Pastor Brandon Dunham, who serves Conde and Groton UMC's in South Dakota. Dakotas Conference file photo.

“It’s scary, but it is not. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It is hard and important work. This has been the closest that I have ever been in my relationship with God. I have no other option. It is a complete dependency on Jesus. It has been great for me, for my marriage, and our churches. It has been the perfect fit,” says Pastor Brandon Dunham, who is in his second year of pastoral ministry, serving the United Methodist Churches in Conde and Groton, South Dakota.

Dunham grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota. He went to college at South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings, South Dakota. Brandon took a break from college and ended up in Watertown. He connected with First United Methodist Church. Rev. Joel Higgins, who was serving at First UMC, invited him to play acoustic guitar and help with youth ministry.

He returned to SDSU and finished a degree in Hospitality Management. He was working at the church and going to school. He looked around at some of his friends, who were getting opportunities to preach at youth group and other places. He wondered if he could possibly preach.

“I thought it would be so cool if I could get a chance to share a message one time. Just to see if I could. I don’t even know if I have the gifts to do it,” says Dunham.

One day, Rev. Teresa Whetsel, who Dunham had connected with at First UMC in Watertown, contacted him and asked him to preach and conduct worship at Arlington and Lake Preston.

“I went and did that. It went well, and I appreciated the opportunity,” says Dunham.

Dunham did not know what was next, but he was feeling a nudge towards the ministry. After graduation, he learned about a position at First UMC in Watertown. The congregation in Watertown emerged in the Missional Church Consultation Initiative.  First UMC wanted to live out prescriptions from the MCCI process, and Dunham was hired to lead contemporary worship, discipleship ministry, and special events and community outreach.

“I saw the position as a fit for me and First UMC,” says Dunham. “I was able to explore my call and also do some event coordinating for about three years.”

Brandon Dunham helps lead music during the 2018 Dakotas Annual Conference session. Photo by jlynn studios.

While at SDSU, Brandon met his wife, a double major in Art and Elementary Education from Aberdeen, South Dakota. She finished one degree at SDSU but transferred to Northern State University to complete the second degree.

“So, I was living in Brookings, working in Watertown, and my fiancé was going to move to Aberdeen. I felt like; I need to make a decision. Am I going to continue to live in Brookings? Is Watertown close enough to Aberdeen to commute? I had a lot of conversations with people,” says Dunham. “Some of the people I talked with were in the Kairos program. I also spoke with Pastor Sara Nelson, at First UMC in Watertown. They all suggested I talk with Rev. Randy Cross, the district superintendent, about opportunities near Aberdeen.”

Brandon spoke with Rev. Cross and found out that there was going to be an opening for a pastor in Groton and Conde. Cross encouraged Dunham to become licensed as a local pastor. So, Brandon, registered, purchased the books, and attended licensing school.

“The conversations began in February. I received my appointment in March. All of a sudden, in June, I find myself at a licensing school. I packed up and drove to Groton, South Dakota, for the second time in my life at the end of June. A couple of people greeted me, helped me unload my truck, and I am now that pastor at Groton and Conde.”

Dunham will continue his education and is encouraged by the district committee of ordained ministry to take it slow. While accepting into his first appointment, going to licensing school, and moving, he got married.

“I was moving into pastoral ministry. I was adjusting to a new town, a new job, and I had to figure out how to be married,” Brandon says.

Seminary is part of Pastor Brandon’s plan. He is working on when the best time would be to start seminary. “Seminary is absolutely in my plan. I am trying to figure out, right now, how I can be effective in my current context. I want to know that I can manage things before I spread myself too thin.”

His wife is now an elementary art teacher in Aberdeen, at the school she attended as a child.

“I found it to be interesting how this has all come to be. I went to college with no intention of working in the church. I remember when I was in high school, feeling this little call to be a teacher. I was really good friends with the Britt family. Matt is just a year younger than me, one of my best friends growing up. I looked at Matt’s dad, who was teaching at Middle School and assisting with things at the church. I was like, maybe I could be a teacher and work at the church. I thought there is no way you’re ever going to work at the church. I just dismissed it.”

The congregations are growing. People are feeling fresh and renewed in God. There is a change in both of the congregations, a season of renewal. People have become engaged in ministry. 

The congregations of Groton and Conde are part of the Children’s and Youth Ministry cohort. Dunham visited with the leaders of the congregation. 

“We are about to enter into this cohort. It is going to be an excellent opportunity for us. Sunday School is getting ready to start.  We did not have a Sunday School superintendent. It looked like it was something that I was going to have to take on. It was a daunting, big job. We had an incredible response of people flock to Sunday School this year. There are ten teachers this year for three classrooms, two for every room, and substitutes. A former Sunday School superintendent retired from their job and will be a co-leader. SS has been an explosion, singing on Sunday in worship, a Christmas program, having purpose and direction. It is not a scary thing that we have to try to fit into our schedules every year.

There is a distinction in joining the cohort. It is empowering to be asked to participate. It made a lot of people feel like there was a vision that they could be part of.

Pastor Brandon Dunham, last row, third from the left, gathers for a photo with other licensed local pastors and Bishop Ough at the 2018 Annual Conference. Photo by jlynn studios.

Every day Dunham faces challenges. He is in the second year of pastoral ministry. “Things that brought me the most worry, in the beginning, have ended up being the most fulfilling. Things like planning Advent, Lenten season, funerals seemed daunting. I love all of that now.”

He is still trying to figure out what the schedule looks like. “I have tried hard to figure out what the natural ebb and flow of the church is. I am trying to figure out the visions of each of the congregations and how I can contribute to that. What are the needs and desires of the congregations?”

His theme for 2020 is a product of Matt Redmond’s song, The Heart of Worship— “When the music fades, and all is stripped away. I simply come longing to bring something that is of worth that will bless. I am coming back to the heart of worship, and it is all about you, Jesus..”

During Advent, he felt the pressure of doing everything. Dunham saw the importance of taking a step back and have everyone engage and be present in worship.

As United Methodist congregations, there a lot of committees for the congregations in Conde and Groton. “We don’t necessarily have a lot of activity within our committees,” says Brandon. “We ask people to be a part of the ministries of the church, trying to find ways to bring that engagement up. I want to make sure that people feel empowered to make a difference, not just in their lives but in the lives of other people.”

Dunham states that he does not have great big plans for projects or buildings. He views the two congregations as healing from a lot of transitions. “We are getting to a point we are ready to get to work again,” he says.