An Introduction from Our New Pastor
Dear Beloved Members of the United Ministry of Delhi,
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
As I prepare to begin my ministry among you on July 1st, my heart is filled with profound gratitude, joy, and hopeful anticipation. I consider it a great blessing and privilege to serve as your new local pastor and to be invited into the sacred life of this wonderful church community.
Although I had long known that there was a place called Delhi in the United States — a name that echoes the capital city of my home country, India — I never imagined that I would one day be appointed to serve here. And now, as I prepare to move to this beautiful part of the world, I find myself affectionately learning to call it “Delhai,” adapting myself joyfully to its culture and life. My learning begins here, and I am excited to grow alongside each of you.
My journey to this appointment has been both humbling and deeply enriching. In 2022, I came to the United States to pursue my theological studies at the Boston University School of Theology. These past three years have been transformative, as I completed my academic work and received my licensing as a local pastor. Leaving behind familiar surroundings, stepping into a new culture, and forming relationships with people of diverse backgrounds and stories—all of this has been an extraordinary gift from God, for which I am deeply grateful. I never cease to marvel at how God’s providence leads us to places and people beyond our imagination.
My call to ministry was a long-pending and unrealized task before I joined the Boston University School of Theology. Although I came from a family of pastors and my mother wanted me to pursue ministry, I was unable to fulfill my personal ambitions or familial legacy due to the hardships I faced in my younger days, both economically and otherwise. Before answering God’s call to ministry, I served for 35 years as an Associate Professor of Philosophy at The American College in Madurai, India, where I specialized in epistemology and completed my doctoral research. I believe the knowledge, insights, and experiences gained during those years will find new meaning and application in my ministry among you, as we study God’s Word, seek wisdom, and grow in faith together.
[Sujatha holding granddaughter Gia, Pastor Prem, daughter Mona, and son-in-law Jaiwant]
God has graciously blessed me with a loving family that has stood by me throughout this journey. My wife, Sujatha, who recently joined me here after resigning from her job in India, will be with me in Delhi, NY. Our daughter lives with her family in San Jose, California, and has blessed us with a precious granddaughter, Gia, who is now 18 months old. Adding to my joy is the presence of my son, Varun Immanuel, who is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in quantum physics at SUNY Albany. He will live with us in Delhi this year and commute to Albany twice weekly.
[Pastor Prem with his daughter, Mona (L), his wife Sujatha holding granddaughter, Gia, and his son Varun]
As we prepare for our move, I am deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of support and generosity from the United Ministry of Delhi. A dedicated team, led by Barbara Jones and Pastor Catherine Schuyler, Susan Ackerly, Fran Ackerly, Deb Kearney, the SPRC members, and many others, has worked tirelessly to make our transition smooth and welcoming. I am sincerely grateful to all who have donated furniture, kitchenware, and countless other items to prepare the parsonage for our arrival. Your kindness has already made us feel at home even before we set foot in Delhi.
I am especially looking forward to meeting each of you during our first worship service—a gathering around the Lord’s Table, where we will celebrate Holy Communion. There could be no better way to begin our journey together than at Christ’s table, where all are welcome, and where grace, love, and unity abound. I am eager to build relationships that transcend all barriers, share in the church’s life, and participate in its various ministries and activities with joy and humility.
As I join this congregation, I come not as one who has arrived but as one who desires to grow with you, share the love of Christ joyfully, and work together toward building a beloved community where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. I am humbled by this church’s rich legacy, and I pledge to honor and uphold it while trusting that God will continue to lead us into a fruitful future for the sake of God’s Kingdom.
I step into this role with a sense of awe and reverence, confident that God, who has called me, will equip me for this sacred work. It is my prayer that, together, we may grow in faith, love, and service, and that our ministry will bear witness to the goodness of our Lord.
I look forward to seeing you all in the first week of July. Until then, may the grace and peace of Christ be with each of you.
With joy and gratitude,
Premkumar Immanuel Clement
Thank you, friends. Thank you for four years of good ministry, living out the gospel together as the body of Christ in this place. What a joy it has been to be your pastor!
Just this past week, the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church shared a Guiding Vision for the church, a new statement of current understanding of who we are called to be. ![Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, . . . there is anything worthy of praise, think about[a] these things](https://i0.wp.com/umdelhi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/praise_5994c.jpg?resize=300%2C248&ssl=1)
They say that if March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb, or vice-versa. A prediction about the unpredictability of weather, or a way to say that the transition from winter to spring is seldom directly linear. Two days of beautiful days in the 60s followed by a week of snow and cold rain. Crocuses peeking out into sunshine and then enough wind to send branches careening across the yard. Lent is a little like that as well. It’s offered to us as a solemn and penitential time, an opportunity to sharpen our prayer discipline and to practice self-examination and confession. Then the lectionary gives us some of scripture’s most wonderful and loving texts, as unpenitential as possible. Isaiah proclaims, ‘Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price!’ God’s love invites all to come and enjoy! Jesus tells the story of a man with two sons, both of whom he loves deeply and unconditionally. Joy and love and grace abound week after week, until we come to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. Then there’s a quick reversal and we hear about confusion and anger and betrayal and torture and pain and death. All of it grounded in the foundational truth of the Easter joy that’s on the way.
I just started taking a class on United Methodist Polity and Doctrine. The class is offered by Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, and I attend on Zoom, as does half of the class of about sixteen people. We introduced ourselves Tuesday morning, and just meeting all the students did my heart a world of good. There are students preparing for the United Methodist ministry who come from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In fact, there are three students from the DRC, three more from Nigeria, and three from South Korea. And another from China. Three cheers for Google maps; each student was able to show us where they lived, in their neighborhood, with the help of Google maps. All the students are part of the United Methodist Church, and a few of them are hoping to eventually be ordained and serve in the New York Annual Conference. The three hours I drive to see my dad and brother in the home I grew up in doesn’t seem all that far away after all. And it’s so exciting to be reminded that there are healthy churches all over the world who are proclaiming and living the love and grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Churches that have been open enough to the work of the Holy Spirit that young people there have heard a call to ministry. Which tells me that the rest of the people in these churches live out Christ’s love in their own work and life, just as people here in Delhi, and across our conference, do. It’s a powerful thing, this gospel we proclaim. Jesus’ call to claim the peace and the joy, the justice and the power of the Spirit to transform the world is compelling. 
I was riding my bike along the back river road recently, and was yet again in awe at the beauty that surrounds us here in Delhi. I stopped to take a picture, but it just can’t capture the entirety of the glory of our mountains in late summer or early fall. When I try to explain to friends the excellence of my surroundings every day, I just can’t find the words. All I can say is, ‘Come visit. You won’t really get it until you experience it.’
I spend Wednesday mornings on the Courthouse Square, smack-dab in the middle of the Farmers’ Market. Lots of people walk by, some take notice of my Pastor with Coffee sign and smile, some stop for a minute and say hello, a few sit down in the empty chair and talk for a while. I’ve prayed for grandkids, for upcoming medical appointments, and for individuals figuring out what comes next in life. I get updated on what’s going on in town and often hear historical data on days gone by in Delhi. I’m always happy to talk theology, but it’s not what most people want to talk about. Being on the Square is fun, and the welcome and respect I receive from people there reminds me that the presence of the church in general, and of United Ministry in particular, is appreciated in the community. I’m not there just because I like people, though I do like people; I’m there because I want the church to be known as a welcoming community, available to anyone and everyone. United Ministry will have a presence – a table with cookies and brochures and friendly faces to talk to – at Fair on the Square for two of the four Fridays in July. The men’s breakfast gathers at the Diner on Wednesday mornings at 10. All of these are opportunities to let the world know that the people of God here at 1 Church St., Delhi, seek to be witnesses of Christ’s love for the world. We have a great church – you know that at least as well as I know that. But there are lots of people who don’t quite know what the church is all about – it’s a cool place, sure. But is it weird? Scary? Boring? Too hard? We’re not really any of those things, but the way people will know that is through you, through your loving, laughing, caring presence in the world. And they won’t know that’s Jesus in you if you’re embarrassed to talk about it. You don’t need to opine on the specifics of atonement or on eschatology. But a word or two about the peace or joy you felt in worship last Sunday, or an invitation to a friend to join you at the Outdoor service in August could be just what our next new member, whoever he or she is, needs to hear. Don’t be shy. You are the witnesses who will make someone feel like this would be a good place to be part of. 
Rick and I drove to Charlotte, North Carolina at the end of April to be present at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. General Conference occurs every four years (or eight when there’s a pandemic) and it gathers United Methodists from all over the globe to make decisions about how the church will witness to the gospel and to the love of Christ for the next four years. Important decisions were made; love was proclaimed; justice was embraced; joy was experienced. The most significant decisions made were identified as 3 “R”s.
