Pastor Tom MacLeod

Reverend Tom MacLeod, Pastor of the Sag Harbor United Methodist Church, will be the guest preacher at the 10:30 a.m. service this Sunday, July 15, at Union Chapel in the Grove. This service annually celebrates the long history of the Methodist relationship between Union Chapel and Camp Quinipet. Camp counselors will read the Scriptures and the camp’s director will also participate in the service.

Tom MacLeod is a Long Islander, born in Freeport and raised in Bellport. In 1977 he and his wife Bobbie married and in 1983 they moved east to raise their two children, James and Jacqueline, in Mattituck.

Pastor Tom is a lifelong Methodist; he was baptized, confirmed and married in the church. But it wasn’t until the age of 38 that Tom had a spiritual awakening after a series of personal crises. The call to the ministry came six years later; prior to that time he was in the construction business for 25 years.

While waiting for an appointment, Pastor Tom served as campus minister at Suffolk Community College in Riverhead for five years. During that time he received two awards for distinguished service as an advisor to the Peconic Campus Fellowship.

In the 11 years since his appointment to the Sag Harbor United Methodist Church, he has completed requirements for a college degree with Empire State and the five-year course of study for local pastors at Wesley Seminary in Washington D.C. Last year he became an associate member of the New York Annual Conference.

During the same time, the church in Sag Harbor was experiencing a rebirth. Worship attendance had quadrupled, but it was apparent that the old church was holding the congregation back financially. So under Tom’s leadership the congregation devised a plan to sell the old building and build a church more suited to today’s needs. They dedicated their new church in November 2010. In recognition of that, the Sag Harbor Express named Pastor Tom a Person of the Year.

In the late spring of this year the Sag Harbor UMC was a featured story in author Paul Nixon’s latest book titled, “We Refused to Lead a Dying Church.”

For the past six years Pastor Tom and Bobbie have called Shelter Island their home. They are as busy as ever; Tom is an avid golfer and Bobbie is an avid sailor. Together they are traveling as much as they can, when they can, as well as enjoying being grandparents.

Music at Sunday’s service will be provided by Chapel organist Linda Betjeman and cellist Christopher Herman. They will be playing music of Saint-Saëns and Vaughn Williams.