Aces of Trades: A Marion church leader's call to faith

There’s a career. Then there’s a calling.

“I moved eight times by the time I graduated high school,” recalled Rob Howard. “I was shy but always tried to be a part of the group. I was, and am, intellectually curious, but I honestly can’t say I ever knew what I wanted to be. From high school to college to seminary, I mostly was exploring ideas. What I was going to do with education has always seemed less important than having knowledge.”

Today, Howard is lead pastor and head of staff at First Presbyterian Church in Marion.

“The church has always grounded me,” he said. “I was raised in the church, baptized as a baby, initially Roman Catholic and so valued my experience as an altar boy. Many moves led to many churches, but always the same central story — of a God who pays attention to us.”

Now 52, Howard was born on an Air Force base in Minot, North Dakota, but spent most of his childhood in Rochester, New York. He spent the first two years of high school in Billings, Montana, then graduated in Quincy, Illinois. That was followed by Liberty University in 1992, Princeton Theological Seminary in 1995 and the University of Notre Dame in 2017.

“I studied religion in college because I wanted to know more about my Christian faith," Howard said. "I went to seminary because I left college with more questions than answers! Princeton Seminary required all students to intern in local churches. I spent my senior year as a seminary intern at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Paramus, New Jersey. It was there my educational drift found a vocational focus. My supervisor spent significant time with me exploring what is referred to as a ‘call’ to ministry.”

“A ‘calling’ in the Presbyterian tradition,” he explained, “is recognizing that a person has the faith, skill and passion to devote a life to ministry. It’s something that requires both a personal interest and validation by others in the church. My supervisor and mentor, Rev. Keosaian, was among the first to recognize I had the faith and the skill and pushed me to see if I had the personal conviction.”

The day Howard graduated from Princeton Seminary, he left to spend the summer in Montana, working and hiking, and ultimately working the front desk at a hotel near the Grand Canyon.

“I may have been on vacation from church, but I was never on vacation from the messiness of life," he noted. "My roommate was a 19-year-old alcoholic single father. Across the hall was a cocaine addict. One of my co-workers was literally picked up from a Phoenix homeless shelter and dropped off at the Grand Canyon. So I returned home (Binghamton, NY) and began the process of becoming an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church. Many people, unfortunately, have very few options in life and I learned at the Grand Canyon that when God affords you the rare benefit of choosing your path, you had better take it and appreciate it for the gift it is.”

Howard was ordained Sept. 16, 2001, and served a church in Masonville, New York, about nine years. He came to Marion in 2010.

“Pastor Rob Howard is like a brother to me,” said Bishop Cor-re-don Rogers, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Marion. “Pastor Rob and I have had deep discussions on any issue you can think of, and one of his best qualities, in my opinion, is his transparency. From religion, to race, to politics, to social justice issues, Rob is always willing to have those difficult conversations. Pastor Rob understands the first step to solving any problem is to first acknowledge the problem exists. I believe God’s Hand is on Pastor Rob’s ministry at First Presbyterian.”

“I occasionally wonder what my life lived out in the Rocky Mountain West would have looked like," Howard responded. "Certainly, a deep part of my heart and my faith hear the siren-call of what is left of the American wilderness. And yet, First Presbyterian Church has become the measure of my life. When my career is at an end, it will be First Presbyterian — its members specifically — that will become the testament to my every endeavor. Very few people are blessed enough to know their purpose and their place — so I am blessed indeed!”

First Presbyterian Church is located at 143 S. Prospect St. in Marion. For more information, call 740-382-9545 or log on 1presby.org.

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at news@marionstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: First Presbyterian Pastor Rob Howard finds his calling