By Regina
Ford
Green Valley
News
The Rev. Dr.
George H. Pike will serve as the interim senior pastor of the Valley Presbyterian
Church beginning today with the retirement of the Rev. Joe Hawkins.
“In our system
of church government, the local church will form a search committee and
conduct a nationwide search to look for a replacement for Joe and that
will take anywhere from 18 months to two years,” Pike explained.
“My specific
responsibility is to be head of staff and administrative work in the meantime.”
The senior
interim pastor said he will also be responsible for Sunday worship and
will conduct the majority of the preaching.
Pike is a graduate
of the Chatham, New Jersey High School, and Trinity College in Hartford,
Conn. He received a master of divinity degree from Dubuque Theological
Seminary, and has done graduate work at Dubuque and the University of St.
Andrews, Scotland.
Ordained in
1957 by the former Presbytery of Sheldon Jackson in Minnesota, now the
presbytery of the Twin Cities area, he has served as pastor in five Presbyterian
churches over a period of 33 years which included: First Church, Kasson,
Minn; Third Church, Dubuque, Iowa; First Church, Bettendorf, Iowa; First
Church, Vancouver, Wash.; and First Church, Cranford, N.J.
Pike has been
active in presbytery, synod and general assembly work, in ecumenical work
at the national and international level, in education, community organizations,
and health and welfare services in the various communities which he has
lived.
The interim
pastor served as the first moderator of the Synod of the Pacific as well
as chair of its mission council. He was a commissioner to the 1972 and
1974 General Assemblies and was a candidate for moderator of the 1974 General
Assembly.
Among his many
roles at the General assembly level, Pike has been active in the Presbyterian
delegation to the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) from 1973 until 1999,
and was president of COCU from 1984 to 1988 as well as a member of its
executive committee from 1980 to 1999.
From 1988 to
1993, Pike served as the co-director in the United States of the Bicentennial
Fund of the Presbyterian Church. His major responsibility in that campaign
was to be a goodwill ambassador and the chief spokesperson for the fund
drive. In that capacity, he visited projects in Africa, South Asia, the
U.S. Mexican border, the Caribbean and South American, as well as projects
in 151 presbyteries.
Pike has been
listed in “Who’s Who in America” since 1990 and was twice awarded the Freedom’s
Foundation Award. He was named “alumnus of the year” by Dubuque Theological
Seminary and has received awards as Bettendorf “Citizen of the Year,” Vancouver
“Religious Leader of the Year,” and Cranford “B’nai B’rith Citizen of the
Year.”
In 1998, he
was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by the University of
Dubuque.
Pike retired
in May, 1998 as director of Seminary Development and Church Relations at
the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, Dubuque Iowa.
Pike, a Green
Valley resident for the past 18 months, and his wife Pauline have three
children. Their daughter Elizabeth lives in Gig Harbor, Wash., with husband
Warren Martin. Both are attorneys.
George III
and his wife Debbie live in Pittsburgh, Pa., where Debbie is a school teacher
and George is director of the law library and professor of law at the University
of Pittsburgh.
The Pike’s
son, James lives in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii where he is the owner-operator
of Maui Sports and Cycle.
The interim
pastor and his wife also have three grandchildren, Alexander and Rachael
Martin and Jeremiah Pike.
Pike admits
that he is still retired and intends to work only part-time.
“I have to
take time for some golf,” he added.