Westfield Evangelical Free Church Pastor David Young to Retire After 40 Years

Pastor David Young will retire this summer after 40 years of ministry at the Westfield Evangelical Free Church, 568 Southwick Road, which is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America association of about 1,500 members. His last service will be on Aug. 1, when the new pastor, Jesse Kahler, arrives from Ohio.

Young, originally from Mount Holly, New Jersey, was called in 1980 to serve as the church’s first pastor. A few families had begun meeting weekly for prayer and Bible study in 1979. At the time, Young was serving a church in Lance, Pennsylvania, where he had met his wife, Lisa. “I never intended to stay that long,” he said of moving to Westfield. He said he told Lisa he would give the church three years to get started. The congregation held its first Sunday services on March 1, 1981, at the Westfield Woman’s Club, where it met for eight years.

The church bought six acres on Southwick Road in the fall of 1984 for $60,000. Construction of a church building began four years later at a cost of $425,000, and the first service in the new building was held on Sept. 10, 1989. Three more additions and four more acres were later added to the site. Young said the church has doubled in size over the past 13 years. The most recent building, completed in 2007 and dedicated on March 25 of that year, is 18,786 square feet and includes a 625-seat sanctuary, a cafe and gathering space, classrooms, offices, a rehearsal area and new restrooms. According to church treasurer Pam Peters, it cost about $3 million. Young said the church paid off the mortgage in the middle of the pandemic, after only 13 years. “I’m so grateful for that. There have been many, many, many blessings,” he said.

Young said the church has 250 members and an average attendance of 450. Three full-time pastors serve alongside him: Dave Cruse, who started in 2008; Jeff Jones, since 2013; and Dave Weaver, since 2015. Peters, the part-time secretary and treasurer, has been with the church for 25 years. Cheryl St. Onge serves as part-time children’s ministry director, and Chris Burke as part-time facilities manager. Former pastors include Robert Petriel, who served as youth and associate pastor and now pastors a church in Connecticut; Chad Patterson, who succeeded Petriel as youth pastor and now leads a new church plant; and Dick Loftus, who succeeded Petriel as associate pastor until his retirement.

The church grounds have also housed the start of other congregations. The new church plant, Christ Community Church of Hampshire County, recently moved into the former Opa Opa restaurant in Southampton under Patterson’s leadership. The Russian Baptist Church first met in the building, and a Nepali congregation now meets in the original sanctuary, which also serves as a youth space. Young said the church has sent many mission teams abroad, naming trips to China, Kenya and Mexico, and that he has gone on 10 of those trips.

During the pandemic, the church did not close. “We never did shut down, we just changed,” Young said. It moved from one service in the 600-seat sanctuary to two services, at 9 and 10:30 a.m., to follow COVID-19 guidelines that permitted only 25 percent attendance. Young also posted weekly sermons online. He recalled receiving an email from someone he had never met, who said the online sermons had meant a great deal to them during the past year and expressed hope that they would one day meet in the next life. Young said letters like that make the work worthwhile.

The church will hold a 40-year celebration on the evening of June 5, honoring David and Lisa Young’s ministry. An outdoor reception and meal will run from 5 to 6:30 p.m., followed by an indoor program from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The meal requires a reservation, but Peters said anyone may attend the celebration without a ticket. On June 6, the church will return to a single 10 a.m. service to mark the end of pandemic restrictions. Passing the church’s story on to the next generation, as an anniversary like this does, is a lesson of carrying faith forward (Psalm 78:4). After Aug. 1, the Youngs plan to retire to Iowa, where their daughter and grandchildren live.

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