Our Pastor

Pastor Bryan McBride

Bryan was born in the Nebraska Sand Hills and first lived on his granddad’s place with his mother and older brother. His mom worked to obtain a teaching certificate, and when he was two years old they moved to St. Paul, Nebraska. Bryan lived in St. Paul until graduating high school and attending college at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln where he first earned a B.S. in business administration and later a secondary education teaching certificate in history, social sciences and economics.

Moving to Kansas in 1997, he began a career in libraries. He worked in libraries until January 2022, earning a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Emporia State University during that time. Immediately upon landing in Kansas, Bryan began attending church at First United Methodist in Manhattan. Two sons were baptized in that church and he began saying ‘yes’ to opportunities to serve. These opportunities included leadership of the Stephen Ministry program, adult Sunday school leader, liturgist, occasional contributor to church-published seasonal devotionals, contemporary praise band member, and eventually getting a gospel bluegrass group off the ground that occasionally plays service music.

During this stretch of serving Bryan began to feel the call to full-time ministry and only recently followed God’s call to leave his career in libraries and become a full-time Licensed Local Pastor. And here he is, serving the congregations of Olsburg and Westmoreland. He remarried four years ago to Sharon. One of her favorite pleasures is baking, which serves these churches well!

Bryan is fortunate that his favorite hobby, which he nearly pursued as a livelihood in Nashville, dovetails perfectly with his church life, first with the praise band, then the gospel bluegrass group in Manhattan, and now frequently leading music that he loves in his new role as a rural pastor. He can sometimes be found playing music on street corners and farmers markets. Charles Wesley’s rules for singing #4: sing it like ya mean it! Glory to God!

Sharon and Bryan both love digging in the dirt in the spring, making gardens grow. Flowers to add beauty to the landscape as well as fruits and vegetables for good eating. The Apostle Paul writes about the fruits of the spirit to the church in Galatia. They are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Grow them, harvest them, and share them around!