmer who died when Marquis was 13. His 92-year-old mother still lives in Maine.
One of four children, he attended the Marist Fathers Seminary in Framingham, after high school and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Assumption College in Worcester.
To prepare for vows into the Marist religious order, he attended a year-long program of spiritual formation in New Orleans. He also attended the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, and earned a master of divinity degree; as part of this program he participated in a clinical pastoral education program through Andover Newton Theological School at Boston City Hospital.
Marquis joined the Lutheran Church three years ago when he decided to return to ministry. He and his wife found a welcoming church at Immanuel Church in Amherst.
He appreciates the work members of Grace Lutheran Church do to help others, like collecting food for local agencies, and providing care packages for troops overseas.
“We always help with local, national and global disasters,” he said, citing support for the Springfield Rescue Mission, Parish Cupboard, The Marshfield Mission and Cathedral in the Night in Northampton.
Ten percent of the church’s offering goes to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America for its mission outreach, such as the malaria campaign in Africa.
Nearly 200 individuals belong to Grace Lutheran Church, where there is a Wednesday worship service at 6 p.m. ,and a Sunday worship at 9:30 a.m., which includes a Sunday School for children.
The church has a Needlers Group that creates articles for children and quilts for the needy ,and a weekly Bible study on Tuesdays from 9 to 10 a.m.
“Grace Lutheran, 1552 Westfield St., is very active in the community, fulfilling its mission to be disciples of Christ. We constantly seek more involvement especially with those who are marginalized,” Marquis said. “I will move the church forward by preaching God’s Word, take an active role in our ministries and work with other local churches to spread the Good News.”
Grace Lutheran is on Facebook: www.facebook.com/gracelutheranws.