Larry Atkins and Lynda Fairbanks-Atkins
We would like to recommend Mr. Peter Johnston. We have known Peter as a friend and colleague for over fifteen years. We first met Peter when he was hired as Director of Youth & the Arts in our home church, the Congregational Church of Topsfield. We have been very active members of the Church for over 25 years, and so we bring both knowledge and perspective to our unqualified recommendation.
Peter was hired to revive a youth program that was suffering from lack of professional leadership with only a small number of teenagers participating. Within two years after his arrival, we began to see the fruits of his labor.
We had an active group of teenagers attending youth events and activities including “Gifts to Boston”, youth choir, middle school dances, and annual weeklong mission trips to such places as Chicago, Puerto Rico, and Philadelphia.
Peter also led children’s music and built two delightful Children’s Choirs. He taught them not only songs but how to be a choir and how to sing to God with gusto and conviction. At the center of our balcony is a pink stained glass window. Peter’s instruction to “sing to the pink window” has become a slogan about moving into young Christian adulthood for a number of our now college-aged members.
Peter was a truly fine staff member and an important part of our congregation. He was involved in all aspects of the life of our church. Not only did he work to support the efforts of all of our staff and join with them to lift and move the church forward, he also became an integral part of the life of the congregation, lending his deep faith and thoughtfulness as well as his humor, creativity, and love to Christian education, meetings, services, and social events. Peter left a mark on young and old, and he still has many friends in the Topsfield Church, and he is spoken of warmly by all who know him.
On the conference level, Larry worked with Peter as a member of the Mass. Conference UCC Planning Committee. He was the Youth Director for the Conference and organized a large number of young people who attended our annual meetings on a regular basis. For the MACUCC 200th anniversary celebration, he led a youth choir of 500+ youth! He also ran various workshops for such group as Church Leaders and Church Secretaries.
Lynda worked with Peter as part of a team which tried to institute Sunday evening contemporary worship services. Again, Peter’s creativity, musical and leadership talent, commitment to outreach, and deep faith were great assets to the effort. We have never heard him say no to any request for help, guidance, or work that needs to be done. He is friendly, cooperative, and pleasant.
We have watched Peter grow in faith and knowledge. There are few jobs in the church that Peter has not done, and so his knowledge of how churches work not only makes him a very special seminarian, but it will also make him a very special clergy person. We would venture to say that there are few new pastors who are as knowledgeable or have as deep an understanding of the joys, challenges, and potential conflicts in the life of a church. His coming to formal ministry seems to both of us to be a culmination of years of experience; and we both greeted his decision to attend seminary with, “Of course. It only makes sense.”
Through the years, we have had a number of occasions to hear Peter preach and lead worship. He preaches a well-thought out sermon that is accessible, thought provoking, and readily understood by all. His knowledge and enthusiasm about church music is a real asset to his services as is his ability to charm and teach children. He truly wants to share the word of God and his faith through all aspects of the service.
It is our pleasure to recommend Peter without reservation; he will be, and indeed already is, a
wonderful minister.
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Larry and Lynda were members of the Congregational Church of Topsfield