Pastor Laurie Kidd is one of the 2025 retiring clergy being honored at annual conference.

When she moved to the Dakotas, Pastor Laurie Kidd was excited to experience the connectionalism and the community that exists across our conference.  

“You would hope that every church, and every denomination would have something like that, but I didn't have that with my home church,” Kidd said. “But here, everybody wanted to connect, through the conference office, church to church, pastor to pastor, or layperson to layperson– all of it. People wanted to stay connected.” 

Kidd is one of the retiring pastors being recognized at this year's Annual Conference.  

Kidd grew up in Raytown, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. She attended a Disciples of Christ Christian Church with her family where they were very involved.  

“I was raised in the church,” Kidd recalled. “We always made sure church was number one on the list. I was very involved in youth programs and music.” 

It was while attending William Jewelle College, where she studied vocal music, that she realized that faith was an important part of her life.  

“When you're young, you go to church, and you’re involved because that's what you're supposed to do. When I got older and went off to college, it was my choice,” shared Kidd. "I thought, ‘I don’t have to get up early and go to church.’ But when I didn't go, I missed it and so that's when I started going again and getting more involved.” 

After college, Kidd worked at a music retail store. She then began working as an administrative assistant in the business world while playing piano and organ part time at her home church in Raytown where she eventually took the position as full-time music, worship, and drama director. 

“There were a lot of things we did in worship, like bringing drama into worship because people sometimes receive a message more through drama than they do anything else,” Kidd noted.  

After spending some time working in her home church, Kidd felt a nudge from God saying that she wasn’t in the right place quite yet.  

“I looked at ads for a music and worship position and they were all Methodist, which I found interesting. All the places I went and interviewed were Methodist and when I went to Sioux Falls, it was exactly how some people say, it felt like this was the right place for me,” she described. “As long as I was working in a church, singing praises to God, I thought that denomination shouldn't matter because he's the same boss.” 

Kidd took the job as the music and worship director at Sioux Falls First UMC in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2000. While she was there, she still felt like God was nudging her, not to move somewhere else, but to do a different kind of ministry.  

“As soon as I got there, I still was getting this nudge. ‘You're not there yet,’” Kidd emphasized. “I talked to my co-associate pastors, Emil and Penny Eberhart, and Penny helped me discern that I wanted to get my LLP license.” 

After getting her LLP license, Kidd was officially appointed at Sioux Falls First UMC in 2005, where she was able to work alongside her mentors before receiving a solo appointment to Kimball, South Dakota, in 2011. During her time in the Dakotas Conference, she has also served United Methodist churches in Wagner and Tyndall, South Dakota, and Hettinger, North Dakota.

Kidd has thoroughly enjoyed the time that she has spent in ministry with The United Methodist Church. 

“I learned a lot more about The United Methodist Church through the candidacy program, through mentors. I learned a lot more about the Methodist Church than I ever did at my home church, growing up there and living there for 40 years,” Kidd admitted.  

KWOW after-school ministry at Hettinger UMC has been one of Pastor Laurie's highlights in ministry.

One of the most fulfilling ministries that Kidd has been a part of is the KWOW program at the United Methodist Church in Hettinger, North Dakota.  

“The program was started three or four years before I got here, but we were able to enhance it a little bit more,” explained Kidd. “It was a solid foundation but being able to enhance things and see things grow was an incredible moment to see kids grow in their faith." 

The word of advice that Kidd has to offer to other clergy is to approach things with love.  

“If you love the people, you're going to get love back,” advised Kidd. “There are those people that walk into a church and you know that there's a struggle going on with that person. Just go in and love them and you’ll get it back." 

Kidd is currently in the process of packing up her home in North Dakota, and making the move back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She plans to get back into her music whether that be accompanying for school districts, playing at churches, or in local restaurants.  

“I hope to just enjoy anything I can and see what God's got planned for me in this new leg of my journey,” Kidd shared.