Pastor Derek Fossey felt it was a true blessing when he was offered a position as the senior pastor of Park City’s Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran Church. He moved here with his wife, Kirstin, and two sons from Hope Lutheran Church in Palm Desert, California.“Palm Desert is beautiful, but Park City — wow!” he said. “Something about it is just magical.” Upon taking over the congregation of about 450, Fossey has been impressed by not only his members’ support of local events and functions, but the entire community as a whole. “Park City feels like a small town where everyone cares about each other,” he said.  This love of community inspired Fossey to reach out to other churches in the area, he said. He soon met the new pastor of the Park City Community Church, Sam Beavis-Fisher. It turned out that both pastors took over their congregations on the same July weekend this year, and both have similar visions for their futures. Sam Beavis-Fisher is the new pastor at Park City Community Church. Credit: Park City Community ChurchBeavis-Fisher had been called by his bishop to become the lead pastor for the community church, moving with his husband, Adam, from Billings, Montana. He’d never heard of Park City.However, just like Fossey, he was impressed. “I love that people are active and dedicated to their community and seeing that the community is the best place it can be,” he said. With both churches providing open services, the two pastors hope to occasionally swap pulpits and share Ash Wednesday together. This will give each of them the opportunity to experience the differences of each of their congregations, and to spread the word of God, they agreed. Fossey’s sermons inspire members to “incorporate what is happening in the world today into their daily lives and to spread love,” and Beavis-Fisher aims to increase the spiritual depth of his parishioners and “to bring hope through action.”With the holidays approaching quickly, both congregations have plenty of activities planned.  activities planned. On Sunday, the Park City Community Church is hosting the Community Blessing of the Skis and Chili Competition. This will include a waxing station, $20 chili competition buy-in and a guest lecture on avalanche safety. Thursday, Nov. 28, is the annual “Friendsgiving” in which parishioners bring a side dish and the church provides the turkey and ham.Park City’s Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran Church has a new pastor, Derek Fossey. Credit: Park City’s Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran ChurchOn Christmas Eve, the Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran Church, will host three services at 4, 6 and 8 p.m. All devotions will include Christmas hymns and end with a candlelight singing of “Silent Night.” The Family Service is at 4, and will feature a community rendition of the Nativity Pageant, where each parishioner, especially the children, gets to be a character from the manger scene. Both pastors said they welcome existing members and new visitors to their weekly Sunday services and hope to be a light for the community. For more information: shepherdofthemountains.org and parkcitychurch.org.The post New pastors in town make friends, work together  appeared first on Park Record.