The Rev. Scott Wright says he has enjoyed getting to know people in Greenwood since becoming pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in June, and he plans to stay involved in the community.
“One of John Wesley’s sayings is ‘The world is my parish,’ which to me is kind of intriguing,” he said. “It shows that I’m not just appointed to this church; I’m appointed to the community.”
Wright, 50, was born and raised in Meridian, graduating from Meridian High School. He grew up in St. Patrick Catholic Church, which he said provided him stability. “Church was a stronghold for me, so that’s where I spent a lot of my time,” he said.
He said a pivotal event in his life came after he graduated from high school and traveled to Florida with a cousin and a friend. During their trip, his cousin, his friend and three other people were killed in a vehicular accident.
“I was the one that stayed home that night,” he said. “Normally I’d have been with them and having a good time in Florida, but for some reason that night I stayed home and they left.”
That event made him wonder if God had other plans for him. So he asked his priest about it, and the priest suggested that he go to seminary. He ended up at Saint Meinrad College in Indiana, which offered young men a chance to experience what the priesthood was like.
He graduated from Saint Meinrad in 1993, majoring in ecology and biology and minoring in philosophy and theology.
He returned to Meridian and took a job with Buckman Laboratories in Memphis selling chemicals to paper mills. The work required a great deal of travel, and he spent a lot of time on the road thinking about his life. He finally decided that God was calling him to ministry, and he couldn’t ignore it.
The fact that his wife, Denise, and his father were Methodists seemed to be an affirmation that his future lay there rather than the Catholic church. So he sought the advice of a Methodist pastor.
“I said, ‘I still have this feeling that ministry’s where I’m supposed to be,’” he said. “The next thing I know, my phone’s ringing, and the district superintendent says, ‘Hey, I have a pastor that can’t fill his pulpit anymore; would you go stand in for him on Sunday?’ I said, ‘Sure, I’ll give it a try.’”
The Methodist church proved to be a good fit. A year and a half later, Wright started working on a master’s degree at Memphis Theological Seminary. He later added a doctorate from that school.
Wright’s work in ministry took him from Meridian to Enterprise, Benton, Byhalia, Calhoun City, Moss Point, Crystal Springs and Koscius-ko. After four years in Kosci-usko, he received a call from the bishop telling him he had been appointed to lead St. John’s.
Methodist pastors are appointed for one year at a time, so Wright knew at the outset that he was likely to be on the move a lot. But he said he and his wife have gotten involved in community work everywhere they have been.
He said he hopes each job has made him a better man of God and a better pastor: “In every appointment, I’ve learned and grown.”
His predecessor at St. John’s, the Rev. Billy Ray Stonestreet, was pastor there for 10 years, and the longest Wright has served at one place is six years. So, although the length of his tenure is beyond his control, he said, “I’d love to be in a place for an extended amount of time.”
Wright had no prior ties to Greenwood and had only come to the city to eat a couple of times while on trips. But he’s grown accustomed to learning about new places. He said it helps that Methodist churches embrace their new pastors and make them feel at home, and St. John’s has been no exception.
“The folks here have just been amazing to us,” he said. “They offer a house for us to live in, and you just immediately feel like you’re part of a family, and that’s a wonderful thing.”
Wright said St. John’s is growing and always has something going on. Its members already are active in a number of outside endeavors, including the Community Kitchen and the Community Food Pantry, but he would like to do even more.
For his part, he has visited some civic clubs and gotten involved with a group looking to add a homeless shelter in Greenwood. He also has served as a chaplain for law enforcement agencies before and is interested in doing something like that again.
His wife is in her 26th year teaching math and now works at Greenwood High School. They have two daughters: Ali Grace, a student at Delta State University, and Kaelin, who attends the University of Southern Mississippi.
Wright said he and his family enjoy outdoors activities, and he and Ali Grace also acted in the Greenwood Little Theatre production of “M*A*S*H.”
“That was a great experience,” he said. “Greenwood Little Theatre, I think, is a gift to our community.”
Then there’s the Christmas season, which he said brings out an “addiction” of his.
“My addiction is Christmas lights,” he said. “So our parsonage will be glowing. It’s glowing a little bit now with a little bit of Halloween stuff, but we love decorating for Christmas, and I’m sure that’ll be coming before too long.”
He said he works with a good staff at St. John’s, but the church couldn’t do what it does without the help of many volunteers.
“This church has a great ministry, and it’s the people,” he said. “It proves that it’s not the pastor. The people are active and involved in the church, and I think that’s what makes this church a great church.”
•Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
