Rev. Richard Sanford
Assistant Pastor
Retired May 2005
Pastor Dick Sanford joined the staff of First United Methodist Church Homosassa as assistant minister on September 1, 2004.
He and his wife Myrna are native western Pennsylvanians. He received a B.S. degree in business from West Virginia Wesleyan College and was primed to head a small corporation when he received a "nudge from God".
After that, he and Myrna packed up their two children and sold their home while he attended Drew University School of Theology for 3 1/2 years.
He ended up in pastoral ministry, "the cutting edge of church work", with his first church merging with a Presbyterian Church on his initial Sunday there.
He spent four years at that church and events over that period set the stage for the remainder of his ministry when he was continually assigned to churches that were struggling and often in crisis. As he said, "The work was stressful but a rich blessing".
Rev. Sanford served as a district superintendent and during one of those years was named dean of the Cabinet.
Upon retirement in May 2000, he and Myrna moved outside Savannah, GA and stayed there two years before moving to The Villages, FL. Following two years there, they opted to relocate to Pine Ridge Estates here in Citrus County.
By chance, they discovered that Dick and Myrna Evans lived only five miles away. The two couples met for lunch and conversation focused on FUMC for several minutes. The rest is history.
Pastor Sanford related, "God works in strange and wonderful ways and doors began to open to allow me to meet with Pastor Mark and the Staff Parish Committee. It was a wonderful evening and now I am about to begin an exciting new adventure as your Assistant Pastor".
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