From the Mansfield News-Journal, Saturday, July 27, 1974, page 5:
For the first time in its 129-year history, St. John's United Church of Christ has two ordained ministers serving at one time.
The Rev. Allen Reiter, a former student pastor at St. John's, has now joined in what he terms "a shared ministry" with the Rev. Alfred Schroeder.
Rev. Reiter was graduated from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Ill., with a major in history and a speech minor. He received his master of divinity degree this May from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Mo.
While attending the seminary, Rev. Reiter had several positions. One was as assistant chaplain at an inner-city hospital in St. Louis. He also served as an assistant pastor at St. Peter's United church of Christ and another two years at Hope United Church of Christ, both in St. Louis.
Rev. Reiter then spent an inter year 1972-73, with St. john's. He said it is unusual for a student pastor to be able to return to a church to serve as a associate pastor.
Rev. Reiter is happy to be back at St. John's. "When I left, I felt a real challenge remained. I felt that St. John's had tremendous potential in the church community of Mansfield. I enjoyed working with Rev. Schroeder," said the new minister.
"The people were very friendly, and when the church called me to interview, I was quite surprised and pleased," said Rev. Reiter.
"Hopefully by having two ministers we can offer new programs and do some new kind of things that wouldn't be possible with only one minister, time-wise," said rev. Reiter.
The openness and honesty he felt in his relationships with the people of St. John's is what he remembers most about his student pastorship there.
"St. John's is a rare kind of church. It's friendly in a way that I haven't seen in many churches before. The people really seem interested in who you are. They were very supportive to me while I was here," said the young minister.
Rev. Reiter believes having been a student pastor at St. John's has helped him to get off to a flying start now. He already knows many of the people he is working with.
While he has set some of his own goals for the church, Rev. Reiter wants to wait until the congregation sets some goals to work towards. "When those are set, I'll adopt those goals as my own," Rev. Reiter added.
"I guess my goal everywhere is helping people. That's the key to my ministry. I love people, through counseling or any kind of activity I'm involved in. I like to help people to be free," Rev. Reiter stressed.
Rev. Reiter and his wife, Linda, are residing on Larchwood Rd.