19. An Unexpected Path, A Place to Belong

The Flathead Valley is known for its mountains, lakes, and wide-open spaces, but the relationships people build here are what truly make it home. In this episode, David Wigginton sits down with Brenna Stanfield, interim parish pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Kalispell, for a conversation about community, belonging, and the role faith organizations can play in helping people connect in a fast-changing valley. Brenna shares her journey from the Midwest to Montana, her calling to ministry, and the lessons she's learned balancing family, faith, and leadership.

The conversation also explores how First Presbyterian Church serves the broader Kalispell community through outreach programs, local partnerships, and a commitment to welcoming people where they are. From supporting families in need to opening its doors to community groups, Brenna offers a thoughtful perspective on what it means to build a stronger, more connected community—one relationship at a time.

Link: First Presbyterian Church of Kalispell

If you care about the future of the Flathead Valley, the importance of community, or the ways people find purpose and belonging, this is a conversation worth hearing. Subscribe, share, and join Heart of the Flathead for another inspiring local story.

Heart of the Flathead is brought to you by:

• Glacier Investment Management
• Whitefish Financial Services

Heart of the Flathead, is produced by David Wigginton, in partnership with LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing. Listeners can find the podcast online at HeartoftheFlathead.com and LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing at lbrbm.com. The content for Heart of the Flathead podcasts and any show notes and transcripts are copyrighted by David Wigginton. All rights are reserved. Reproduction and rebroadcasting, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without written permission. Contact David Wigginton by clicking the Send Us a Text link at the top of the episode description. 

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or production team. Appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement of any goods, services, or opinions discussed. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional, legal, medical, or financial advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on the content of this show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Welcome to the Heart of the Flathead, where we sit down with the change makers, the unsung heroes, and everyday folks who give this place its pulse. If you live here, love here, or just want to know what makes Kalispell and the Valley tick, you're in the right place. And now here's your host, Dave Wigginton.

SPEAKER_03 0:21

Welcome to another episode of Heart of the Flathead. I'm pleased to welcome our guest this week, interim parish pastor from our first Presbyterian Church here in downtown Kalispell, Brennan Stanfield. Breno, welcome to Heart of the Flathead.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Thank you. It's good to be here.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

So, Breno, on this podcast, we really are interested in getting to know the people that make our community move. And obviously, churches play a big role in the lives of a lot of the members of our community. And today we'd love to get to know a little bit about you and what First Presbyterian Church does.

Brenna's background

SPEAKER_03 0:55

So maybe you could start by giving us a background of where you're from, a little bit about your family, and maybe some fun learning experiences from your life's journey.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah, well, thanks. Uh, no, it's good to be here. I grew up in the Midwest. My dad was an educator. He worked at universities. So we spent seven years on the North Shore of Chicago. And then we spent seven years in a tiny town in Indiana that had six and a half thousand people and a lot more cows and corn. And then when I was starting high school, my dad was offered a job in Spokane, Washington. And so we moved to the Pacific Northwest. And we'd been here before. We'd actually been to Lightfish because we were living in Indiana and I was in sixth grade. My dad found he read a want or an advertisement in the newspaper. And it was for train tickets and ski passes at Whitefish at Big Mountain. And so we took a day and a half train with a little sleeper car, skied at Big Mountain for five days. On the first day, I broke my collarbone at the end of the day. And my dad said, Well, the doctor can probably fix anything later. So we can take you now and you'll feel better. Or you can take this grape Tylenol and ski. It's gonna hurt though. And yeah, this is our one ski trip of the year. So of course, uh I opted for the grape Tylenol and he wrapped, he used his long underwear to make a sling and just tied the arm to my body. And I rode the train like bumpy all the way home. And by the time we got back, the doctor looked at me and was like, we don't even need to x-ray this because there's a you know an inch of space between the bones and the brake is solid. So anyway, that was my introduction to Montana, and we loved it. We thought it was the best. So then we had the opportunity to move back to the Pacific Northwest, sort of that greater Pacific Northwest. We were so grateful. And myself and my parents and my two siblings all call sort of this larger area home, and we're so glad to be here. So my sister and parents are in Spokane, my brother's in Tacoma, and we moved to Calistol about six years ago.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

So you came back in spite of the broken collarbone before, huh? So no, no, no PTSD, huh?

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Well, actually, unfortunately, my first run at Big Mountain, after we moved back, I tore my ICL. And those are the only two skiing injuries that I've ever had. So I feel like I love Big Mountain, though Big Mountain might not love me very much, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Wow. So do you still ski today?

SPEAKER_01 3:26

I do. Yeah.

unknown 3:27

I guess.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

Good for you.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:30

Good for

Why The Family Moved To Kalispell

SPEAKER_03 3:31

you. So what was the determining factor that brought you back to the flathead six years ago?

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Well, my husband had been coaching football for quite a long time, working in schools, doing some administrative stuff. Um, but the travel for football as our kids got older, we have four kids, just became more difficult. And so he was hired at Glacier High School as one of their assistant principals. And so our youngest was in kindergarten. And then we have in second, fourth, and sixth grade when we moved here. And then it just seemed like I was a little less enthusiastic because my family was in Spokane. It was my birthday weekend, actually. I may have accused him of ruining my birthday about when he was offered the job. But we knew it was such a good community. We knew we'd love being by Big Mountain. The high school seemed spectacular. He'd actually recruited football players from Glacier High School. So we we were familiar, and that's what brought us here.

SPEAKER_03 4:28

That's great. That is great. So interestingly, so you're you're a pastor now, and I didn't hear you mention anything about seminary or any of these other things that you know a lot of folks in your position would go through.

Path to the pulpit

SPEAKER_03 4:41

So give us an idea of how you became a pastor and what really drove you to want to do that.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Yeah, that's a great question. And I always laugh that I'm a good example of a meandering path. Not the straight and narrow as far as that goes. But when I was a kid, I loved teaching and I loved like helping people. So for a long time I thought I'd be either a nurse or a teacher. And then as I grew and really began, really loved the churches that we were in. And my uncles are missionaries, and my great-grandpa was a pastor, and all of this stuff, it just sort of seemed where I was called to go. So I went to Whitworth University and majored in English because I loved it, but knew that I would go to seminary, worked in church for a couple of years, went to Princeton Seminary in New Jersey, graduated, started working at a church in Boise as an associate pastor of adult evangelism and discipleship, which I loved. Had our first child shortly after we arrived in Boise, and then we're expecting our second child. And my husband was offered a job in Spokane. And so we had the opportunity to go home, which was wonderful. But it also meant that this job I had been doing obviously could not travel with me. And my mom had stayed mostly home when the kids were little. Child care was so expensive I could hardly cover child care with a job anyway. So I mostly stayed home for a decade with them. I taught Bible and theology classes in Woodworth's continuing studies department for almost a decade. And they were night classes. I do a couple a year. So I did that. I preached they called pulpit supply, where you, you know, pastors out of town that weekend, you go and preach and lead worship. I did that for churches. I helped start a preschool at a Presbyterian church, directed that for a little bit, but sort of did these things that fit alongside the kids. And I had a delightful time. I was so grateful that I got to do that. And then when we moved here, I just thought, man, what in the world am I gonna do? Needed to make a little bit of money because it's expensive to move to the valley. And I wanted to get to know the kids' teachers. So I started subbing. So I did that for a year, and then we had started going to First Presbyterian Church in Talisville and really loved the congregation and felt at home. And it was just seems like such a special place. And the head pastor, Glenn Berfind, had asked me to have coffee. And I thought it was gonna be a pastoral visit because my sort of extended family had had a really difficult couple of years, and I felt like I needed some pastoral care. So that's what I expected. And we talked a little bit about it, but then he just said, Well, do you miss parish ministry? And I said, Oh, of course I do. I loved it, but I have these four kids, I can't do it. He said, Well, why can't you do it? I said, Well, I I can't be in church every Sunday. I can't, you know, all these things. And so he said, Well, I I think you actually could do it. And so we kind of went back and forth and finally he said, Well, what would work for you? And I thought that was such a fascinating question to, you know, to teach like, well, what would you love to do? And how could she sort of come into this congregation in that way? And he knew that he would be retiring in a couple of years. And so originally I was just hired to preach once a month, do some pastoral care, work with young families, and provide that stability and continuity through the transition. Because in the Presbyterian system, it's generally like a two-year transition from one pastor to hiring, fully hiring another pastor. And then every year they just sort of added things into that job description. And also the congregation was so gracious with me and with the kids. And no one expected that I'd be there every single Sunday. So I could go to the kids' soccer tournaments and things like that. And so we he retired and they couldn't find an interim head of staff. So so now technically I'm the part-time interim head of staff and part-time parish pastor. Wow. It's a bit, but the church has been gracious and worked with us. So I've done all those things just in a very circuitous way.

SPEAKER_03 8:51

But right. You weren't kidding you weren't kidding about the meandering. That's definitely a roundabout way of getting there, isn't it? That's what a great journey, though. And I mean, I have to imagine, you know, being a mom in general and being a professional, a pastor, whatever it is, it's hard, especially if you've kids and you want to spend time with your

Motherhood And Ministry In Real Life

SPEAKER_03 9:09

kids. So is it hard? Being a woman and a mom and being in in ministry like this.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Well, I think there are always inherent challenges, of course. In some ways, I might be like the frog in boiling water, where you know, I got in when it was tepid and haven't quite realized that it's boiling yet. But I also think, you know, it's a lot of responsibility and a lot of care and a lot of work, but it's also really flexible. So I can zip out and take a kid to an orthodontist appointment. I can go on a field trip. If a kid is sick, I can usually work mostly from home and just come in for a meeting now and then. And so, but I feel like much of that is because the congregation is so gracious and because they have such a sweet spirit about them. That then allows me to feel like I can mother well alongside caring for the kids well. And I actually I grew up in a church or that when we were in Indiana, the church that we were going to, the woman was a head pastor. So that never felt like an anomaly or a barrier to me, though I know it is to a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 10:09

So got it.

unknown 10:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:11

So you mentioned your congregation being gracious.

A Warm Church With Open Doors

SPEAKER_03 10:13

Tell us a little bit about your congregation and what makes them so great and how do they interact with the community?

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Yeah, I just think they're spectacular. I'm so grateful we get to be a part of them. And if I didn't work there, we would still go there. It's an older congregation. I think we were the first official church in the valley in the 1890s. And then I think in the 1920s, they built the building that we're in currently, needed more space. So moved locations and built a bigger building. And then in the 50s, they renovated it and added the sanctuary, switched the configuration. So it's an older building and it's an older congregation. But man, they love people well and they love us well. And so the first Sunday we showed up, there was nothing for children. And it was us and two other families who had all gone on Easter Sunday. But, you know, the kids are so welcome and it was a great place to be. The next Sunday we show up and they have this spectacular bags for kids, you know, like so when they walk in and all sorts of fun things, but they were really crinkly. And my dad was with us, and my husband, and they were like, Don't touch the bags. You're making noise. I was like, I don't think they care about the noise. I think they just are so welcoming that we're fine. Next week we come and great children's stuff, but in a homemade cloth bag that did not crinkle. And I just thought, man, who are these people that they see and need and work hard to meet it in that way? So probably half our congregation is older, a couple, you know, some in the middle, some young families, but it's really a sort of an intergenerational congregation where so my kids now have all these grandparents, not actually, but all these folks is act as their grandparents and they care for each other well, they care for our kids well. So that's been just a gift to watch. And when people come in, usually when we get visitors, they end up sticking around because it just is such a warm spot, which is really neat. And they also take, you know, this mandate that we follow like we love God and serve others really seriously. And so the the church building itself was built with community funds, both the church and the congregation funded it. And so part of our mission is to make the building available to the community. So we have folks upstairs who are teaching yoga, we have Boy Scout troops that meet here. We host Feeding the Flathead every week. We do all the, we have a physical therapist who rents some space, you know, all these different ways that we can have the community be in the building with the congregation, which I think is pretty sweet. And then we do a bunch of other service-oriented things like putting together Christmas baskets. We get names from the schools of kids who might not have Christmas presents or even heat, and then try to help with those things. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

That's amazing. That's amazing how it just integrated the churches with the community and how uh welcoming they are of everybody and all the different, I guess, groups or groups of people that that's that use the facility. So that's that's amazing.

Hardest part of being a Pastor

SPEAKER_03 13:22

What what's the hardest part of your role as a pastor?

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, so much of it is a joy because uh we get to love people in the name of God who loved us first. And that is just a joy. But you know, when you love people, then you help carry their burdens. And when they're struggling, you know, you want to come alongside, or when you're struggling, they come alongside you. And so I think it's it's a joyful thing, but it's also a heavy burden. But that is how it should be for all of us. You know, we should care for our neighbors while we should share God's love with others, you know, in a way that's tangible and not just, oh, well, hey, I'll pray for you and talk to you next month, you know. So and of course, then there's always just balancing the time of it all, you know, margin is hard to come by, and so that is also a challenge, of course.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Yeah, that's gosh. You've got, I think you said four kids.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

And a husband and a a quote unquote part-time position as a as a pastor, right? So you uh you've got you've got your hands full. That's uh that's quite the juggling act there. But you know, I I know a lot of a lot of moms are in similar situations, and so that's that's commendable. So that that's great. Wonderful. So the church is clearly an integral part of our community.

A Vision the future

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Uh you've been here for about six years, you've had a chance to kind of observe it within the community. What's your vision for the future of First Presbyterian and how it interacts with the community? And how does it continue to contribute to to the flathead and making it a great place to live?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Yeah, that's such a good question. I think first of all, we want to follow God well, and where God leads us is where we want to go. And and we are not God and we are not admission, and so we don't know where exactly that would be. But hopefully we can continue to love and follow God well, to reflect Christ's love to others, and then to serve both our congregation and the community that we're in. So hopefully that means we're able to tell more people like how much God loves them and who Christ is. And hopefully we're able to serve in ways that continue to meet needs, and as we find needs, serve and meet those needs.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

And hopefully we would be able to sort of like share this joy and peace that we find in Christ.

SPEAKER_03 15:57

Well said.

Favorite Parts Of The Work

SPEAKER_03 15:59

What's your favorite part of what you do now?

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Oh gosh, I love a lot of it. I love that I get to be surrounded by these people who are all different ages and have all these different perspectives and you know, might even look at God and faith differently, but we all come together to worship and to worship Christ and to help one another. That's just a joy. I love that I get to research, you know, if I'm writing a sermon, I get to really buckle down and learn things I didn't know and spend a couple hours in these big thick seminary books that I dragged across country with me. And then I love that, you know, my life and my work are pretty well integrated. You know, my kids go to school with folks that we go to church with. And so it's not just this like, oh, there's work over there. It's like these are our lives that we get to live together.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

How do your kids like having their mom as the pastor at their church?

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Yeah, I drill them on that regularly and they seem fine. Now I could be totally deluded, but they I think that's part of the congregation being gracious towards them is I don't feel like they have these heavy expectations on them. And so I they get treated fairly equally for better or for worse to the rest of the kids there. Um, and I think they like that I'm so flexible. You know, one of our children may forget something on his way to school, and you know, if I'm able, I can help him out and drop it off. Or the little one, I get to go on his field trip. So jury's still, I think we're doing okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Good. And well, we're a small town, uh, we're not quite like a six and a half thousand person town. And I we when you were mentioned, I was thinking about that movie Footloose, and don't know if you've ever seen that movie, but yeah, anyway, it's just it's just funny with the how the roles that our parents and religious parents can play in

Finding Your Church Fit In Town

SPEAKER_03 17:50

our lives. So, Bruno, for people that are maybe new to the valley, moved here or looking to move here, and are maybe looking for a church or for a community, or maybe questioning what they were a part of prior to coming to the valley, what's available at First Presbyterian Church? And and to your knowledge, what what beyond that, what else is available in our community?

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Such a good question. Um, so I'm probably not the best to speak of it because we started coming to this church. We loved it so much that we never really went anywhere else. I do hover no folks in town. Our church, I think, it's a great, it's a small community. You walk in the door, you get to be known. We want to study the Bible seriously. We want it and we want to love our congregation well and serve our community well. That's kind of the ethos that we have there. So we have no fog machines, we have no like super contemporary music, but that's sort of the the feeling in our community. Canvas, which is by the middle school, they do a spectacular job. They're a bigger church of welcoming in all sorts of folks. Their worship service is probably more exciting than ours is. And I know that they also work hard to serve the community there. The middle school, that's their safe place that they go. So if anything ever happened at the middle school, the kids know that that's where they go. The elementary schools have concerts there. They do a lot in that way. I know we have a strong Catholic church system with different, I think the priest there serves three different parishes. And I've met him, he's great. You know, we're good friends with our Lutheran church across the way. But like I said, I actually haven't gone to any of these because we just settled in and loved it so much. So, but we appreciate all the work that the other churches in the valley are doing because you know, we all um we all have different preferences and ways that we kind of fit in places that we feel at home. And so to find those places, you know, we've got some options and there's such a strong community here.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

So yeah, that's great. Thank you for uh for being candid and thank you so much for carving out time. I know you've got a super busy schedule and it took us a little bit of time to find a time to do this, but thank you for taking the time to come on hard the flat. I think you guys are doing a great job. I've I've attended your your congregation. I think you've got great people there, and I think you do a fabulous job as as a part-time pastor. So thank you for for all your efforts there. But you know, in addition, I should say my my son is a Boy Scout, and his troop meets in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church. So my family benefits from the community uh engagement that your your church offers to the flathead. So thank you for that very much.

The Flathead Five Rapid Fire

SPEAKER_03 20:35

But anyway, before we wrap up today, I would love to do our flathead five, which are the rapid fire questions that we ask all of our guests. And again, don't spend a lot of time thinking about it, just fire it out. First, what's your favorite hidden gem in the community?

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Two things. One, I think, is the community itself. I think this is such a spectacular community. My son, something happened. I don't know, his battery started working or something, and I couldn't get there right away. I said, listen, we live in such a good spot and people are so willing to help. Pop your trunk. And if somebody's not there in 15 minutes, then I will like drop everything and come and get you. And within five minutes, someone had stopped and they actually had taken some mechanics class and they fixed it. You know, it was just great. So I think this community is such a gift. I also think that access to the outdoors coming from the Midwest, this is a magical place, you know. So mountains, every day I see the mountains, and I just think, oh, this is so good for my soul. And I get to be hiking in them this weekend. That's great. So those are and then the schools. I think the schools are spectacular. Really, I really like it here a lot. I could give you like 10 things, so I'll stop.

SPEAKER_03 21:44

That's great. That's good though. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

I'm failing the rapid fire part of that question.

SPEAKER_03 21:49

So let's see if we get well, you got another chance here. Grizz or Bobcats?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Oh, terribly. I'm neither. I went to Wetworth of a Pirate. But if my kids go to either one, then I'm all for it and we'll. Paint my face, whatever color it needs to be.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Wow, you're so you're a face painter.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

I could be. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:07

Good. Okay. What's your favorite outdoor activity in the valley?

SPEAKER_01 22:12

I mean, Big Mountain has my name on their list, apparently. So I love skiing. And then just hiking. Yeah.

unknown 22:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:20

You've left a little bit of blood and tears on on Big Mountain, it sounds like. So that's uh etch etch your your soul into that place. What what do you know today that you wish you knew when you started out?

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Well, when I first moved, I worked for a couple of years north of Seattle in a little town up there. And my mom had moved me in and I was all she was ready to leave. And I just like started weeping because I felt so alone and I didn't know what was going to happen. I had a job, but I was working at a church, and she just said, Oh, honey, things will not turn out the way you expect. And there is goodness in that. And that to me has been so helpful and good. Like my life has not expected turned out how I expected, and yet it's been so much better than what I would have designed for myself. And so I think I that's something that I continually try to remind myself. Like I can't see where we're going, but I can trust that we're going to a good place and in a good direction.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

That's powerful. Thank you for sharing that.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

So when life's over and people are looking back on your life, what what do you want the uh the one or two sentence review to be?

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Well, I think I've been loved so well by people, by family, by folks, by God.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

And I think if I could communicate that type of love to other folks, that would be what I would want. Because it's so transformative. And I I don't know. There's such security in that, and such. I don't know what I would be apart from that, and I would want that for others also.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

That's what I want my kids to know. That's what I want other folks to know.

SPEAKER_03 24:19

Yeah, that's great. Berna, thank you so much. It's been a very insightful conversation. It's been a pleasure getting to know you a little bit better today.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Sane. Sane. Thanks so much for having me, Sna. It's been an honor.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

Thanks for listening to this episode of Heart of the Flathead. We'd love to hear your thoughts about today's episode and the podcast in general. You can listen at heart of the flathead.com or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can reach David via the contact page at heart of theflathead.com or by clicking on the send us feedback link at the top of the episode description and your favorite podcast app. Heart of the Flathead is produced by David Wigginton in partnership with Left Brain Right Brain Studios. Listeners can find the podcast online at Heart of the Flathead.com and LeftBrain Right Brain Studios at LBRBstudios.com. The content for Heart of the Flathead Podcasts and any show notes and transcripts are copyrighted by David Wiginton. All rights reserved. Reproduction and rebroadcasting in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission. Contact David Wiginton at Heart of the Flathead.com with your request. The views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or the production team. Appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement of any goods, services, or opinions discussed. The podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional, legal, medical, or financial advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on the content of this show.