Vern Whittenburg Named Interim Minister
The process of finding an Interim Minister ended in early January with the Search Committee recommending that Rev. Vern Whittenburg, President of the Board, be retained as our Interim Pastor for one year. The recommendation was approved by the Board Jan. 10 and announced to the congregation Jan. 16.
Vern’s acceptance of this position will allow a Pastoral Search Committee to continue interviewing candidates for a permanent pastor of our church.
The Search Committee interviewed three candidates put forth by the Central Atlantic Conference in November and December. For a number of reasons, including one who withdrew from the candidacy, the three did not appear to exhibit a good fit with our open and affirming congregation, including our strong emphasis on children’s education and inclusion on our worship. The Committee and the Board went so far as to invite one of the candidates to address the group in a sermon and conduct a service on Monday evening, Dec. 20.
The Rev. Dr. Vernon Whittenburg is an ordained United Church of Christ minister who grew up in Texas. He attended the Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, and received his Master of Divinity degree from Andover-Newton Theological Seminary in Newton Centre, Mass. Vern’s graduate studies took him to the Blanton Peale Graduate Institute in New York City, where he received his doctoral degree in Pastoral Counseling and Psychological Therapy.
After graduate study, Vern worked for a private, non-profit counseling center, The Centers for Counseling and Human Development) headquartered in Cranford, N.J. For 16 of those years he was Executive Director of the counseling center. The mission of the center,” he says, “has been to provide counseling and psychotherapy to those who could not otherwise afford it.” During his tenure as Executive Director he established satellite offices housed in churches, in Irvington, Holmdel, Middletown, Freehold and Toms River. He continues to work in the Toms River offices for two days a week.
He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He has held several pastorates, one at Community UCC of Hudson, N. H. and another at Watchung Congregational UCC, Montclair, N.J. Vern has been a member of Toms River UCC since 1995, and has four adult children and eight grandchildren.
Vern has served us in many capacities: on the search committee that called Pastor Linda, as a member-at-large on the Church Board, is one of several members who work with the children of the Church School, and is currently President of the Board. Most recently since Rev. Linda Holzbaur retired he has conducted services.
