Belleville United Methodist Church welcomes new pastor

Pastor Greg Buchner took over as new pastor of the Belleville First United Methodist Church, 417 Charles St., on July 1 and preached his first sermon on July 2.
Pastor Buchner is a United Methodist ordained elder who has spent more than 20 years serving churches in Michigan. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, IN in 2003.
Before his pastoral ministry, Pastor Buchner worked at Meijer and other food retail stores. Eventually he became a department manager while studying to receive his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, specializing in Food Marketing, from Western Michigan University in 1994.
He has been married for more than 25 years to Dr. AnnMarie L. Buchner, Audiologist. She is currently working for Mobile Medical Support, which is an ancillary provider of podiatry, dental, vision, and audiology services, for those primarily in nursing homes throughout the state.
Pastor Buchner said his wife’s calling is to help people hear and she’s willing to talk with anyone about their hearing issues.
The couple has two adult children, daughter Jamie and son Matthew, who now live in Mt. Pleasant.
Wesleyan in belief, Pastor Buchner said he believes that the Holy Spirit is not finished with any of us yet. And if we carry the name of Christian, by God’s grace, everything the Bible says about Jesus Christ is what we should strive to be.
“More and more, as we become like Christ, loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving and serving others as we’d like to be, has to be our goal,” he said.
“And when we miss that mark, forgiveness, grace and mercy should be our specialty, both to those inside and outside of our churches and community, because God has first forgiven and loved us to show us how.
“We’re not perfect yet, but we continue to work towards God’s holy truth that will one day set us free. Jesus did say all of that for all of us,” Pastor Buchner said.
Pastor Buchner can be reached at www.bellevillefirstumc.org and (734) 697-9288. Buchner is pronounced: “boo-K’-ner.”