First Church of Nazarene receives new pastor

The First Church of the Nazarene in St. Marys has a new Pastor who views the human condition, as the greatest unifier. Pastor Eric Anderson moved to St. Marys early in March to take on the role of Senior Pastor, having moved from Upper Sandusky’s Church of the Nazarene where he presided the last four and half years.

“I was born in Portland Maine, but have lived most of my life on the West Side of Cleveland in North Olmsted [Ohio], since 1975,” said Pastor Anderson.

Pastor Anderson now lives in town with his wife Kellie, who he has been married to for 26 years, and has a son and daughter who both live in the Cleveland area.

“I’ve been involved with the Nazarene church my whole life,” said Pastor Anderson. He studied at the Mount Vernon Nazarene University in 1984, after which he spent five years in different communities in the roles of Youth Worship Director, Youth Music Elder, and as a Youth Music Director. “Then life changed.”

Pastor Anderson explained that his family went through a rough time that split his family up.

“It made going back into the ministry difficult. I didn’t get back into pastoring because I didn’t think it was possible,” said Pastor Anderson. He said that he was still involved with the church, but that he started a career at United Parcel Service (UPS) as a National Sales Representative that spanned 28 years. Pastor Anderson said that towards the end of his time at UPS, something happened that set him back on the path to pastoring.

“God can have a second call for your life. In other words, don’t give up, those years that I was working, I was still invested with the youth and music,” said Pastor Anderson.

Part of that not giving up, came when Anderson decided to get back to pastoring.

“One of the pastors reminded me that it wasn’t a second chance, it was a redemptive call,” said Pastor Anderson. He said that he struggled with being divorced, and viewed it as something that was inhibiting him from doing what he felt called to do for a long time.

“It was 28 years ago, people are different. In this case, she walked away from us,” said Pastor Anderson. When he got over that hurdle of self-doubt, he went back to school and graduated from the Nazarene Bible College in 2016. From there, he went to Parkside Church of the Nazarene in Westlake, Ohio as an Associate Pastor. He was there for a year and a half before getting called to Upper Sandusky’s Church of the Nazarene.

“I got a call from Dr. Geoff Kunselman saying he had a church available, and that he’d like to interview me for the position. That was in October of 2022,” said Pastor Anderson. Pastor Anderson said that he wasn’t looking for a new church to pastor until he received the call. “I wasn’t, until he called. I was happy where I was.”

Something that Pastor Anderson holds near to his heart is a love of music, which he has shared with others throughout his life.

“I traveled with the ‘One Less Stone Quartet, a Southern Gospel quartet,” said Pastor Anderson. He said that the group won the National Quartet Competition as a trio in 2005 and got to sing on the main stage in front of 10,000 people.

“It was awesome, it was a blessing,” said Pastor Anderson. Music is something he also views as a way to testify.

“I always say to people, ‘stop, what do you like about that song?’, and they say ‘I like the sound,’” said Pastor Anderson then continued. “When you sing a song, sing to that, that is your testimony.”

He said that when he hears a kid singing, he can tell that certain parts of songs, speak to them.

“I’ll hear a kid singing, and the next thing you know, they’ll get to a line, and you can tell that it is the part that blessed them,” said Pastor Anderson, before continuing. “Sing your testimony, and when you do that, you will find your purpose and your why’s.”

I asked Pastor Anderson what he would do if he could snap his fingers and have one thing happened. He was candid and said the first thing he thought of immediately was the trope of ‘World Peace’, but then reconsidered it as we spoke.

“Here it is,” said Pastor Anderson as he held