Morrow Memorial United Methodist Church in Maplewood has announced the appointment of a new senior pastor to lead its congregation.
In a letter sent to Morrow Church members, the chair of the Staff Parish Relations Committee said Reverend Doctor Bradford Motta would begin his new position on July 1. Rev. Motta replaces Reverend Chris Heckert, who has led the congregation for more than four years.
In a recent post on his Facebook page, Pastor Chris said he will be serving as the Sr. Pastor at Haddonfield UMC in the greater Philadelphia area. He wrote, “It has been (and continues to be) the greatest privilege and blessing to serve Morrow Memorial UMC for the past 4 1/2 years – where God has been moving in powerful ways, and where we welcomed our two daughters into the world.”
Here is the text of the letter sent to Morrow church members.
Dear Morrow Church Family,
I write to you with joy to share that Bishop John Schol has appointed Reverend Doctor Bradford Motta as the new senior pastor of our congregation beginning July 1st.
Rev. Motta returns to Morrow Church after a number of years, having served here as Associate Pastor in the early 1980s. He is currently the senior pastor at Mt. Fern UMC in Randolph, NJ. We look forward to welcoming Pastor Brad and the many gifts and graces he will bring to his ministry at Morrow Church.
As part of the United Methodist Church’s appointment system, our congregation’s Staff Parish Relations Committee met with the district superintendent to identify our congregation’s needs and the needed skills in a pastor. We also met with Rev. Motta to ask him questions, learn more about his background in ministry, and get to know him better. For a closer introduction to Rev. Motta, I invite you to visit the Greater New Jersey Conference website and its announcement of his appointment at Morrow Church.
We look forward to continuing our work with Pastor Chris in the next several months as we prepare for this transition. I ask you to join me in praying for Pastor Chris and his family as well as Pastor Brad and Mt. Fern UMC as they all journey through this season of change.
In peace,
Elizabeth Kahn
Chair, Staff Parish Relations Committee
opendoors@morrowchurch.org
