In the News ... "Anderson brings diverse experience to church"

OA Photo by Jacob Ford

• Former schoolteacher relates Bible history to modern issues

By Bob Campbell, Reporter
• Odessa American

CRANE, TEXAS - The Rev. Glenn Anderson had had a career in public school education when he decided to seek certification as a lay minister and become pastor of the First United Methodist Church.

Having grown up in an Air Force family in South Texas, Hawaii and Germany, the Rev. Anderson took a degree in computer science and business administration at Angelo State University and earned a teaching certificate at UTPB. He got a master’s degree in counseling at Sul Ross State University in Alpine. He and his wife Michelle have a son.

“I preach about focus and the hope we find in Christ,” Anderson said. “We see gloom and despair in the world, but in Christ we can rest our hope. I love to provide a historical perspective, tying in Biblical times with what we’re seeing in the world today, and the scriptural meaning of what we see.”

An average of 20 people attend the First United Methodist Church at 11:15 a.m. Sunday at 1010 S. Gaston St. and seven or eight the 9 a.m. Sunday service at the Grandfalls Union Church 30 miles west of here.

Anderson, 58, taught in the schools here and at Fort Stockton and Presidio for 28 years and he is now route supervisor in the solid waste department for the City of Odessa. “Methodism allows us to discuss what the scripture says,” he said.

“We ask, are we hearing this correctly and what is it telling us to do? John Wesley provided a framework for this decision-making process. We definitely look at the scripture, but we also use reason to decide what actions we need to take through the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I was unchurched when I met Michelle at Angelo State. She got me to going to church and thinking about what that meant.”

John Wesley (1703-91) was a British theologian and evangelist who led a revival movement in the Church of England known as Methodism, featuring religious instruction, personal accountability and discipleship. That movement was the forerunner of the United Methodist Church.

First UMC of Crane Lay Leader David Whitaker said Anderson “is a stand-up good guy who tries his hardest in everything he does ...

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