SPANISH FORT, Ala.—If there’s one thing Rev. Charles W. “Bill” Price understands it’s how difficult it is to leave a warm and loving church following a successful tenure.

 That’s precisely why he spent Sunday’s sermon—his first at the helm of Spanish Fort United Methodist Church—introducing himself to the congregation of more than 2,000 and sharing his personal journey in Christ and in the ministry with his new church family.

“This might be a large task, but it is certainly a blessed task,” Price said of his appointment by the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church to the steadily growing Spanish Fort church following a 12-year appointment at Headland United Methodist Church.

Price, who is stepping into the pulpit following the retirement of the Rev. Chip Hale after nearly 20 years in the post, said he and wife Beth prayed incessantly about whether to stay in Headland after their youngest child graduated high school, and they finally decided as a couple that perhaps the church they loved so much could benefit from “the new voice” of a new minister.

And, in turn, Price could offer his own fresh perspective elsewhere, furthering his faith’s mission on two fronts.

“This is a very vital church that has definitely been in a growth phase for some time, and it’s very exciting to see the results of all that hard work right in front of you. Its ministries are multi-dimensional, and the work already being done to further those ministries is just so encouraging,” he said.

Price, a West Virginia native, said he never imagined himself living along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, but he also said he’s had little say in the matter since answering the call to the ministry when he was 18. He attended Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky., where he met his wife, and the couple have raised two children: Jacob, 23 and Jamie, 18.

Prior to his appointment in Headland, Price spent three years at Pleasant Ridge United Methodist Church in Sardis, Ala., and almost four years at Prattville United Methodist Church.

Of his first Spanish Fort sermon, the soft-spoken Price said only: “It’s about my personal faith journey and my call to the ministry, but I really want to give people a chance to get to know who I am and God’s work in my life.”

District Judge Michelle Thomason, chairman of the church’s Staff Parish Relations Committee, said Price’s commitment to his calling permeates every facet of his life.

“After getting to know Bill over the past few months and after hearing him speak in his first Sunday service, it is evident that God’s hand was out in front of the process in this appointment,” Thomason said.

The committee, she said, does not actually select new ministers, but operates instead in an almost personnel committee capacity.

“After we learned that Chip was being appointed to another church, the SPRC and the lay leadership of our church provided the Bishop and District Superintendent with some characteristics that we believed would be important elements in the character of the person that would lead our congregation as senior pastor. Based on that, the Cabinet selected and the Annual Conference appointed Bill to serve Spanish Fort UMC,” Thomason said.

And Price, who believes his strength as a minister lies in his teaching ability, said he is eager to get to work because he wants to “discover and discern” a vision for the future of this church and its mission and ministries.

 “I don’t want it to be a personal vision, but a vision that is shared, owned and propelled forward by the church body,” Price said.

And it is his new congregation’s whole-hearted embrace of the community it serves that convinced him of the soundness of the decision to relocate. From the Prodisee Pantry feeding hundreds of people each month to an active youth department taking up mission work locally and abroad, Price said the Lord’s work is visible at every turn.

 “What I see happening around me is that people are embracing that mission and becoming involved with the community around them at levels that are inspiring,” he said.