United Methodist Church in Plains

photos & story by Kevin Radley

A red wooden sign boasts a newly

painted addition, “Pastor Thomas ‘PT’ Hall”, outside the United Methodist Church in Plains, Mont.

On July 1, 2010, Thomas Hall started as the pastor for both the Plains and Paradise United Methodist congregations. He is the 26th minister in the church’s 116th year history.

Since the church was establishment in 1894, ministers have rotated every four years, usually moving on to larger congregations. This frequent circulation of ministers, called itinerancy, started as a tradition within the Methodist Church when ministers were required to travel and provide services to distant congregations.

Hall may interrupt the Plains-Paradise congregation’s itinerancy tradition, since he has the opportunity to work longer than any previous Plains-Paradise minister.

According to Hall, the previous intermittent pastors had trouble creating leadership roles for themselves, Hall said. Hall only works part time, usually four to five days a week, but that is considerably more then previous pastors.

Alvin Amundson, who has been a church member since 1939, said Hall brings his experience and background to the Plains Congregation. Hall and his wife Dixie are very musically talented, which they use to help people connect spiritually.

Hall envisions mission-driven congregations in Plains and Paradise. He has continued the congregation’s missions locally with assisted-living residents, regionally with Missoula’s Teen Challenge, and globally with Hope Village, a trip that sends five church members to South Africa on a ten-day mission.