A reception for former Mountain View Pastor Skip Strickland, now District Superintendent for the Peaks and Plains division of the United Methodist Church, is set for Saturday, May 26 from 2:00 to 4:30 pm at Mountain View UMC.
Pastor Skip recently announced that his retirement will begin on June 30. The reception will mark his 40-plus years in the church, beginning as a youth leader in the 1980s and then as minister to several congregations, assistant to the Bishop and now District Superintendent, all with the United Methodist Church.
The reception in Barker Hall will include remembrances of Pastor Skip’s time at Mountain View UMC from 1999 to January 2007. One of his notable changes at Mountain View was to establish the 9:03 am service in the early 2000s, which originally met in the second-floor View Room. The Praise Band also began leading the 9:03 am service during his time as pastor, with Skip playing the mandolin.
Other changes included replacing the old pews, carpet and chairs in the Sanctuary with new ones, redesigning the front of the Sanctuary to be on one level and upgrading the sound system. The church also reconnected with the Mountain View Preschool during Skip’s tenure.
People who wish to share their memories and anecdotes from Skip’s Mountain View tenure may do so beginning at 2:30 pm during the reception. Light refreshments also will be served.
Skip and his wife, Belinda, who is still a member at Mountain View UMC, live in Longmont.