Stretched and prepared

by Terry Maassen

edited by Bob Terwilliger, fall 2023

My ministry journey began in July 1977 in the Maurice, Iowa, park when the Maurice Reformed Church was having their summer evening worship service. I shared my call to ministry with these foundational and personal calling verses:

“When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, NIV).

After I graduated from Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) in 1972 with a major in animal science, I returned to the family farm. It was at ISU that I began to seriously get involved in campus ministry. From experience with Campus Crusade for Christ and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, my spiritual walk with Jesus Christ began to grow.

After a few years farming with my father and younger brother, the Lord called me to seminary in preparation for church ministry. In the fall of 1978, my wife (Cheryl Bleeker) and I and our two young daughters (18 months and 4 years) moved to La Mirada, California, to begin our seminary journey at Talbot Theological Seminary. Talbot Seminary shares the same campus as BIOLA (Bible Institute of Los Angeles) and Rosemead Graduate School of Christian Psychology.

Coming from a Reformed background and now attending an interdenominational seminary was a great spiritual learning experience. And living in a very different cultural climate— from Sioux County, Iowa, to southern California—our social boundaries were stretched!

I graduated from seminary with a Bible exposition degree in the spring of 1981 and was ordained in the Maurice Reformed Church. My first call was as an associate pastor at Hope Reformed Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a focus on Christian education and spiritual formation. After serving there for three years, the Lord called us to the Pacific Northwest to become pastor of The Church of the Good Shepherd (now called The Refuge Church) in Lynnwood, Washington. It was there that I realized my seminary experience in southern California was preparing me for this setting—the greater Seattle area and the culture. Following the state of Oregon, Washington had the greatest number of unchurched people. So, our ministry developed into reaching the unchurched population.

While I served here for about 16 years, I also served as president of Cascades Classis and president of the Regional Synod of the Far West and various committee chair positions.

It was the summer of 2000 that we received a call to return to the midwest to become the lead pastor of Hope Reformed Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our time of ministry here was focused on redevelopment and relocation. From a central city location to the growing edge of this community, from a traditional ministry to contemporary, a name change to Hope Community Church, to serving the needs of young families with a 60-child day care and preschool, all was a personal growing experience. I retired from Hope Community Church in July 2016.

Retirement has been an adjustment, but I am enjoying the freedom to participate in four of our six grandsons’ sports and school activities. I currently am a funeral service assistant for two Omaha area funeral homes and many times called upon to officiate at a funeral where there is no church affiliation. It’s a great opportunity to gracefully share the gospel message of hope and comfort for the extended family and gathered friends.

We call Westwood Church in Omaha our home fellowship. Out of this context, I lead a Tuesday morning men’s Bible study via Zoom. One of the rare blessings of the COVID pandemic is that we could no longer meet in person, so we transitioned to Zoom meetings. We now have men joining us from Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, and Nebraska.

Our hopes and dreams for when we reached retirement were to kick back and travel. However, God had something else in mind for us and we are blessed beyond measure at this stage of our lives. We remain faithful on the front lines of sharing the good news of salvation and hope for this life and the life to come.

I am most grateful to the Lord for his faithfulness through this ministry journey. We are thankful for good health and the ability to remain very active. We extend God’s blessings to each of you.

Terry received his BS degree from Iowa State University and an MDiv from Talbot Theological Seminary. He served RCA churches in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Lynnwood, Washington. Terry and Cheryl live in Papillion, Nebraska. tmaassen50@gmail.com