By Barbara Clark

Bruce Epperly peppers his conversation with animated expressions as he talks about his new adventure as pastor of South Congregational Church in Centerville. His volubility seems to be inborn and just flows naturally as he spins stories, lifting an eyebrow or waving an arm in the air, almost impatient to be sitting down. These characteristics might be one reason his pastor, who saw these qualities in Epperly back in the 1970s, helped shift the young mans direction toward one of an outgoing ministry to others.

Epperly grew up in California, no stranger to traditional religious forms his father was a Baptist minister. But young Epperly reached college in the 1970s during the "Age of Aquarius," at a time when love beads and Imagine were assuming relevance over more traditional realms of spirituality. For this young college student, the message of many churches seemed too straitlaced and out of touch for the times; so, looking to feed what he called his own spiritual hunger, Epperly began exploring emerging spiritual disciplines, including Buddhist teachings and Transcendental Meditation.

He then turned back to the traditional Christian church for a time and, mentored by his pastor, began to feel there was something [for him] in the Christian story, now made more inclusive by opening doors to other streams of religious practice. He came to believe that a larger view could enliven the church, and during graduate school began to feel a calling to give back as a pastor and teacher. Epperly went on to complete graduate degrees in philosophy of religion and theology and was ordained as a Protestant minister in 1980, first in the Disciples of Christ denomination, later in the United Church of Christ.

Throughout Epperlys long career as pastor, teacher and speaker, he came to feel that his calling to the pastoral ministry was a practical application of what [he] was learning as he sought to build up an intellectually solid Christian faith. He went on to teach at several theological seminaries and served as a pastor in places like Washington, D.C., Maryland and Pennsylvania.

In 2012 he began looking for a new adventure to stake out over the next decade, and one opportunity that presented itself turned out to be in Centerville. Unlike many folks who gravitate back here after growing up on the Cape or summering here, Epperly had been on Cape Cod only once in his life to meet an incoming ferry. The new opportunity was intriguing, and something about the Cape, he said, made it seem like a place to come to. He and his wife, Kate, also a minister and spiritual life coach, moved to Centerville in 2013, and Epperly has remained enthusiastic about his good fortune and ultimate choice of venue.

His ministry in Centerville has been focusing on the growing number of retired baby boomers moving here, as well as on the many older members of his congregation. The church, he noted, will hold its 218th annual meeting this year, making it a venerable institution in the local community.

Epperly described his church as interested in creative worship. He said the congregation is innovative but appreciative of tradition, perhaps the best of all possible worlds for a man whose roots are in the older evangelical tradition but who has come to embrace the hard questions emerging in the current scientific show me age.

His new book, Finding God in Suffering: A Journey with Job, came out of a Bible study class where Epperly said participants came armed with no holds-barred questions they werent about to pass through the Book of Job with just a cursory look. There was so much meat to the sessions that a book seemed the natural outcome. Epperly said his approach in such classes is to share the best biblical information thats out there and encourage participants to share their own spiritual journeys rather than just accept the least common denominator in any meeting. He aims at accessibility. I want people to read and understand, he said.

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Local ministry feeds mind, spirit