NATCHEZ &045;&045; A series of starts and stops &045;&045; mostly God’s starts and his own resistance &045;&045; is how Dr. John Larson describes the journey that has led him to First Presbyterian Church, where he began his new ministry on Sunday.

The Natchez church is only the fourth church in his 33-year work as a pastor; and at each stop on his journey, he found that, yes indeed, God was right to call him there.

&uot;In the Presbyterian Church we do operate on a biblical sense of call,&uot; Larson said. &uot;A person should expect and experience that calling. It is more than just a job. It is not just being assigned a task.&uot;

His first day in the office gave him an indication of the pace of his new position leading the congregation of several hundred, who have been without a minister for about a year. &uot;I hit the ground not running but sprinting,&uot; Larson said. &uot;Monday morning, I found out we had four people in the hospital, a memorial service to do Saturday and someone told me there would be not one but two weddings coming up. The work has been very fast paced. I was not able to just slide into place.&uot;

First Presbyterian, like churches everywhere, has its biggest challenge in deciding how to face the future, Larson said. &uot;How do you want to perceive the future, as part of the past or as something different? The whole concept of organized churches is changing from the model built in the 1950s,&uot; he said. &uot;Back then, you would open the doors and expect people to come. In the modern world, people have so many choices.&uot;

A church has to decide what its purpose is going to be, what it can uniquely offer the community and then has to reveal that vision and invite people to participate in it, he said. &uot;Presbyterians have not been known historically for their evangelism. But I tell people that every single thing we do has an evangelistic thrust, from signs showing the way to restrooms to people standing in the street welcoming visitors.&uot;

How outsiders perceive a church and its people has a direct effect on the successes of attracting new members. &uot;Do people perceive you as cold and exclusive or as warm and inviting?&uot;

Attracting young families is vital for the health and growth of a church today. &uot;There is a cafeteria mindset. Young people look at a variety of things. It used to be that people went to a church because that’s where their family went. That’s not true today. There is very little loyalty to a church today, and that’s not just among young people.&uot;

As pastor of First Presbyterian, Larson sees himself also as a pastor in the community. He is accustomed to being involved in volunteer service, such as in a hospital chaplain role.

&uot;I believe my services are not limited to the congregation but are available to anyone who needs my services of those services of anyone in this church. I believe God has entrusted us with a stewardship of resources, and that would include our buildings and our talents.&uot;

Even with the fast pace with which he has begun his work as a new pastor, Larson is one to move slowly to recommend change. &uot;I am not a person who rapidly makes changes. I don’t intend to make sudden, dramatic changes,&uot; he said. &uot;There are ministers who move into a church and try to mold the church into their vision. My idea is it has to be a vision of both church and people.&uot;

For the next several months, his wife, Judith, will visit on weekends, as she is a public high school librarian in Amory, a small community near Columbus. She will move to Natchez when the school year ends. The Larsons have two grown children.

He will take time to explore the heights and depths of the church buildings, climbing into the bell tower and looking for stairways long closed to use. The church complex includes the historic sanctuary and chapel, on the northeast corner of South Pearl and State streets, and the education and family life building across State Street on the southeastern corner of the intersection.

&uot;I am used to historic churches. I grew up in a historic church in Vicksburg, and my church at Amory just celebrated its 100th anniversary. And the Columbus congregation was an old one,&uot; he said. &uot;I know how history forms the vision of the church. I don’t want to discount that history as we consider changes.&uot;

He loves the stories church members can tell and hopes to help preserve those stories. &uot;It’s like snuffing out a candle when an older person dies and the stories are not passed on.&uot;

Growing up in a Presbyterian family in Vicksburg, he did not know what lay ahead for him. &uot;I went to college to study business and maybe to become a lawyer, but when I began taking Bible courses at Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College), something spiritual was stirring.&uot;

He went on to Columbia Seminary, completing master of divinity work in 1971 and returning to complete the doctorate in ministry in 1981. Meanwhile, &uot;out of the blue I received a call to Amory. From there I went to Oakmont Presbyterian Church in Birmingham and then to Columbus and now here,&uot; he said. &uot;It all makes me feel God is pulling me into the future.&uot;

His initial resistance to a call to ministry was natural. &uot;My personality is not really one to be a pastor, to be a public person,&uot; he said. &uot;My experiences in the pulpit are through God’s help. That is one of the reasons I ask a few people to pray with me right before church on Sunday. The prayers are very uplifting and meaningful for me.&uot;

His hesitancy to the first query from First Presbyterian members about coming to Natchez now has disappeared. He is comfortable with the call. &uot;God really wanted to put me here,&uot; he said.