By Staff
BUCHANAN – Pastor Patricia Ramsden is returning to her roots, sort of.
Buchanan is a long way from her native Moundsville, W.Va., just south of Wheeling. But like Moundsville, Buchanan is a small community.
After a lengthy absence from Moundsville and stops along the way in such communities as St. Louis and Kansas City, a natural question might be "Why Buchanan?"
"I really do believe that God sent me here," said Pastor Pat, as she likes to be known. "The people of the church are just wonderful. We are on the edge of a great adventure."
Pastor Pat began her tenure here as pastor of First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Jan. 14, preaching her first sermon at the 10:30 a.m. worship service.
Like her unlikely destination of Buchanan, Pastor Pat didn't even plan to become a minister.
"I wanted to become a college president," she explained. "I had the opportunities and skills, but God had other plans."
Pastor Pat began her education as an undergraduate student at West Liberty College studying English and special education. From there, she earned her Master of Science degree in English at the University of Arkansas. She earned her doctorate in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University. She then became academic dean and taught at Hazard Community College in Kentucky.
It was at Hazard that Pastor Pat started to change direction.
"I actually argued with God," she confessed. "I didn't want to become a pastor. But, one day it occurred to me that there was nothing more important to me than serving God. If God wanted me to do it, then I wanted to do it, too."
That led her to Louisville Presbyterian Seminary and to life in the ministry for the past 19 years.
Her first stop was the First Presbyterian Church in the small town of Eldorado, Ill. She moved on to pastor the Home Heights Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Mo., and most recently the Overland Park Presbyterian Church in an urban area of Kansas City, Kan.
During those years, she also has served on the national Peacemaking Committee of Presbyterian USA, received an award for excellence in pastoring, national recognition in preaching, and has been published in the Clergy Journal and Ministers' Annual Journal.
Pastor Pat also "confesses" to enjoy reading "a good murder mystery." She also is into stamping.