ABOUT OUR PASTOR
Rev. Scott Harris (or "Pastor Scott" as he likes to be called) graduated Cum Laude from Montclair State University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies. In 1998 he earned a Masters of Divinity degree Magna Cum Laude from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, one of 2 seminarys run by the Reformed Church in America. While there he worked as a student pastor in the Old North Reformed Church of Dumont, NJ and the Readington Reformed Church of Readington, NJ. In 1998 he accepted a call to his first ordained pastorate at the Linlithgo Reformed Church in the town of Livingston in upstate New York.
Pastor Scott loves having children in worship and presents a "children's sermon" each Sunday between September and June when children are present. He believes that worship should be inspiring (read here as "fun" - something you look forward to doing each week) and that sermons should be practical and Biblical.
Pastor Scott believes that ministry is best defined as finding a need and filling it, finding a hurt and healing it and equipping others to go and do the same. He prefers this vision of ministry to simply preaching on Sundays and being chief cook and bottle washer (not to mention activities director) for the church. "The Jack-Of-All-Trades is colorful," Pastor says, "but is rather ineffective." In keeping with his vision of ministry Pastor Scott serves as Chaplain for the Old Village Fire Company, our local fire station, even responding to emergency calls as "support staff" for the fire fighters. He, together with the Consistory, has invited various outside agencies to host events in our buildings that serve the community. He currently serves on the Classis Supervision of Churches Committee and is a delegate to the Regional Synod of the Mid-Atlantics. He also has a strict policy that he will "bless anything that moves and some things that don't!" as a way of serving others. "The most important thing we do, in church and outside of church, is spread the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ, that all have sinned and stand in need of a savior, and that savior is Jesus Christ, and that by grace alone God forgives our sins for the sake of Jesus' suffering and death on the cross. This is a gift we receive by faith alone. God outlines this plan of salvation and God's will for our lives as well as God's self in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments alone. We spread this gospel of love and grace at all times and in all places, and when absolutely necessary, we use words!"
Pastor Scott, his wife Kathleen (that's Kathy with a "K" . . . and she's really sensitive about that!) their son Timothy and their dog Heidi live in the parsonage on the church property adjacent to the education building.
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