WESTON, Mo. — After more than a decade away from where she was raised, a teaching job brought Rev. Dr. Casey Sigmon back to the Kansas City area.
Now, the ordained pastor is guiding the Weston Christian Church, taking over on Eastern Sunday.
She gave a sermon in front of 100 families on her first day and has had between 40 and 50 in Sundays that followed.
Sigmon has been in ministry since she was a teenager and became ordained in 2011.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Rev. Dr. Casey Sigmon is the new pastor at Weston Christian Church. A Kansas City area native, she became her duties on April 1.
She grew up in Lenexa, Kan., and attended the University of Kansas. She was initially a journalism major before switching majors and earning a degree in theatre and film.
Though she wasn’t raised in a ‘religious’ house thought ‘kinda’ Catholic, Sigmon joined Young Life in high school and while attending KU she started working at a church helping in worship and adding film into the service.
While in college, she got her start into preaching and got enough positive feedback she wondered if she should pursue. She had no problems being in front of people – being the Viking mascot at Shawnee Mission West and was in charge of pep club so taking in front of 2,000 fellow students helped ease those nerves once she got behind the pulpit.
“My first sermon I was 20 and in a church in Olathe (Kan.),” Sigmon said. “Not in front of a peer group, but in a church in a big one in Olathe. It was so hard to explain the feeling when it just right. Like the holy spirit took over. I preached and see people’s face and they were engaged and connected. Afterwards, hearing from adults I respect saying this is what you are called to do. You are speaking right to me. That was the beginning of me, me saying, ‘OK, maybe this is my path instead of Saturday Night Live’ or something else I thought would be the right path.
“Confirmed again, I was working on my PhD in Vanderbilt was a full-time job. I was called to do an intern a little church outside of Nashville and again the affirmation received from the community and the sadness when I left. Am I going to be able to do both that God called me to do, be a teacher and a pastor. We moved back home and it all happened. One of those God things where everything fell into place. We are so excited to be here.”
After some thinking, she chose to attend the McCormick Theology Seminary in Chicago, where she met her husband, Phillip. He is now a chaplain at Kansas City Hospice.
A day after graduation the couple married as the families from two different parts of the United States were together at the same place. Philip is from to Hendersonville, N.C.
Since then, the couple moved to Nashville, where they lived for five years and both of their daughters were born there – now 5 and 2.
Sigmon finished up her PhD two years from Vanderbilt at and got an externship teaching at Saint Paul School of Theology in Leawood, Kan., at the United Methodist Church of Resurrection in Leawood, Kan.
She wanted to be able to teach and be a pastor and the mix in Weston became a perfect fit.
She just wrapped up her second year of teaching at Saint Paul and has been the pastor in Weston for more than a month. Sigmon did a guest sermon at the church before securing the spot – one that came after looking for a year for the right spot.
“There was something about Weston and all the conversation I really felt good,” she said. “It was the match.”
The family lives in parsonage next to the church and moved in a week after she delivered her first sermon. There is also plenty of family nearby. Sigmon’s parents are in Lenexa, while Phillip’s parents moved from Charleston, S.C., to Leawood, Kan.
She noted the family loves how friendly the community is and how everything has been within walking distance from the house.
The Weston Christian Church was first formed in 1854 and the current building was constructed in 1906. The stained glasses were added in 1934.
She is bringing some new ideas to the church. Recently, there was more than a dozen 30 to 40 year olds that joined at St. George for fellowship, while the church baby sat 11 kids for free. It will be a monthly occurrence going forward..
In May, she will perform four baptisms.
“There is an explosion of energy here,” Sigmon said. “I think part they called a pastor that will stay for a while, hopefully more than while. It makes people want to comeback after taking a break.”