Reverend Kim Purl started as a pastor at Immanuel United Church of Christ in Wright City last July, and is now settled into her role and nearing her ordination, her last hurdle to fully step into her role at the church. 

Pastor Sharon Kichline is already ordained, but she has only just started as the new pastor at Harmonie Church, also in Wright City. 

The two women are responsible for filling the role of a pastor as both a spiritual and community leader for their respective congregations, although the paths they took to get there do differ. 

Purl had been serving as an associate pastor at the Church of the Nazarene, also in Wright City, when she began her studies at Eden Theological Seminary pursuing her doctorate in Ministry. 

Kichline grew up in a small farming community in northern Missouri before she received her degree in finance and banking from the University of Missouri. She would not feel called to preach until after she had her children, and well before she would find her way to Harmonie Church. 

“It wasn’t until after we had our children that I felt this tug to be more engaged at church,” said Kichline. “We had a special needs son, and so I was there a lot, … And pretty soon, people started telling me stuff and I didn’t know what to do with it, baring their soul kind, because they knew me and they hadn’t really spent a lot of time with the pastor, so I decided to go to seminary just so I’d have a class on how to do pastoral care.”

From there, she said it snowballed and turned into a calling, and she obtained her degree as an elder with the United Methodist Church. 

It is common for pastors in the United Methodist Church to move and Kichline would serve four different congregations before she landed at Harmonie. Her first posting was at Lafayette Park United Methodist Church in St. Louis. She was then transferred to a double posting at Central Grove and Smith Creek UMCs before settling at the Methodist church in Webster Groves where she still lives today. 

Purl turned in her credentials at the Church of the Nazarene when she completed her studies at Eden, citing theological differences and then started working with the Wright City Community Food Pantry and Immanuel UCC shortly after. 

“Immanuel, through the food pantry, … They had asked me about pulpit fill because they were without a pastor here and I agreed, but I told them I was not a minister, I didn’t have credentials anymore, and they thought they would like to talk to me more about that,” said Purl. 

Immanuel UCC elected her as their pastor in July of 2023 and now she is scheduled to be ordained early next year. 

Purl said she has especially enjoyed continuing her work with the food pantry and there is another aspect of her duties as pastor that she takes pride in. 

She has paid special attention to visiting the homebound and older members of her congregation, both for their sake and hers. 

“Because I was so new to the denomination and the church, for me to visit the homebound meant that’s where I was going to get the history of Immanuel and learn more about her,” Purl said. 

Kichline said she was pleased with the reception she had received at Harmonie and was glad she considered the role even though Harmonie is a non-denominational church. 

“It’s not United Methodist but it is a collection of people who want to come together and are woven together by their love of God and it’s such a warm, welcoming, communal experience here,” Kichline said. 

Moving forward, both pastors are taking time to strengthen their connection to the youth of their congregation and the surrounding areas. Kichline said there was a member at Harmonie who was involved in local schools helping children who are struggling with reading and she continued saying it was an important part of a child’s development as well as a program she would like to expand. 

Purl meanwhile, is looking to start a new youth group at Immanuel UCC which she hopes to launch as soon as September. She said she wants to meet monthly and hopes the group can operate differently from other youth groups and provide more agency to the students who choose to attend. 

“I’m not going to be the one who speaks, or any particular person. I’m going to have the students choose diverse people they want to hear from and ask them the question, what are you passionate about,” said Purl.