Fincher takes helm at Church of God

Wrangell, for its size, offers nearly a dozen churches of differing denominations and creeds. And now, one of those churches has been blessed with a new leader of its flock.

Richard Fincher, the new pastor at Hope Community Church of God, recently arrived from Georgia, where he pastored and assisted at a pair of churches in the northern region of the state.

His prior pastorship was at the Mount Bethel First Church of God in Toccoa, Ga., and he was an assistant pastor at Gordon Lake Wesleyan Church in LaFayette, Ga.

Achieving the position of pastor, which Fincher has held for 12 years, involves a process where he is recommended by his peers and is licensed by the headquarters of the Church of God in Anderson, Ind. After that, a pastor can be hired by a church to lead its flock in any number of locations across the United States.

Fincher, who along with his wife Donna, and three children, had been managing a roller skating rink prior to coming to Wrangell, said he had been looking for the right opportunity for his family for nearly two years before discovering the opening in the borough.

“We had been searching on a nationwide database of open positions for a couple of years for our next step,” Fincher said. “I hadn’t been pastoring for a few years at one point, though I was searching for where God wanted to lead us. When I found one that had a roller rink, the one here in Wrangell, I told my wife about it and she said, ‘You’re kidding? Alaska?’”

After he asked his family about whether they should try Alaska, the answer was simple.

“They said ‘sure’ and we prayed a lot about it,” Fincher added.

The process to get to Wrangell took nearly six months for Fincher and his family; his inquiry began in January, with their arrival happening on June 1.

“There was a lot of time in between the process of applying and getting here,” he said.

Now that the Fincher family is here, the pastor said they love it – for a number of reasons.

“I love the slowed pace of life and you have more time to focus on community and family,” Fincher said. “Where we’re from, it’s busy all the time, and if nothing else, you’re traveling. So, it’s nice to have the time to spend because time is our most precious commodity in life. It’s the one thing we never get back.”

In the ministry side of the Fincher family life, the pastor said his wife Donna is one of his greatest assets.

“She helps greatly and we want to focus on bringing the Word to families here,” he said. “We’ve both experienced divorce, so we know what it is like to struggle in a family environment.”

Under Fincher’s leadership, the church also plans on starting a substance abuse program to help those in need in Wrangell.

“Donna has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Human Services, and is licensed as a substance abuse counselor. So, we’re considering starting a ‘Celebrate Recovery’ program here in the near future.”

Celebrate Recovery is a Christian-based 12-step program meant to help addicts – and stresses that the only “higher power” in recovery is Jesus Christ.

And when it comes to one favorite scripture Fincher holds dear, the answer was simply stated.

“It would be Ephesians 2:8-9,” he said.

That scripture states what Fincher said is his feeling on the salvation of all mankind.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast,” states the New International Version of the Holy Bible.