Published: July 19, 2008 12:16 am            

Pastor Thompson takes post in Charleston

FAIRMONT — Pastor Bob Thompson didn’t stay retired very long.

The Rev. Thompson, who recently stepped down as director of the Fairmont Union Mission, has been hired as vice president of ministries for the Union Mission Ministries of Charleston.

He will begin his new position on Aug. 1.

“Sandy will be working with women and children there and developing a children’s program there just as she did here,” the pastor said.

The Thompsons have been at the Fairmont mission for 16 years.

“It’s a brand-new position and should be a challenging one for me the next couple of years,” the pastor said. “Hopefully this will be a two- or three-year project and then we’ll move on in ministry, as we call it.”

Thompson said that “rather than having fiscal responsibilities and those kind of things, I’ll be dealing with the ministry aspect of everything that the Charleston mission does, from their programs to their outreach ministries.”

The Thompsons came to Fairmont from the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York in September of 1992.

He came here as men’s director of the mission. The following April, he was named executive director.

His one goal, that never changed over his 16 years here, was that “every person who comes through these (Mission) doors knows Jesus Christ as their savior.”

Prior to entering the ministry, Thompson had served as a police officer in Philadelphia and was the manager of a large automotive business in New York.

The Thompsons don’t plan on leaving West Virginia.

“West Virginia is our home now,” he said. “West Virginia is where we plan to retire eventually, if there is such a thing.”

E-mail John Veasey at jcveasey@timeswv.com.

        

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