In his second interview of the "Go Tell it On the Mountain" series, Executive Conference Minister the Rev. Darrell Goodwin spoke with Rev. Tom O'Brien, pastor of Memorial Congregational Church in Sudbury, MA. Rev. Goodwin preached at Memorial on Sunday, May 2.
 
Rev. O'Brien began serving in Sudbury eleven years ago, saying the church "took a chance on me right out of seminary" after he graduated from Andover Newton. Ministry wasn't his first career.
 
"[My spouse] likes to say that she dated a social worker, got engaged to a computer technician and had children with a minister," shared Rev. O'Brien.
 
He described working in partnership with other clergy in town as a "collegial" relationship and said they collaborate well together. He shared that often he has to throw an idea out to the group that he knows will be a "sacrifice" in order to start a process of brainstorming.
 
"They will do a great job of tearing it apart and creating something new," he said.
 
Rev. Goodwin asked if there was anything the church was doing that would help once services go back to in person worship.
 
Rev. O'Brien shared that the church has been involved in a wide variety of outreach programs in the past, including ministry that impacted the Native American community, hunger, healthcare, and helping an organization called Outreach Incorporated to pack shelf-stable foods for people dealing with food instability. He said this past year during the Covid-19 lockdowns, the church has been examining its own focus.
 
"This past year we've really tried take the opportunity to examine all of the things that we do as a church, and start to really figure out who we are at our core."
 
Rev. O'Brien also shared that they have done well with their digital ministry. Tapping into his past career in technology, Rev. O'Brien has fully embraced live streaming the worship services on Facebook and uploading each week's service to YouTube. Viewers can watch the May 2 service with Rev. Goodwin here. His sermon begins at 25:46. Folks interested in live services can watch at mccsudbury.org/live at 10am on Sunday mornings. 
 
Watch the full interview below: