| | Dick & Carolyn Bishop I (Dick) grew up in a pastor's home in Seattle with three sisters where I loved to play with my friends, but was forced to take piano lessons, which seriously cut into my play time. At age thirteen our family moved to Chicago. By this time I had cut a deal with my parents that if I would take up another instrument, I could quit piano. Yea! It was trombone. In high school I played trombone and sports, was active in Youth for Christ and youth group, and was a Chicago Cubs fan. Carolyn grew up on a farm seventy miles West of St. Louis with two sisters and three brothers. She enjoyed the relationships in her large extended family. She also loved to play piano, read, play volleyball and do artistic things, and she loved the St. Louis Cardinals. We met at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri at the end of our sophomore year and, in spite of our differences over baseball and the piano, were married two years later. Our first home after finishing college was in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, where Carolyn taught public school and I served as a youth and music pastor, and then as Director of Mid-Wisconsin Youth for Christ. It was in Wisconsin Rapids where our three children were born: Heidi (now married to John Maempa, mother of Ashley, age 3, and living in St. Louis), Rich (now married to Diane and living in Virginia), and Stewart (now living in Boston). There we learned to love our children and to have fun as a family. We also developed a love for bicycling the Wisconsin countryside. We then moved to Springfield, Missouri, where I directed Springfield Area Youth for Christ, began a masters program at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. In Springfield our kids had the privilege of living close to both sets of grandparents.
We came to Kalispell and Christian Center in 1982 and tried to adopt some of the Montana ways, like heating with wood, hunting, and having the dog ride in the back of the pickup. Some of those things have fallen by the wayside, but what stuck was a love for the area and a love for the people. My duties at Christian Center are Executive Pastor (assistant to John in the supervision of the ministries of the church), and Worship Champion (oversee the Worship purpose, which includes worship, music, drama and technical arts - now I wish I had stayed with the piano lessons). Carolyn serves as a co-leader of Women's Ministries and a member of the Choir; her spiritual gift is shopping.
We are lovers of the outdoors and especially love to hike and ski. We also love to read, entertain, and do puzzles. Now we both like the piano, but I still like the Cubs and Carolyn the Cardinals. Keep watching this web site to see if we can resolve that issue.
worship@kalispellchristiancenter.org |
