GOSHEN COUNTY – 2018 is shaping up to be a monumental year for the new pastor of First Wyoming United Presbyterian Church (FWUPC) in Torrington and Community Presbyterian Church in Lingle, including a cross-country move and the realization of a longtime goal.
Pastor Bruce McBurney was born in Texas, but as the son of a military man, eventually landed in Colorado.
“I mostly went to high school in Colorado,” McBurney said. “I went back to Texas for some schooling at the university there in Abilene, Texas. I received my bachelor of secondary education degree, with majors in counseling and theater arts.”
McBurney also completed graduate work in theater arts at Arizona State University, and attended seminary school at Fuller Theological Seminary’s satellite campus in the Phoenix area.
“I graduated two years ago, and we’re just excited about the possibilities,” he said.
McBurney has a daughter, Robyn, and has been married to wife, Carolyn, since 1986.
“We’ve lived in (Arizona) since then, and enjoyed the desert southwest,” he said.
Previously working as a technical director for various professional theaters and as school bus driver for Kyrene School District in Tempe, Ariz., McBurney said he believes the desire to be a pastor was always present within him.
“It just turned out to be second career, so to speak – you’re working on other passions, busy with the theater stuff,” he said.
McBurney described his preaching style as “expository – sort of a teaching kind of preaching.”
“I like to follow the lectionary,” he said. “It gives me an opportunity to present up to four different passages of scripture each Sunday, (exploring) where faith comes from, how it’s developed into what it is today, and how we can apply it to our lives.
“My favorite classes (in seminary school) were about the Hebrew and Greek languages,” he continued. “I like to study the context of where the scriptures come from so we can have a better understanding of how they apply to our lives today.”
McBurney had been in talks with the FWUPC and Community Presbyterian Church Pastor Nominating Committee for approximately six months before making the move to Goshen County.
“My wife and I came up here the end of February,” he said. “I preached at a neutral pulpit down in Scottsbluff, (Neb.), and then we came back on April 15, and I preached for the congregation here.”
Following services on April 15, church members in Lingle and Torrington voted McBurney in as new pastor – after nearly a year without an official leader.
Although southeast Wyoming and the desert southwest vary in more ways than one, McBurney said he and his wife feel right at home.
“This area reminds both my wife and I of where we grew up,” he said. “She grew up in the panhandle of Texas – Borger, Texas – it’s a high plains situation, so the geography is very similar (to here), so is the weather. I grew up in Carbondale, Colo., a town that I would say is similar to Torrington.
“We both kind of felt like we were going home.”
This Sunday, McBurney will achieve a longtime goal when he’s ordained as pastor at 4 p.m. at Community Presbyterian Church in Lingle.
“I have been seeking ordination since I began my seminary journey. We’ll take care of that on Sunday afternoon, when I become a pastor or teaching elder officially,” he said.
Following ordination, FWUPC in Torrington will host McBurney’s installation at 5 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
With his first few sermons in Goshen County under his belt and a sense of purpose in his heart, McBurney is ready to hit the ground running.
“My first goal is to become a part of the community,” he said. “Get to know Torrington and Lingle so that I can come alongside and be a part of the faith journeys that we’re all a part of.”
