Rick Quast, a pastor with more than 40 years of experience, is looking forward to "wandering" with his wife, Linda, in their retirement. "On Sabbath mornings, we'll get up and say, ‘Where will we go today?'"
The couple both retired on the same day from their respective careers: his, pastoral ministry in the Ohio, Minnesota and Washington conferences; hers, a registered nurse and nurse manager.
For his last "paid" sermon as associate pastor of the Auburn City Church, Quast talked about a theme emphasized throughout his ministry: the love of God. "The way we show love to God is to show love to each other," he said. "Our mission is to make our church a safe and secure, welcoming and warm place where people feel accepted and free."
Besides visiting area churches, the Quasts plan to travel throughout Europe, work on hobbies such as photography, writing and scrapbooking, visit their adult children in the Portland, Ore., area, and continue to reach people for Jesus Christ as lay members of the Auburn City Church.
Since 1980, when Rick and Linda Quast moved to Washington, they have served the Lacey/Yelm, Enumclaw, Federal Way and Auburn City churches. (Heidi Martella)
Church members say goodbye to their retiring associate pastor, Rick and Linda Quast. (Heidi Martella)
Rick Quast is known by many young people as the camp meeting Primary leader. Quast led the Primary department for 13 years and enjoyed developing special programs for a very responsive audience. (Heidi Martella)
