New pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church wants to let joy shine

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Laundry soap and a chimpanzee.

Yes, there is a connection.

Members of Trinity United Methodist Church in Charles City have already been introduced to Chippy, the chimpanzee.

Steven Hansen was named pastor late last month at Trinity United Methodist, when he took over for Pastor Jim Beranek, who had been the preacher there for eight years.

“There’s two things I’m probably known for, is Chippy, and used to be homemade laundry soap,” laughed Hansen.

A highlight of Hansen’s worship service every week is his friend, Chippy, a puppet who sits on Hansen’s lap during the children’s sermon. It’s not quite a ventriloquist act where Hansen will attempt to mask the movements of his mouth. But you get the picture, especially if you see the pair enlightening and informing the congregation on any given Sunday.

“I’m too lazy for that. I put a squeaker in him,” laughed Hansen. “I can understand chimpanzee. He can understand English. We just can’t talk each other’s language.”

Hansen purchased Chippy while on vacation in Honolulu six months after he married his wife, Janet, in 1996. He thought the chimpanzee would be a great addition to his Sunday services, so he incorporated the act into his message on a full-time basis.

The dynamic duo has been a hit ever since – for young and old alike.

Hansen was co-pastor at the Wesley United Methodist and Grace United Methodist churches in Mason City for the past 13 years. That’s when he was introduced into the concept of making your own laundry soap.

Hansen said to make a 5-gallon bucket of laundry soap costs a little over two bucks.

“Compare that to the 12 bucks you pay for the jug,” Hansen said.

The whole process started after one of his congregation members, who was also a manager at Hy-Vee, handed him a recipe and gave him supplies to start brewing his own concoction.

“I thought that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” laughed Hansen. “I went home and made it and thought it’s kind of fun. I kept making it and was giving it away.”

Hansen said he was eventually making 100 gallons a week and giving lessons on how to make the laundry soap to almost 450 people. A few of those interested parties attended Trinity United Methodist Church in Charles City, where they congregation were also making their own homemade laundry detergent.

“It’s kind of ironic to come over here and see that they had done that, too,” he said.

Prior to preaching at Mason City, Hanson was pastor at First United Methodist Church in Cedar Falls.

“So it’s kind of nice coming back in the middle of the two. I’ve got some old friends on both sides,” he said.

Hansen is a 1977 graduate of Griswold High School, located in southwest Iowa. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas at the Perkins School of Theology in 1986. He has been preaching for the past 33 years and also was a preacher in Salix – a tiny town just south of Sioux City – while attending Morningside College.

Hansen said his wife, Janet, accepted a position in the math department at Charles City High School and will begin that job this fall. They have four children: Siri, John, Josh and Joey.

“Everything seems to work out,” said Hansen.

Hansen had been to Charles City before. His first visit to America’s Hometown was in 1996 when RAGBRAI rolled through.

Hansen and his wife had only been married for a little over six months when they decided to ride tandem in the cross-state bike ride 23 years ago. Little did they know that one of the longest routes RAGBRAI has ever mapped out would become a test of endurance no one had anticipated.

“We stayed overnight at Lake Mills and it was Iowa’s sesquicentennial year. So they had a 150-mile loop that day. We came down, then came back. We ate lunch at Lake Mills. The worst part is as soon as we turned west there was a stiff headwind all the way. It was awful,” said Hansen.

The final stop on that day was at the current church where he is now pastor.

“Once we turned back around at noon, we had the wind to our back and we sailed into Charles City. We had a pork chop dinner that night at 7:30 right here at Trinity,” Hansen recalled.

Hansen said he is still learning the names of the 400 or so members of his congregation.

Hansen loves to interject humor into his services and experience the joy of the Lord along with his congregation.

“I tend to be kind of casual and informal – not high church at all,” said Hansen. “What you see is what you get – come as you are type thing. I’m not big on formalities. If you can come to church and laugh once, then you’re going to be more relaxed and you’re going to be more open to relationships and listening to everything else.”

Trinity United Methodist Church holds a worship service at 9 a.m. on Sunday and a fresh-start service later that morning at 11:10 a.m.

One of Hansen’s favorite pieces of Scripture is Nehemiah 8:10.

“The joy of the Lord is my strength,” said Hansen. “I just think we need to let the joy show in the world we’re living in today. If that doesn’t show, then people aren’t going to be very attracted to what we have to offer.”