The first and only person to be lead pastor at Stony Brook Fellowship is retiring after 21 years of service.

Stony Brook Fellowship is a part of the EMC and meets in the Steinbach Bible College Chapel. Earl Unger says he was hired in 1998 just two years after the church was founded. He notes the process of helping shape and build the church from the ground up for over 20 years has been a blessing.

"It was very invigorating and exciting just creating a vision and direction that we wanted for the church and pretty early on we decided on a slogan of 'trying to reach the overchurched and underchurched people.' We wanted to reach people that just weren't finding a place in larger churches. That was our goal and still is. That is what has driven our work."

Unger says Steinbach is a community of churches and when he became the pastor at Stony Brook Fellowship he looked up to many pastors that had served in the community for many years. He notes he never imagined he would retire after over 20 years of service, joining their amazing company. He adds retirement is bittersweet.

"We are looking forward to a different, maybe less vigorous life but at the same time there are so many people, so many memories, so many unwritten chapters yet for this church that I would actually very much like to be a part of writing but God doesn't have that for us. That will be for the next person and I think the future for this church is bright."

This Sunday is Earl Unger’s last service behind the pulpit as lead pastor of Stony Brook Fellowship.