Pastor: Emphasis on women, grace, social

Dr. Jason Thrower said he’s going to work hard to reach out to the Andalusia community and just be available to all as the new minister of First United Methodist Church.

Thrower was appointed by United Methodist Bishop Paul Leland to be the new pastor at FUMC recently. He replaces Tim Trent, who served 11 years in the post.

“I’m excited about getting started and very thankful for this opportunity,” Thrower said. “I look forward to getting to know the people of Andalusia and the church community. They have just been extremely welcoming.”

Thrower is a Jacksonville native and comes to Andalusia from Graceville, Fla., where he served as pastor at the United Methodist Church there for the last three years. He has served in churches all over the southeast, including South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and more closer to Andalusia in Ozark.

“I’ve served at a lot of places,” he said.

Thrower received his bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville State University, spent two years as a missionary in Bermuda and then went to seminary at Southern University in Louisville, Ky. He received his master’s degree in divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and completed a doctorate of ministry at Union/PSCE Theological Seminary.

Thrower said from an early age, he sensed God’s call to ministry.

“When I was real young, I suppose I thought it was something I ate and would grow out of,” he said. “The older I got, the more of a sense of awe ness and a sense of what God was calling me to do was becoming clearer.”

It wasn’t until he was 18 when Thrower said he accepted the call into ministry.

“God was always asking me to be a part of his team, and rubbed out all of my resistance and I surrendered my life to fulltime Christian work and became a pastor,” he said.

Before being a Methodist pastor, Thrower was a pastor in the Baptist denomination. He served as a Baptist pastor for 12 years before switching to the Methodist denomination in 2008.

“People all along the way said I’d be a better United Methodist,” he said. “I have an emphasis upon women, grace and social ministry. As I say it, I’m United Methodist by choice and by grace. It has been a coming home for me. I’m so thankful to be United Methodist and for the church for giving me opportunities to serve.”

Thrower said he believes that the church should serve as a refuge for sinners.

“I strongly believe that the church needs to be a hospital for sinners, and not a museum for saints,” he said. “As United Methodists, our motto is open hearts, open minds and open doors. We need to be an externally looking church, reaching out and helping those grow to be disciples of Jesus Christ.”

Thrower said he wants to continue what Trent established here, and help the church reach new heights.

“I’m looking forward to helping them reaching out to the community,” he said.

Thrower and his wife April have two sons, Mark, 19, and Luke, 15.