Ian Lynch

Rev. Ian Lynch is a United Church of Christ pastor at First Congregational Church in Brimfield, MA. I’ve bumped into Ian at a number of UCC gatherings in Massachusetts over the past few years and thought highly of his humor, joy in pastoring and commitment to the Church. But what really caught my attention was his ministry following the tornadoes in Western Massachusetts. When we started planning the MCC’s annual meeting, a colleague reminded us of that the Church’s divisions in Massachusetts are theological, denominational, political, racial, generational and often geographic. This colleague spoke of the sense that the churches in the eastern part of the Commonwealth didn’t know how the churches in the central and western part of the state were still struggling with high unemployment and the destruction from the storms. We knew we wanted to try and bridge that geographic divide. Ian’s digital ministry fits in perfectly. Following the tornadoes, he used social media to connect with his congregants and the wider community. A new kind of pastoral care is possible with social media. Ian and the First Congregational Church of Brimfield give us an example of how to show God’s love in the midst of enormous chaos and pain.