Dwight Nelson has been the senior pastor at Pioneer Memorial Church, on the campus of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, for 39 years. This past Sabbath, he announced plans to retire next year.
It has finally dawned on Karen and me,” Nelson told the congregation during the Aug. 13 service, “that the privilege and joy of pastoring this parish cannot go on forever. And today we are announcing that it will soon stop.”
Nelson spoke to the Michigan Conference president, Elder Jim Micheff, and they settled on a transition process in which a search committee will be formed and will select a new senior pastor for PMC, who will assume leadership as of June 1, 2023, when Nelson will formally retire.
Born to SDA missionary parents in Tokyo, Japan, Dwight Nelson can converse in Japanese. Nelson attended Far Eastern Academy in Singapore and graduated from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1973. He earned a Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) from the SDA theological seminary at Andrews in 1976, and a Doctor of Ministry degree (D.Min.) in 1986. Before Nelson began his ministry in 1983 at Pioneer Memorial Church, he pastored for 10 years in Oregon.
Nelson has written several books, including:
Pursuing the Passion of Jesus: How "Loving the Least" Helps You Fulfill God's Purpose for Your Life, Pacific Press, 2005
The Eleventh Commandment: A Fresh Look at Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself, Pacific Press, 2001
Outrageous Grace: Finding a Forever Friendship With God, Pacific Press, 1998
Built to Last: Creation and Evolution : A Thoughtful Look at the Evidence That a Master Designer Created Our Planet, Pacific Press, 1998
The Claim: Nine Radical Claims of Jesus That Can Revolutionize Your Life, Pacific Press, 1996
"The Jesus Generation: Shaping Up for the Showdown," Hart Research Center, 1993
"Countdown to the Showdown," Hart Research Center, 1992
Nelson teaches at the SDA Theological Seminary, and records a weekly broadcast television program called “New Perceptions,” based upon his PMC sermons, He and his wife Karen have two children and three grandchildren.
We praise God every day we wake up—I’m telling you the truth—not just for waking up—but for waking up to the joy of pastoring this congregation we have come to love so deeply. This has not been a job for me. Serving as your pastor has been a delightful honor every single day. Except for those days when it wasn’t (but those were very rare—thanks to your patience, your love, your vision and your energetic commitment to God’s mission here at home and around the world). And there is no campus congregation on earth like this one. Which is why we’ve been so humbled and privileged to serve here all these years. It’s hard to believe 39 years have flown by! But the time has come to begin making the carefully laid plans that are necessary to turn this congregation over to a new leader, a younger leader.
Back in May I sat down with our conference president—Jim Micheff, a wonderful leader—to share with him our decision and explore with what our next steps need to be. He reminded me—what you already know. Pioneer is an unusual congregation serving not only the local community, not only the state community, not only the national community, but Pioneer ministers to our world faith community.
Which means the search process to find a new spiritual leader will not only be prayerful but must be methodical and comprehensive as well. And by the way, I will have nothing to do with the search process. But they are going to need some time to conduct a thorough search for the next pastor of this congregation. So, Karen and I are grateful for the nine months to the end of this new school year—that will give them that time.
I shared this decision with our pastoral staff, with Andrea Luxton our university president and with our office team over these past few days. And everybody is committed to working together, to finish strong together.
As it turns out, I began my ministry (as a single not-yet-married-to-Karen pastoral intern) on June 1, 1973. And as it would turn out, we began our ministry at Pioneer on June 1, 1983. So, June 1, 2023, is the right day to sign off (after 40 years here and 50 years in ministry) on what has been for Karen and me an incredible and blessed journey with all of you.
‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’ is what we sing around our home. But this is not good-bye—we’ve got work to do. And so there will be time for loving on each other in the few months we have yet ahead.”
An astonishing fact about Pioneer Memorial Church is that, since the end of the Second World War some 77 years ago, PMC has had exactly two (2) senior pastors.
Nelson, in one of his controversial moves, passed out index cards in a 2018 sermon, inviting people in the congregation to renounce their white privilege.