Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Letter to the Editor

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Stephen Blythe, a son of Mrs. Kathelene Blythe, the senior member of the Gurdon United Methodist Church. God willing, she will celebrate her 96th birthday on 31 May of this year. God has blessed her immensely; she has enjoyed a long, healthy life. I grew up in the Gurdon Church, which has been fortunate to have many good pastors assigned to it during my lifetime. For much of the past decade, I have lived and worked in the Middle East. I work nine months of each year, and my wife and I spend several months each summer in Gurdon with Kathelene.

I was recently distressed to learn that Rev. Gary Maskell, pastor of the Gurdon Church, is being reassigned to another church after being in Gurdon for only one year. That is unfortunate indeed. In my opinion, Brother Gary is one of the best pastors, and one of the best persons, I have had the good fortune to meet in my lifetime. As a professional teacher myself, I understand how much preparation is required to deliver a good lecture, and I know a good teacher when I see one. Brother Gary is one of the finest teachers I have ever witnessed. For Brother Gary, there is no standing in the pulpit with frequent reference to notes! He stands right in front of the pews and delivers his sermon straight from the heart, from memory and without any notes. He memorizes scriptures and the references to those scriptures and interweaves them throughout each sermon. I know very well this requires an extraordinary amount of preparation.

Rev Maskells sermons and teaching ability make him an exceptional minister, but there is much more to tell. He is a people-person with good human relations ability. He exudes a genuine warmth and friendliness, and truly cares about people. He has frequently come to my mothers home to minister to her whenever she is unable to attend church.

In conclusion, Brother Garys departure will be the Gurdon Churchs loss and another churchs gain. May I say Godspeed to Brother Gary and his family as they prepare to move to another city later this year.

Sincerely yours,

Stephen E. Blythe, Ph.D., J.D., C.P.A.