A NEW ‘CALLING': Pastor Paul Kummer is embarking on a new mission after more than two decades at Grace Lutheran

For almost 22 years, the Rev. Paul Kummer of Grace Lutheran Church has taught his congregation to listen to God’s call.

Now, Kummer and his wife, Susan, are heeding that call anew. The well-known pastor has given his resignation, effective May 15, to attend Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, Calif., to prepare for mission work.

“God has pegged Susan’s heart since she was 8 years old, and the call to foreign missions or a stateside mission has been convulsing in me many years now,” Kummer told The Log. “We know God is calling us to go to school to be empowered to do just that. We don’t know what the mission will look like in two years, but we are excited to fulfill God’s call on our lives.”

The Kummers’ three children — 11-year-old Hosanna, “homegrown,” 8-year-old Elisha from China and 7-year-old Jubilee from India — are also excited to see where God leads them. For many years, the family has prayed for the people of China and India that God touch them and bring them to faith and life in Jesus.

“Elisha is proud of his Chinese heritage and desires someday to go back to China and tell them of his savior’s power and love,” Kummer said. “We believe God will do the same in India and beyond through Jubilee. We know this will be a family ministry. It will be hard to leave their friends, but a move cross-country, and then wherever, has a certain ring of adventure to it.”

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Kummer was 25 years old and single, with a full head of black hair, and fresh out of seminary when he began serving at Grace in 1989.

“This has been my first and only parish,” he said. “We started in a storefront church next to Delchamps liquor store, where Target is now, and our motto was ‘Get your spirits there; get the Spirit here!’ ”

Since then, the church has grown from a few dozen members to more than 400 people at the two Sunday services, with attendance averaging about 600 during Snowbird season. In 1992, the church built on Two Trees Road and in 2005 moved into its 35,000-square-foot campus on Commons Boulevard.

A popular pastor, teacher and friend, Kummer will miss his calling as a pastor and the privilege he has had of not only baptizing and confirming kids but also officiating their marriages and seeing their children be born.

“Obviously it will be hard to leave the people with whom I have a love affair,” he said. “Pastoring is about people, pointing people to Jesus, being a part of their baptisms, weddings, funerals and being there for them in pain and joy. I will miss seeing the ‘lights come on’ in their eyes and lives when they realize how much God loves and empowers them through Jesus, and they grab hold of it and let it affect their everyday life and witness.”

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Kummer’s accomplishments in the community are numerous, whether writing his column for The Log or working on Destin’s Week of Blessings and the Blessing of the Fleet.

Capt. Mike Parker, co-founder of Destin’s Week of Blessings, told The Log that though Kummer’s leaving is a loss for Grace and the community, it will be a great blessing for those Kummer will minister to.

“He has been a great leader in ‘the church of Destin’ and always a strong advocate of the many churches of Destin working together for the common good of the citizens of Destin,” Parker said. “He will be greatly missed.”

Rev. Mike Hesse of Immanuel Anglican Church said Kummer is a true model of ecumenical thinking who encourages every clergyman he knows.

“We have prayed and worshiped and sung and rejoiced alongside one another for 20 years, and I am a better man and a better Christian for it,” Hesse told The Log. “ I will miss him as a true brother in Christ, but rejoice that, as always, Paul is following wherever the Lord calls him.”

Kummer was also a regular in the annual Easter sunrise service on Okaloosa Island.

“I hope God has used me to foster even more unity among the body of Christ in Destin,” Kummer said. “Let’s worship, work, play and pray together and not compete with each other.”

Church member Marcia Hull told The Log that Kummer is a genuine friend, mentor and example to follow Christ.

“Pastor Paul’s sermons feed the soul and leave you encouraged,” she said. “He has a dramatic ability to deliver a sermon with an extraordinary message and always leaves you with joy and a bounce in your step when you leave church.”

Now, as the church begins its search for a new pastor, Kummer and his congregation will begin to say their goodbyes — while looking forward to new beginnings.

“Pastor Paul has taught the Grace family and our community to go out into the ‘mission field’ to share Jesus with others,” Hull said. “I realize the Grace family has been blessed for 21 years of his service. It is now time for us to graciously send him and his family off so that others in the world will know what he has taught us.”