Joint installation of pastors in Thedford

THEDFORD – Congregations of four churches of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in Thomas and Blaine counties as well as several UCC pastors from across the state came to the Thedford UCC on Saturday, April 23 for the joint installation of Reverend Coral and Reverend Les Parmenter.

The couple met during their Education for Lay Ministry classes. Les began his education 1998; Coral in 2002. They were each other’s prayer partners and being friends blossomed into love. They were married Oct. 6, 2006.

Rev. Les was ordained in 2014 and Rev. Coral in 2018.

“We came to Thedford two and one-half years ago in September, 2019, Rev. Les said. “I was hired by the Thomas County Parish, which has three churches in the villages of Halsey, Thedford and Seneca. When Purdum UCC’s minister retired, Coral was approached to become their minister. She began serving that congregation in July 2020.”

They leave home about the same time on Sunday mornings, he to Halsey where service begins at 9. She passes him and travels another 14 miles north to Purdum. He then returns to conduct service at 10:30 at Thedford and finishes in Seneca, which is 11 MT. “We would have been installed months ago, but thanks to Covid, it had to be postponed,” Pastor Les stated.

He added this is his fourth and last time to be installed. His first church was in Bayard. He served in Crofton and then the couple were installed jointly at the Faith Fellowship Parish serving the communities of Beemer, Wisner and West Point in northeast Nebraska.

Joining the celebration were Associate Conference Minster for the Nebraska UCC Reverend Sarah Rentzel-Jones of Omaha; Pastor Les’s ELM classmate Rev. Fay Ann (Goehring) Blaylock; Reverend Katie Miller, First Central UCC, Omaha; and Allan Stuckey, president of the Prairie Association of the Nebraska UCC. During the installation, Brenda Masek, Purdum UCC, and Dan Daly, President of the Thomas County Parish, asked permission for Rev. Coral and Rev. Les to be installed as ministers for their churches and the pastors accepted.

Terri Licking Pictured, front row, from left are Brenda Masek, Purdum UCC moderator; Rev. Sarah Rentzel-Jones; Pastor Linda Newman; Rev. Fay Ann Blaylock; and Rev. Jerry Cassiday. Back row: Dan Daly, Thomas Co. Parish President; Rev. Les Parmenter; Allan Stuckey, Prairie Association President; Rev. Coral Parmenter; Rev. Kate West; and Rev. Katie Miller.