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Kent Griffen, the new pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Imperial, shows off his Rambler American—just one of many he’s had over the years. (Johnson Publications photo)

First United Methodist Church welcomes new pastor

The First United Methodist Church in Imperial welcomed its new equipping pastor, Kent Griffen, in the beginning of July. He joins pastor Melody Newman.
Griffen, 45, comes to Imperial from Alliance, where he preached at First Christian Church for six years, and is still a member of the Alliance Fire Department.
While he will be living and preaching in Imperial, Griffen still works two shifts a week at the fire department in Alliance.
Griffen decided it was time for a change, which is when he contacted the Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church, telling them he would “like to pastor a congregation in the United Methodist Church.” He emphasized to them that he would like to remain somewhat close to Alliance.
Background
Griffen attended Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa after high school. Before entering seminary, Griffen worked for several years as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) in a nursing home.
He eventually went to seminary at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, where his degree was in Old Testament.
“I just love the Old Testament,” he said.
“I’m sort of revisiting that career path,” Griffen said. He had the application to go to nursing school but didn’t go for various reasons. Griffen is currently training to be an EMT.
“So I’m a pastor, but I also have a vocation in medicine,” he said.
“I have a firm belief that every minister should also have another vocation as well as ministry,” Griffen said. “How are you supposed to minister to people if you’re going to be this sort of sanctimonious person?”
Griffen said he’s a firefighter/CNA/EMT first, “then I’m a pastor. Because that keeps me honest.”
While in Alliance, Griffen also worked with the Developmental Disabilities system, taking care of people that are mentally challenged.
Family roots
Griffen grew up in Tekamah. His mother’s family came there in October of 1855. “All my roots are in the United Methodist Church and Tekamah, Nebraska,” Griffen said.
Griffen’s dad’s family started near the Beaver City area, but he has family in a line from St. Francis, Kansas to Holdrege.
In the summer of 2009, Griffen walked across Iowa pulling a handcart and researching old pioneer trails.
Another pilgrimage took him overseas. In March this past year, Griffen traveled to where his family lived in Lower Saxony in northwest Germany.
During a layover in England, Griffen made his way to Buckingham Palace, where one of the highlights of his life happened.
“I saw her,” he said. “I was within four feet of Queen Elizabeth.”
Griffen’s mother’s side is full of very proud Englishmen.
“One thing on my bucket list was to see Queen Elizabeth with my own eyes,” he said.
It was the 50th anniversary of Prince Charles’ coronation. While at the palace, Griffen was able to get close to the fence to see what was going on.
“This little old lady comes out of the door and is chatting with the guards,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘no. No way.’”
“The funny thing was, she didn’t look any different than any other little old lady that you’d see hanging out at the senior center in small town Nebraska,” he added.
Soon after, the queen got into a car and passed right in front of Griffen, where he was able to check an item off his bucket list.

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