It is well with his soul

As Sunday wound to a close, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach found itself charting a new course.

The church congregation has spent nearly two months getting to know their vibrant new pastor, but Sunday’s service was bittersweet. The St. Andrew’s flock had to say goodbye to the senior pastor who has led them for more than three decades.

Seek ye first

“It’s been the great joy of my life to pastor St. Andrews,” the Rev. John Huffman said. “We are so grateful to the Lord for the privilege of serving here.”

While cleaning out his memory-filled office last week, Huffman and his assistant came across the church’s 1977 mission statement, which called for a dynamic young pastor to come lead the flock.

Huffman arrived at St. Andrew’s a year later, and stayed for 31 years.

He said the mission statement could have been copied verbatim and used in the church’s most recent search for a pastor.

Since Huffman took to the pulpit in 1978, the church has completed a $16-million building campaign (and burned the mortgage), with 25% of its tithes regularly going to missions around the world.

The church also just competed a $28-million capital campaign that’s seen the building of a new family and youth center, a new children’s building and a remodeling and refurbishment of the entire campus.

Huffman’s weekly sermons are printed, bound and mailed to subscribers in all 50 states and in more than 30 countries. He also has written nine books.

He and his wife have lived in the same home they purchased 31 years ago, and they have no plans to move, Huffman said.

But neither does he plan to interfere with life at St. Andrew’s.

Denominational principles and his own common sense will keep Huffman away from the church for at least a year.

“I’m retiring from 47 years of local parish ministry,” said Huffman, 69. “What I’m retiring from is administration and fundraising. I will still be serving various ministries and organizations.”

He will transition to become a “minister-at-large.” That includes chaplaincy, guest preaching and teaching, and many other duties. He is the board chairman of Christianity Today International, serves on the board of World Vision, and has a leadership role in the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization planned for October 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa.

“I would hope that my legacy would be in line with my life goal: One, to lead men, women and children to a personal, saving faith in Jesus Christ,” he said. “Two, to help them grow in their faith. And three, to deploy them in servant ministry to others.”

As a man thinketh

In describing his theological interests, Huffman said his commitments were Biblically orthodox, and that he is reformed, but still understands and appreciates the need for mystery in faith.

The Reformed churches have their roots in the 16th-century Swiss Reformation.

They assert that salvation is obtainable through grace and faith, not works; that God is the sole authority; that the Biblical scriptures are divinely inspired and authoritative; and that believers have a direct relationship with God that doesn’t require intercession by saints — or the Pope.

Huffman said he shies away from labels like “evangelical” or “conservative,” but that if he had to peg down his theology, he would refer to himself as “historically Christian in an orthodox, evangelical, conservative way,” yet without having a knee-jerk, party-line reaction to social issues.

Huffman’s humanitarianism moves to both the right and the left, he said.

He is well-known for his ecumenical, or unifying, work.

“I believe that whoever loves Jesus should talk together,” he said.

According to His purpose

A Boston native, Huffman studied history and received a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, then went to graduate school at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University; he earned a master’s of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Subsequent degrees included a master’s in American history at the University of Tulsa and a doctorate of ministry from Princeton.

Huffman also has spent semesters in residence at Harvard University and Princeton.

Huffman has worked with several forces in 20th century Christianity, including Norman Vincent Peale and Bryant Kirkland in New York City, and once counseled a young, fervent Rick Warren about starting a church in Orange County. Warren went on to found Saddleback Church.

Huffman said his pastoral style was heavily influenced by traits of three great preachers: Peale, Billy Graham and Fuller Theological Seminary President and co-founder Harold Ockenga.

Huffman has been a leader both within his denomination and across the Christian and Protestant spectrum, including the National Assn. of Evangelicals and the World Council of Churches.

He also has been to more than 100 countries to meet with international leaders on matters of theology and relief and justice efforts.

He chaired the board of World Vision, best known for pairing local sponsors with children in need around the world, from 1996 to 2001.

Huffman also has been a sports chaplain for football teams and golf tours.

He and his wife, psychoanalyst and Fuller board member Anne Ridgeway Mortenson, raised three daughters; Carla is married, lives in Seattle and works at Microsoft; Janet works in advertising, is married and has a son; and Suzanne, who graduated from Princeton University, died at the age of 23 from Hodgkin’s disease.

At the end of his farewell sermon, Huffman chose to have the St. Andrew’s choir perform his favorite hymn, written by a man who experienced more than his due of suffering.

“When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul,’” the choir sang.

New Man In Pulpit

 Richard Kannwischer is the new pastor of St. Andrew’s.

 Kannwischer, 36, gave his first sermon the weekend of Sept. 19; he spent several weeks co-pastoring with the Rev. John Huffman, the church’s senior pastor, who stepped down this month after 31 years at the helm.

 Kannwischer comes to Newport Beach from the First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio. He holds a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and is currently a doctor of ministry candidate at Fuller Theological Seminary.

He and his wife, Kelly, reside in Newport Beach with their two daughters, Danica and Ashby. Danica is a kindergartner at Newport Heights Elementary; Ashby is a preschooler at St. Andrew’s.

 “Pastor, teacher, counselor, friend and confidant — Rich has served all these roles for my family and me. He and Kelly possess an energy and passion for serving God that is infectious. Attend his sermons only if you are prepared to be intellectually and spiritually challenged ... otherwise golf might be your preferred option for Sunday morning,” Randall Stephenson, First Presbyterian congregation member and chairman and chief executive AT&T;, said in a release.