Bob Molsberry

Ohio Conference Minister
6161 Busch Blvd., Ste. 95
Columbus OH 43229
800-282-0740  •  614-885-0722
Extension 203
bobm@ocucc.org

Conference Minister's Corner

Biosketch

Resume

Books

Tour de Faith: A Cyclist’s Lessons for Living, Cowley Publications, 2007

Blindsided by Grace: Entering the World of Disability, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2004

May, 2007

I’m a pastor, a writer, a strategist and a scholar, a theologian, a father and husband, an athlete and adventurer, a person with a disability, and I’m alive, in every sense of that word. It’s taken me over a half-century to become who I am today, and I’d be hard pressed to change any of it.

I was born and raised in Iowa, where I met my wife, Ann, and where we did most of the raising of our two children, Ames and Caitlin. Ann and I were married right out of college and immediately immersed ourselves in Peace Corps work in Guatemala. Peace Corps gave way to seminary at Yale Divinity School and a couple of pastorates in Aurora, Illinois and Tipton, Iowa.

With two children in tow, the wanderlust overtook us again and we uprooted our family to explore a three-year commitment with the Mennonite Central Committee in Nicaragua. I taught community development through local church volunteer extentionists, Ann developed small businesses with women, and our children were assigned to make friends (Caitlin is in Managua right now, taking a semester to study sustainable development). I also wrote articles for U.S. magazines and papers reflecting on Nicaraguan culture, theology, ecclesiology, and politics, and created a manual for local congregation community development which is now being used all over the world.

Then, amazingly, I was called to serve my home church in Iowa. I was among the first babies baptized in the "new" 1955 building, and now "little Bobby" became its pastor. Imagine that! Thankfully, most of the members didn’t hold my past against me. We had a fruitful ministry of 11 years in Grinnell, Iowa, where a membership decline of 100 members per decade for the previous six decades was finally arrested.

When Ann discerned a call to ordained ministry (she had been doing Christian Education work all her career), we found the commute from Iowa to St. Louis to be burdensome. I took an interim in Belleville, Illinois to enable her to finish her degree. After that interim ran its course, I accepted an invitation from Dr. David Greenhaw, President of Eden Seminary, to serve as Director of Administration for several months.

Those are the basic facts. What the facts don’t tell is the growth in wisdom, understanding, spirit, and faith that these varied experiences have produced. Hardships were the most effective agents of growth. Tragedy opens the door to grace. We lost a stillborn child. Our son, when he was just 5, was diagnosed with cancer. And then, back at my home church, safe from the challenges of the world, I was struck by a hit-and-run driver and left paraplegic. Working through grief, we never lost sight of the fact that we live in God’s love.

I wrote my first book about my experience and adjustment to disability. My second book uses bicycling (I use a "handcycle" now) as a metaphor to introduce key tenets of progressive Christian faith. I’ve become active in leadership roles at every level of the United Church of Christ. We have not only survived – we have grown in the assurance that we are blessed.
  

Rev. Robert F. Molsberry

 
Education

University of Iowa: B.A. 1976

Yale Divinity School: M.Div. 1982

Recent Positions Held

Currently: Director of Administration, Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis

            Oversight for personnel, budgeting, IT, maintenance, contracts.

1994-2005:  Senior Pastor, UCC-Congregational, Grinnell, Iowa

            Arrested six-decade membership decline.

1991-1994:  Community Development Coordinator, Managua, Nicaragua

            Designed, published, and directed church-based development.

1985-1990:  Pastor, First UCC, Tipton, Iowa

            Attention to membership growth, youth ministry, community building.

Volunteer Leadership

• Chair, Mission Education and Interpretation Committee, Wider Church Ministries

• Vice Chair, UCC Disabilities Ministries

• Member, UCC 50th Anniversary Committee

• General Synod Delegate

• Illinois South Conference Council member

• Illinois South Financial Development Team

• Former Association Moderator

• Co-Founder, Iowa Conference Global Partnership Task Force

• Iowa Conference representative to Ecumenical Ministries Justice and Peace Committee

• Former member, Mayflower Homes Board of Directors

• Former Chair, Grinnell Area Recreational Trail

• Former President, Grinnell Ministerial Association

Selected Publications

Tour de Faith: A Cyclist’s Lessons for Living, 2007.

Blindsided by Grace: Entering the World of Disability, 2004.

“La Iglesia: Sal y Luz,” church-based community development manual, Mennonite Central Committee.

Numerous articles (Christian Century, The Other Side, newspapers and magazines) on Nicaraguan social, political, and religious reality.

Invited Presentations

“Forgiveness: Challenging Path Toward Wholeness,” workshop at Our Lady of the Snows Shrine, Belleville, IL, March 25, 2007 

“Time for Hope,” TV interview August 4, 2006

“Embracing Our Brokenness” workshop, Memorial Hospital clergy day, 2006

Illinois South Conference UCC Leaders Workshop, 2006

Conflict Management in Congregations workshop, NW Association, Iowa Conference UCC, 2005

Keynote presentation, The Writers Academy, 2005

“Grace Matters,” ELCA radio program interview, 2005

Personal

Married to Ann Molsberry.  Two grown children: son Ames will be married November 10, 2007 and daughter Caitlin is a senior at St. Olaf College.  Active in wheelchair sports: marathons, handcycling, swimming, triathlon.

Strengths

I have made a career of gathering and guiding people in facing their challenges—a community development model. I am a master at adapting to and transforming new “cultures” (Latin American, disability, parish, etc). I know the United Church of Christ, from parish to association and conference, to national and mission settings, and the linkages between them. And I am a skilled communicator.