It is with great excitement and anticipation that we welcome Rev. Paul Sabin and his wife, Linda, into the family of St. Luke’s UMC! It’s tempting to say that we welcome Rev. Sabin back to St. Luke’s as some of us remember him from the time he was with the Mississippi Methodist Children’s Home here in Jackson.

Paul’s time at the Mississippi Children’s Home represents but a portion of his ministerial journey. He is a native of New York and grew up the son of a preacher, always knowing that he might one day make the choice to become a minister. Paul started preaching at age 16, and after college, decided to go to seminary.

“I came out of seminary in 1966, and so I have watched many changes in the church,” he said. “As society has changed, as the culture has changed and as the challenges have evolved from one era to another.” After graduating from seminary, Paul moved to Buffalo, NY, and served an inner city church. “One of the things we did was form a neighborhood association to organize and provide youth services for our community.”

That was in the late 60’s. It was about that time that Rev. Sabin realized he had a calling for social work in addition to the ministry. Paul says of his experience during the time in Buffalo, “We had street gangs, and . . . experienced damage to our building . . . We felt compelled to get involved – not to prosecute so much as to find out why these kids were so angry, what was going on. Ever since then, I’ve kind of kept my concern for . . . children and families, especially youths who come from troubled or dysfunctional families.”

Following work in Florida and attending graduate school to pursue a master’s degree in social work, Paul moved to Mississippi.
Paul and Linda arrived in Louisiana in 1994 where Paul spent time as director of development at the Methodist Children’s Home in Ruston, then served as pastor to two parishes, Memorial United Methodist and First United Methodist in Tallulah.

Paul’s wife, Linda, is a professor of nursing at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and plans to continue her work from Jackson.
As you can see, we have good reason to be excited and eager to welcome Paul and Linda into our St. Luke’s family!

Portions of this article are taken from an interview in The News Star, Monroe, LA