Would-be cop back home as pastor
Would-be cop back home as pastor
Posted on Thu, Oct 08 2009
Times Herald Record
Would-be cop back home as pastor
The Rev. Joseph Nieves addresses Trinity Assembly of God in Middletown during his installation on Sunday. Nieves studied at John Jay College of Criminal Justice to be a police officer. In May, he returned as head pastor of the church where he grew up. His wife, Ruth, looks on.For the Times Herald-Record/MIKE
Middletown — A would-be policeman-turned-minister, the Rev. Joseph Nieves believes that his long journey from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to the opening of churches in Massachusetts, and back to the hometown he left 15 years ago was guided by the hand of God.
"God has brought me back to the place he sent me," Nieves said, referring to a passage from the Bible's Book of Jeremiah.
That place is Trinity Assembly of God on Blumel Road, the same church Nieves attended as a young man, as well as the place where he met his wife, Ruth, who "came to faith" there 15 years ago, Nieves said.
Nieves' story is that of the hometown boy who makes good, then comes home and does better. The new pastor of Trinity Assembly of God formally took his post on Sunday, during an installation ceremony that culminated a lifelong journey to realize his purpose, he said.
He believes that purpose is to expand and renovate the church where he grew up. The 150-member Sunday attendance has been climbing since his arrival in May, and the church sanctuary has been renovated.
Nieves, 37, moved to Middletown from the Bronx in 1985, graduated from Pine Bush High School, went to SUNY Orange and then headed to Manhattan to prepare for his dream career in law enforcement. While studying at John Jay, Nieves, who claims not to have been very religious, entered a Times Square church to have a "radical encounter with God," he said.
The experience brought into question his career choice, which he sacrificed after much anguished prayer, he said.
"I just gave in," he said. "I said, 'God, you can have my life.' I couldn't run from it (his calling as a minister) anymore."
Nieves went to Bible college in Rhode Island, got his minister's credentials and pioneered a church first in Boston and then in Western Massachusetts before getting the job as senior pastor of Trinity in May.
A few of his old friends still live in the area and go to the same church, but the demographics have changed with the area, which is more developed and houses a larger group of commuters and New York City transplants than before Nieves left, he said.
The pastor aims to expand the church's role in the community but also to strengthen its ministry in helping the needy, the troubled and the suffering to rediscover God. "It's just a brand new start for us," he said.
jsullivan@th-record.com
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