The Doepkens at DenaliJim Doepken has been pastor of Girdwood Chapel since July 2000. He is only the second full-time, resident pastor appointed to this church. Jim was ordained in the North Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1993, a year before graduating with a degree from Duke Divinity School. He served in Frankfort, Indiana for three years and then came up to Alaska as a commissioned missionary through the General Board of Global Ministries. After three years at the United Methodist Church of the New Covenant in Kenai, Alaska, he was asked to move to Girdwood by the Bishop. He has loved it ever since and has really felt at home in the community and church.
Jim is the only clergy person residing in the community and sees community involvement as a very large part of the ministry in this location. Therefore, he is president of the local Lions Club, helps out with Cub Scouts, has taught Community Schools courses (the last was on “Whiffleball for Kids”), and serves as the chaplain of the Fire Department. This last role has become an important part of the ministry in this area as he has provided counseling to both victims and firefighters after accidents on the Alaskan roads in the area. He has also performed funerals and weddings for locals who have no church home.
Even though Jim is a member of the North Indiana Conference, he also has a connection to the Mississippi Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. This is because the former pastor at Girdwood came up from that Conference. Several churches in Mississippi have a supportive relationship with Girdwood Chapel and Jim has enjoyed his time in the South with them.
Jim and Julie Doepken have been married since 1991 and have five children. Samuel is twelve and will complete 7th grade in June 2008. Moriah and Susannah, the twins, are 10 and will finish 4th grade. They have truly blossomed in Girdwood and feel very much at home in this small mountain town. All three children are involved in soccer, skiing, and a host of other activities.
Plus, as of January 2007, we have another set of twins, Abigail and Bethany. After some difficulties with their health, both are doing well.
Julie is a trained librarian with a degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Presently she is substitute teaching, spending most of her time in libraries both here and in Anchorage. She is involved in the Community Schools board, the Board for the local day care, a Library Task Force, and a local book club. She facilitates a Mosaics class through the Community Schools Program. She was commissioned as a missionary in 1998.
UPDATE FROM OCTOBER 2007
As a family, we are in our 8th year here at Girdwood Chapel. My first two appointments were each 3 years. So this is very much new and uncharted territory. Persons often ask how long we plan to stay here and my usual response is that, as a United Methodist pastor, all I can say is where I am this year. The rest is up to God and the Bishop. However, we continue to pray that we are allowed to be here long enough to see the new chapel building built and are able to work out some of the kinks of the new space.
We are very happy in our house that we were able to purchase in 2002. Since the church doesn’t have a parsonage, this works out well for us. It’s far better than renting, which we did for the first couple of years. We don’t have a garage, which makes for some chilly/snowy cars in the winter mornings. We have three bedrooms and have converted our guest bedroom into our baby room for our new twins.
As for myself, I continue to be involved in a lot in the Girdwood Community. I am chaplain of the Fire Department. I am on the PTA. I’m on Lions Club. I’m helping lead a parenting club at the school. Plus I stay home much of the time with Abigail and Bethany as Julie works half time at the school library. Add onto that the responsibilities of leading a church in a construction process and I wonder why I’m not more stressed than I already am! God is good. I would like prayers for my neck, where I have a herniated disk. It looks like it will prohibit my ski season this year as I work on the inflamation.
Julie, as said above, is the librarian at our local K-8 school where our three older children attend. Half-time allows her to leave the infants with me for a part of the day while spending time in her field (she has a degree in library science). She is on the board of our local daycare, has worked with a library task force to build a new public library, and is a regular at the Women’s Bible Study going on in our community.
Samuel is now 12 years old. His voice has changed. He’s as tall as his mom. He runs cross-country and skis and has been in each of the school plays the last few years -- even winning some awards for his performances. He’s also first cello in the school orchestra (although he’s also the only cello).
Moriah is 9 years old and is our tomboy. She skis and runs cross-country and dreams of being a baseball player when she grows up. The highlight of her summer was seeing a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. She is in Girl Scouts.
Susannah is our girlie-girl. She is involved in much of the same activities as her sister but also wants to dance and perform. We’re having a birthday party for her this weekend at a “fused-glass workshop.” She does enjoy her crafts.
Now much of the year has revolved around our newest additions to the family -- Abigail and Bethany, born on January 31. This is our second set of twins and it’s a whole different ballgame than our first set.
First, we had some pretty serious health problems with this set. Bethany was born with club feet--her feet turned inwards in such a way that she very visibly needed correction. Abigail had acid reflux and cried a whole lot for the first two months. With Bethany, she was in her first set of casts at two weeks old. She then moved to a brace with special shoes and had to go to Seattle to have her Achilles tendons cut. She’s doing well and is only wearing her brace for 14 hours a day now. She’ll probably be wearing the brace, at least part-time, until she’s three. With Abigail, she became a whole different baby when she was diagnosed with acid reflux and we got her on appropriate medicine. We don’t know how long she’ll be on the “baby Zantac.”
Second, when we had our first set of twins, we only had a 2 year-old at home. We didn’t have after-school activities, friends that wanted to come over, and kids that needed to get to sporting events. The older kids are able to help out and Samuel is quite a babysitter, but the schedule, with infants, is a whole lot different. Its hard for us to find quality time together -- just as it is with any family.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the newest addition to the family, Hurley, the Welsh Terrier. He’s named for the 1990’s Duke point guard, Bobby Hurley. Now some might say this may not be the ideal time to bring a puppy into our already growing family. But, it’s good to have a dog again after putting our dog to sleep in March after 14 years with us. Hurley’s a handful, but he’s loved.