Obituary of Michael A. Peterson

MICHAEL A. PETERSON, 60 of Morrill, went to be with the Lord July 19, 2010. He was born November 20, 1949 in Monmouth, Illinois, the son of Beauford and Nancy (Carlson) Peterson. Michael attended Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. He majored in political science and received his teaching degree there. He married Debbie Phelps November 21, 1970. After filling in for the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Monmouth, Illinois, he heard the Lord call him to ministry which led him to seminary. Michael then attended the Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado and received a Masters of Divinity. Michael, Debbie and their two sons then moved to Chicago, Illinois where he served as youth pastor for five years. They then moved on to Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Bethel Baptist where he served as senior pastor of an integrated church for 11 years. He and his family then moved back to Joliet, Illinois as senior pastor of Bethel Baptist Church for 3 ½ years before retiring with his wife for five years. They took this time to travel all over the United States antiquing. They enjoyed finding the perfect pieces to buy and sell. After their five-year retirement, he got the call from 1st Baptist Church of Waldoboro, Maine, a quiet little church in downtown. While pastoring they built a new church in Waldoboro and the church continued to grow. Michael resigned after 7 ½ years and was guest speaker at various churches. He was asked to speak at Damariscotta Baptist Church and was invited to be their interim pastor. While serving he was asked to be the interim pastor at Morrill Baptist Church in Morrill, Maine which he accepted, and he and Debbie split their time between the two churches. Once Damariscotta Baptist Church found their full-time pastor, he became full-time interim pastor until one year ago when he was hired as their full-time pastor. In addition to serving in various pastoral positions in his life, his passion was working with the missions group, Philipean Fellowship, which was a mission to help Eastern European pastors build churches and become full-time pastors. They traveled to the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and all across Eastern Europe. |While serving with this ministry, he became pastor of Outreach. He was a student and collector of history. He is predeceased by his parents and is survived by his wife of almost 40 years, Debbie Peterson of Morrill; his two sons, Michael Shane Peterson of Cleveland, Ohio, Chad Andrew Peterson of Albuquerque, New Mexico; his aunt Gracie LeFevre and husband Ron of Simsbury, CT; five cousins; many other brothers and sisters in Christ across the world; also his dogs who he referred to as “the boys”, Chance and Jake. A celebration of life will be held at 11:00 am on July 24, 2010 at Morrill Baptist Church South Main St. Morrill with a reception immediately following. In lieu of flowers, friends may make donations in his memory to Philipean Fellowship c/o Jeff Norton 99 Storer Road, Bremen, Maine 04551. Arrangements are under the care of Crabiel-Riposta Funeral Home, 182 Waldo Avenue, Belfast. On-line condolences may be offered to the family at www.ripostafh.com.