TORRINGTON – A new pastor has joined the congregation at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church at 2010 East B Street.
Pastor Mark Jagitsch grew up in Springfield and Jackson, Ill. He went to college in Nebraska, Illinois and Texas, starting in Lincoln Union College for ministry then returned home for two years to a community college in Illinois, finishing his education at an Adventist College in King, Texas.
“I wasn’t sure I was going into pastoring,” Jagitsch said. “I did my first year at Union then I went back and worked on general education classes.
“After that I decided to finish off my Physiology degree, then I went down to Texas.,” he said. “It’s warmer in Texas.”
Following a brief internship in Lincoln and working outside the ministry, Jagitsch returned to the pulpit in 1997, working in part time ministry since his graduating from college, moving to full-time ministry 14 years ago. His first church was in Southeast Nebraska, then later in Illinois.
Pastor Jagitsch came to Torrington from New Jersey with his wife and three children. He is familiar with the West from travels when he was a child. As a boy, his family vacationed in the West and Southwest, visiting Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Canyon.
His appointment to New Jersey was not his plan.
“East,” Jagitsch said. “I don’t want to go to the East.”
After moving to New Jersey he liked it but was glad to return to the West after 11 years. Living on the East Coast was an experience, meeting people who did not understand the freedom of the West. He worked in central and southern New Jersey, which is farmland and wilderness with mountains, lakes and rivers and is very beautiful. But he was ready to move back to the place he knew as a boy, the West.
Jagitsch said he wants the church to grow and to help the community. From his boyhood, he has held a real desire to see the community, people, to get along, to love each other and be unified to never give up.
“Because people are the most important thing in life, to love each other take care of each other and try to be a blessing to one another,” Jagitsch said. “This is one of my goals – for the people of the church to integrate with others and to be service to God and man.”
