New Van Orsdel church leader Sue King right at home on Hi-Line

Sue King, the new pastor of three United Methodist Churches in the area, has only been back in the area a short while, but she's already given her first service and is seeking to re-establish and increase her connections with the community.

She is pastor for Van Orsdel United Methodist Church in Havre, Chester United Methodist Church and Big Sandy United Methodist Church.

A native of Wisconsin, King met her husband, Jim Duffy, who King said was from Great Falls, when the two were in graduate school in Madison, Wisconsin before they moved back to Montana. The two will be living at the church parsonage in Havre.

King said she has plans for increasing her connections.

"I think the most important thing is to focus on relationships, because people want to know that you care about them, that you genuinely hear them and their stories, and that you authentically care about them. So that's my first task is to re establish relationships with people I haven't seen for a while and to grow new ones," King said

"In the United Methodist Church, they start appointments on July 1. So that technically is my first day here. And I did preach at all three churches that I serve on July 4, so that was like our first Sunday," she added.

King keeps a busy schedule by also serving at Chester United Methodist Church at 9 a.m. before a service at the Van Orsdel church in Havre at 11 a.m. She then takes a break for lunch before doing a service later in the day at Big Sandy United Methodist Church. King said the service she does in Big Sandy has been moved to 5 p.m. for the summer.

King said she is in her fourth year as a pastor and is also finishing up seminary part-time. She said she is 25 credits away from obtaining a Master of Divinity degree.

Prior to joining the ministry, King's first career was in science. She earned a bachelor's degree and then her doctorate in water chemistry.

"I did a lot of research in environmental chemistry, I did work in the Florida Everglades, I did work in Yellowstone Park. My research was related to trace metals, especially mercury in the environment," King said.

She said she also served as adjunct faculty as an assistant research professor at Montana State University in Bozeman for several years. She became involved with the Methodist church in Bozeman, which she said eventually led to her being called to the ministry.

King went with volunteers on a mission trip to Angola, a trip she said also included Dr. Carley Robertson of Havre.

King said she wanted to do something where her background in water would be helpful and she did a lot of water testing while there in addition to meeting people through Angola churches.

After coming back to Bozeman, King said she was asked to help start a student chapter of Engineers Without Borders at MSU and was one of the chartering faculty.

The website for Engineers Without Borders-International says its mission is "to be the beating heart of the engineering movement for sustainable global development, building and evolving engineering capacity throughout the world."

The MSU chapter's areas of focus include water projects, sanitation projects, fundraising and leadership.

"That was really sort of that sense of I wanted to do more to help people in the world with the problems that they have. And that really was the beginning of a sense of calling into ministry. And I have more than once worked for United Methodist churches, both in California and Nevada and one in Montana and Wyoming," King said.

"But I've also taught in between there and done research. I also taught at Aaniiih Nakoda College out at Fort Belknap, so I'm familiar with this area, and have friends here in Havre. and in Harlem, and Chinook and all along Hi-Line, so I was really excited to be able to come back and be a pastor here as well," she added.

King said she loves the area all along the Milk River and the Hi-Line, adding it feels like home and has felt that way since she first moved to the area in 2015.

"It doesn't feel strange in any way, but just really welcoming. I like the Hi-Line. I like its rich cultural history of the tribes who live up here, very interested in archaeology, and this is a fantastic place for someone who's interested in the past. But I'm also interested in the future and the well-being of all the people up here on the hi-line," King said.