Northwood Alliance Church to honor Charles and Margaret Gibson

Note: As of March 13, this event has been postponed and the new date is TBD. 

Blaine’s Northwood Alliance Church will be hosting a retirement celebration for Charles Gibson, who recently retired as the church’s pastor, and his wife Margaret.

The event will take place on Sunday, March 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. and will feature congratulatory messages, live music and desserts. Northwood Alliance Church is located at 580 C Street.

Gibson served as pastor of the church, which has a congregation of about 100 people, for 25 years. “I could see that we have a congregation where everyone’s starting to look like me, with gray hair,” Gibson said. “We needed to move on, and for that to happen, I needed to retire and let somebody else take over who was younger and had new ways of doing things. I had 25 years to do what I did, and now it’s time for somebody else to take over. I feel good about that.”

Gibson’s final day as pastor was the last Sunday of January. Ken Crandall is now serving as interim pastor until a new pastor is recruited and installed, which will likely happen sometime this summer.

Gibson now plans to focus on his role as president of the school board. His wife Margaret recently retired as a Blaine school nurse after 23 years. The couple moved to Blaine 27 years ago from New Mexico. “The two of us, we’re a team together,” Gibson said.

Northwood Alliance Church is known for its practical approach to community service. The Blaine Food Bank sits on land donated by the church, as does the Community Assistance Program’s clothing bank. CAP is currently raising funds to construct a new facility on the west end of the church’s property.

“There’s a sense that Blaine is our parish,” said Gibson. “We’ve tried to have a ministry not just for the congregation but also for the whole town. We try to give practical assistance to people in need and do what we can to be there for the good of the entire community.”