Drew Paton

The interview with Pastor Drew Paton was recorded on June 16, 2015 in Spencertown, New York.  Drew has been the pastor at the church for four years. He grew up in Westchester County, New York and began speaking about how he came to his current position. He initially had no intention to become a pastor though he has a family history of ministery and instead took up acting and theater in school. He speaks at length about time he spent in Nicaragua, the hardships in this country and how this experience compelled him to do something, which eventually took the form of ministry. He speaks about the seven-year journey it took for him to make the decision, go to seminary school and become ordained. Pastor Paton speaks about the struggles of the church today and how it needs to change in order to serve the people. He has a strong interest in social justice and spoke about his role in supporting those issues outside of the church as a pastor. Working outside of the church on issues of concern, Pastor Paton spoke about how confident he is meeting with government figures in Albany as opposed to how he feels standing on the pulpit in his church.  He speaks of the things that challenge him in his role as a pastor and his need to be unsettled in order to continue doing his work.