Following a nine-month search, Rev. Jimmy Coffey will be installed next Sunday as the new pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Hyde Park.
Steve Simon, a member of the church’s board of trustees, said Coffey as a “solid theologian and solid pastor” who he thought could articulate the Lutheran theology of the Reformation.
“We really feel that God’s hand was in this and this man has the right skills to bring us forward,” Simon said.
Coffey holds a B.A. degree in Religion from Concordia University in Irvine, CA and a masters of divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind. During the 12 years he served as pastor of the two churches in Connecticut, Coffey also served as adjunct instructor for Religion and Literature at Concordia College in Bronxville, NY. He also has presented numerous theological papers at various symposia and national seminars.
Coffey replaces Rev. Robert Riebau, who served as pastor at Trinity Lutheran for the past four years, according to Simon, who credited him with reviving the church’s congregation.
Riebau left his position at Trinity Church to become pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Maryland, where family and friends who had sponsored him through seminary school asked him to serve, Simon said.
Coffey said his first task would be to familiarize himself with the members of his new congregation.
“Some of the basic things that don’t ever change are addressing the needs of the individual in the congregation, and to serve their needs in spiritual and in practical ways,” he said.
Asked what social changes he’s observed over time in his ministries at the two churches he served as pastor in Connecticut, Coffey said he thought people simply had less free time in their lives.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that people are becoming busier and busier,” he said.
Coffey noted that it’s not unusual for at least one member of each household in his congregations to be commuting to work for 20 hours each week.
“You have to be sensitive to that when you’re planning events and services,” he said, adding, “Families have lost valuable family time together and you have to be sensitive to that as well.”
Coffey has been married to his wife, Yasuyo Suzuki, for the past 13 years.
Trinity Lutheran Church is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Coffey’s installation next Sunday will take place at 3 p.m. The congregation gathers for its Sunday morning services at 9 a.m. in the church, which include worship, fellowship and Bible study,
