Reverend Andy Stinson was born in Maine. He attended schools there graduating from Morse High School in Bath, Maine in 1987. Andy is the 11th generation son to come from mid coast Maine and he has deep roots to the coast and to Maine.
In 1986 he joined the U.S. Army Reserves becoming and infantryman and graduating from U.S. Army Airborne School. Gaining an ROTC scholarship, in 1989 he attended the University of Southern Maine. In 1991, he graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Geography and History.
After college, he accepted a commission in the United States Army Reserve as a Second Lieutenant in the Transportation Corps. He worked as a commercial diver and fisherman on the coast of Maine, eventually running his own boat and buying seafood for export as well. During this time he became a member of the Portland Swedenborgian Church in Portland, Maine.
Four years later, he received a call to ministry and left fishing to attend Andover Newton Theological School and the Swedenborg School of Religion in Newton, Massachusetts. In 2000 he graduated with a Completion Diploma for Ordination, Masters of Arts in Swedenborgian Studies and a Masters of Divinity degree. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve, being promoted to Captain in the Transportation Corps. He was ordained in the Swedenborgian Church in 1999 accepting a call to the Elmwood New Church in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts serving the church for 3 years. He also became a Chaplain in the Army Reserve.
In June of 2002, he was called to active duty with the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) in Fort Eustis, Virginia and served for 4 years ministering to mobilized reserve Soldiers and Department of Army Civilians throughout the United States. His service at the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) in Fort Eustis, Virginia earned him one Army Achievement Medal, two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal and acceptance into the Order of Saint Christopher.
Upon leaving active duty in 2006 he accepted a call to the Church of the Holy City in Washington, DC. He was then elected to denominational leadership as the Chair of the Council of Ministers, mentoring candidates for ordination, presiding over ordinations and leading the ordained clergy of the Swedenborgian Church of North America. He left Washington DC in November of 2007 returning to Maine.
In 2009 he completed his work as the Chair of the Council of Ministers and accepted a position as the Head of Pastoral Care and Hospice Chaplain for Pen Bay Hospital in Rockland Maine. His work included working with pastoral volunteers and ministering those at end of life.
In 2010, Andy was mobilized with the Army again, this time with the 804th Medical Brigade serving in Baghdad, Iraq. As the Senior Medical Chaplain in the Iraq, he spent from January to November of 2011 with the last medical Brigade in Iraq, supervising and assisting the pastoral care of 3 hospitals and all medical religious support in the Theater. He returned the end of November of 2011.
Upon return to Maine, he accepted a call at Second Congregational Church of Warren Maine serving as their Pastor for 6 years. In 2013, on his birthday, Andy retired from the Army Reserve after 26 years of service. Andy and his whole family are excited about accepting his call to First Congregational Church of Fall River in October. In 2015 he married the former Kristin Murphy and is pretty crazy about her. He has two sons Derek 27 and Ryan 11 and two grandchildren. He is cursed with a love of sailing and his other hobbies include reading, finding great podcasts, gaming, shooting, and discerning the Lord’s next call.