Rev. Eric Rummel, pastor of Emmanuel United Church of Christ since January 2007, has accepted a new pastorate in Sugarcreek, Ohio.

His final sermon at Emmanuel was Oct. 7 and he starts his new pastorate, at First United Church of Christ, Sugarcreek, on Oct. 15. Rummel accepted the Emmanuel pastorate while still a student at United Theological Seminary, Dayton. In 2009 he graduated with a master’s of divinity. On Pentecost Sunday, 2010, he was ordained at Emmanuel.

Rummel’s wife, Julie, who has taught elementary school in Lima City Schools for the past 12 years, accepted a second grade teacher position in August in the Canton City Schools.

The UCC pastor, a morning fixture in Common Grounds coffee shop, Bluffton, served two years as president of the Bluffton Area Ministerial Association (BAMA).  In the United Church of Christ, he headed the Church Growth and Vitality Committee of the Northwest Ohio Association of UCC.

A native of Lima, Rummel is a 1987 Lima Senior High graduate. He received his bachelor’s degree from Cumberland College. Prior to attending seminary he studied law for one year, was in sales and spent five years in the Army, stationed in Germany and in the State of Washington.

Reflecting on his years in Bluffton, Rummel said that he enjoys being around people and that Common Grounds was a perfect place for that interaction. “I’ve been referred to as the coffee house chaplain – the confession is free but you had to pay for the coffee,” he laughed.

In a note of interest, Rummel said that the coffee house he may be camped out in at Sugarcreek is called “Uncommon Grounds.”