ROCKEY’S ROAD: Pastor celebrates a quarter century of ministry

PALMER — Congregants at St. John Lutheran Church will mark a significant milestone Sunday with chicken, mashed potatoes, and cherry pie.

The Rev. Jonathan Rockey will celebrate 25 years leading the congregation this weekend with a community meal and a rare Sunday morning off. Rockey — a weekly contributor to the Frontiersman’s faith page — relocated to the historic Palmer church in May 1991 from Jacksonville, Florida. That might seem like a diametrically opposed leap in terms of climate (the coldest-ever recorded temperature in Jacksonville was 24 degrees, set in 2014, according to a local television station), but Rockey, who hunted and fished in Western Massachusetts during his youth, said he took the transition in stride.

“I was born in Massachussetts and grew up with winters every year,” he said. “It’s not like this is something that was totally out of my experiences.”

Rockey moved to Alaska after a series of prayers. Following the process of the Missouri Synod, the church formed a committee to find a pastor and prayed over a list of names. When he received the call, Rockey prayed over it, and ultimately decided God was pushing him to make the journey.

The biggest adjustment between Florida and Alaska would be measured by attitude, not a thermometer, Rockey said. Alaskans were more independent than he expected.

“Up here, there are times Alaska doesn’t care how the rest of the world does it, we’re Alaskans and we do what we want to do,” he said. “The other side of that is: in our church, because of the independent spirit of Alaskans, people aren’t in church because other people are. They’re in church because they want to be.”

In the ensuing decades, Rockey and his wife, Kathy, raised a young family to adulthood. His oldest son Josh is a principal at Sutton Elementary School. His second-oldest son, Andy, is an air traffic controller in Anchorage. His only daughter, Mary Rockey, is a teacher at Colony Middle School. His youngest son, Tim, cooks at the Valley Hotel.

Pastors with tenure as long as Rockey’s are somewhat rare in the Missouri Synod. The average length of a ministry is between seven and 10 years, Rockey said. Rockey said he’s enjoyed his work at St. John so much that he’s actually never seriously entertained moving on.

“If you feel like what you’re doing is being used by God, you keep going,” he said.

At the same time, that doesn’t mean his name hasn’t been on the list of other prayerful congregations.

“I’ve had a number of folks who phoned me and said ‘Would you be willing to consider?’” he said. “And I’m always willing to consider.”

Two long-term congregants said the road hadn’t always been smooth, but Rockey’s leadership had made the difference. Rockey’s personable sense of humor — his mobile ring tone is the theme to the 1976 boxing classic “Rocky” — also helped, said John Glaser.

“It’s a tough job,” he said. “As Christians, you don’t agree with everything. But we agree to agree on the important stuff and being saved.”

Glaser has attended St. John for just under 20 years with his wife, Cathy, who agreed with her husband’s assessment of Pastor Rockey.

“He has a lot of Bible knowledge,” she said. “He’s a people person, and a good shepherd.”

Rockey says he’s proud of numerous big accomplishments over the years, including playing a role in starting a statewide ministry, and providing $100,000 worth of food to Nome when the fisheries collapsed in 2014. His congregation has reached out to the community to bring people more than it has when he first arrived.

Rockey measures his proudest accomplishment in a number smaller than 50.

“There are between 15 and 20 folks who, in the last few years, have come from long-time separation from the church or maybe not even believing in God to coming back to the church,” he said. “That might be the most exiting thing.”

Rockey usually preaches twice each Sunday, but not this weekend. This Sunday, his afternoon mass is cancelled to allow for his anniversary, and another pastor will deliver Sunday morning's sermon.

The celebration is scheduled to take place after the 11 a.m. mass Sunday. The event is open to the public, but organizers have asked possible attendees to call in advance to ensure there’s enough food.

The church’s phone number is 574-3338.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.