PARISH OF THE HILLS is comprised of 3 churches:
First United Methodist (Mineral Point), Linden United Methodist (Linden) and Bethel United Methodist (rural Mineral Point). We welcome you to worship with us.
TIMES and LOCATIONS:
BETHEL UMC 8:00 a.m. / Located on the Corner of State Hwy 39 & County “W”
FIRST UMC 9:15 a.m. / 400 Doty Street, Mineral Point, WI 53565
LINDEN UMC 10:30 a.m. / In the Village of Linden on Hwy 39
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Latest Newsletter: CLICK=> Aug-Nov-2023
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IMPORTANT DATE: OCTOBER 11th
Our Church leadership continues to work through many organizational details going forward. They look forward to hearing from you, the members, to discuss what is best for the future. These discussions include closing and selling the First United Methodist Church of Mineral Point due to shortage of pastors, lack of attendance, participation, finances including heating & snow removal, aging membership, competition with sporting events, and seven other churches in a community of 2,600, plus our leadership is just plain worn out trying to raise funds for the continuous repair of our old 1865 church. Linden & Bethel will remain open – each with 51 members.
Several meetings have occurred with SPRC and Rev. Dr. Amanda Stein, D.S. prior to September 24th’s open meeting. A joint church service was held on Sunday, September 24th at 1st Mineral Point. After church Rev. Dr. Amanda Stein, our District Superintendent held a Summit meeting with 54 in attendance giving an update on the future of Parish of the Hills. As of right now it looks like Parish of the Hills will dissolve and each Church will decide on what happens next including each church finding and hiring a quarter-time pastor as each church does not want to combine into one church.
We do have some important decisions to make as to how we will continue to serve our community and membership going forward. A meeting to discuss the next steps will be held on Wednesday, October 11th at Mineral Point Church. Bethel is scheduled to meet with Dr. Stein at 5:30, Linden at 6:15 and First at 7:00 p.m. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. This will be our last OPEN meeting! If you cannot attend, please e-mail any comments you wish to make to the Parish office at [email protected] or contact one of your Ad Council members. Please remember we only have a 1⁄2 time interim pastor for the three churches until December 31, 2023.
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Warm greetings!
I am Pastor Gary Cole and I will be your interim pastor from September 1 to December 31. I am looking forward to meeting you. In addition to leading worship and preaching I will be available to visit the sick and make pastoral calls. If a visit is desired, please call Marcia at the Parish of the Hills office and ask her to contact me.
Let me share a little about me. I am a retired (2019) United Methodist pastor. My wife Patty and I moved to Dodgeville upon retirement. In May we celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary. We have three grown children. Our oldest is Jemal. He is married to Shelley. He has two grown children and lives in Baltimore. Our middle son is Colin. He is married to Melissa, and they have two children, 13-year-old Jacob and 6-year-old Lily. They live in Mount Horeb and are the reason we moved to Dodgeville. My daughter is Kjirsten. She lives in Minneapolis.
I was born and reared in Southern California. I finished High School in the Seattle area and enrolled at the University of Washington. Two years later I put college on hold and Patty and I were married. When I felt that God was calling me to ministry we moved to Chicago. I earned a B.A. in History and an M.Div. At North Park College and Theological Seminary. I served as an intern pastor in New Rochelle about 4 blocks from the Bronx.
When I graduated from Seminary, I accepted a call to serve an Evangelical Church in Ironwood, Michigan. After five years I took a position in Beloit, Wisconsin where I served for 12 years. In 2001 I transferred to the Wisconsin Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I was appointed to Church of the Pines in Minocqua. After 11 years I was appointed to Menominee Falls and then West Allis.
I have more interests than time and am currently learning photography. I root for the Packers and the Bucks.
Pastor Gary Cole
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Pulpit Supply for Sep 1st – Dec 31st
8:00 Bethel UMC with Rev. Gary Cole
9:15 FIRST UMC with Rev. Gary Cole
10:30 Linden UMC Service with Rev. Gary Cole
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REFERENCE WEBSITES:
www.wisconsinumc.org -Wisconsin Conference website
www.umnews.org – United Methodist Church News Website
www.umc.org – Official website of the United Methodist Church
www.resourceumc.org – UMC Resources – a wide range of resource info for Methodists
www.goodnewsmag.org – Since 1967, Good News has been the classical evangelical witness and ministry for renewal and reform within The United Methodist Church.
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